Do the Worst of Times Increase Creativity?: Scarcity Vs. Abundance Psychology and Creativity
Three experiments tested whether and how a scarcity (vs. abundance) mindset affects consumer creativity. Results indicate that a scarcity mindset makes people think beyond established functionalities to explore broadly for solutions, thereby heightening creativity. In contrast, an abundance mindset induces functional fixedness, thereby reducing creativity.
Citation:
Ravi Mehta and Meng Zhu (2012) ,"Do the Worst of Times Increase Creativity?: Scarcity Vs. Abundance Psychology and Creativity", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 40, eds. Zeynep Gürhan-Canli, Cele Otnes, and Rui (Juliet) Zhu, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 58-61.
Authors
Ravi Mehta, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, USA
Meng Zhu, Johns Hopkins University, USA
Volume
NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 40 | 2012
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