Online advertisements with scarcity messages and the association with attitudes for functional and symbolic aspects of vitamins and supplements

Purpose Scarcity appeals in advertising can increase consumer purchase intentions. This study aims to examine the impact of different online scarcity message appeals and the association with consumer attitudes for functional and symbolic aspects of vitamins and supplements. Design/methodology/approach This survey of 789 participants evaluated the scarcity appeals of high-demand message, limited-time message, low-stock message and countdown timer and the association with consumer attitudes for functional and symbolic aspects of vitamins and supplements. Findings The results showed that high-demand messages as compared to regular advertising messages was significantly associated with increased functional and symbolic scale scores. African Americans, Hispanics and Asian/Asian Americans were each significantly associated with increased functional and symbolic scale scores as compared whites. Advertising deception of veracity was significantly negatively associated with symbolic scale score but not associated with functional scale score. Advertising deception of ethical was significantly positively associated with symbolic scale score but not associated with functional scale score. Practical implications In conclusion, high-demand messages may be a particularly useful type of scarcity appeal to use in online advertising for vitamins and supplements. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of online advertising message scarcity types and how they are associated with consumers attitudes for functional and symbolic aspects of vitamins and supplements.