In a recent study, shoppers were asked to taste a chocolate-chip cookie. When given a cookie from a full jar, they said it tasted all right; but when they were offered one from a nearly empty jar, they said it tasted better. This shows an interesting aspect of human nature. The scarcer something is, the more highly people tend to value it.

    在最近的一项研究中，购物者被要求品尝一块巧克力曲奇饼干。当从一个满满的罐子里拿曲奇饼干给他们吃时，他们说这饼干味道不错；当从一个块空了的罐子里拿曲奇饼干给他们吃时，他们说这饼干味道更棒。这项研究说明了人类天性中极为有趣的一面：人们往往认为越稀罕的东西价值就越高。

    D.H.Lawrence's novel Lady Chatterley's lover brought the author the most fame not when it was first published, but when it was banned--and when many thousands of black-market copies of the book were sold before it was finally made legal.

    D.H.劳伦斯的小说《查特莱夫人的情人》令他声名大震，但这可不是在小说刚出版的时候，而是在它被禁的时候：在小说终于成为合法出版物前，黑市上的盗版书卖出了好几千册呢。

    People rush to see a controversial film, and music that is banned from the radio immediately becomes popular. In 1977, the BBC banned "God Save the Queen", a song by the punk rock band The Sex Pistols. Within weeks, the song was nearly at the top of the British pop charts. "God Save the Queen" was brought on the market by the A&M recordings are now some of the most valuable records in Britain, with resale values going as high as £13,000 a copy.

    人们对有争议的电影趋之若鹜；被电台禁播的音乐总是立马一炮而红。1977年，英国广播公司封杀了《天佑吾后》，这是一首由朋克摇滚乐队“性手枪”演绎的歌曲。几周之内，这首歌几乎一路飙升到了英国流行音乐排行榜的首位。《天佑吾后》由A&M发行的稀有唱片现在在英国可是最有价值的唱片，转手价格高达每张13,000英镑。

    According to social psychologists like Robert Cialdini, our instinctive interest in acquiring things that are rare reflects our evolutionary history. In the past, when food or raw materials were scarce, real value increased, because possession gave the owner an advantage for suivival.

    根据像罗伯特·恰尔蒂尼这样的社会心理学家的说法，我们对稀罕货的本能占有欲直接反映了人类的进化史。在过去，当食物和原料都紧缺的时候，它们的真正价值就提升了，因为这些东西赋予了拥有者生存下去的有利条件。

    Salespeople love pressing the "scarce, therefore valuable" button, with warnings like "Buy now while stocks last!" and "Quick! Limited-Time Offer!" Clever advertisers know that it's much more effective to focus on the fear of loss than on the benefit of gain. A portrait photography studio pushes its customers to buy as many different photos as possible, because "Stock problems force us to burn unsold pictures of your child after 24 hours". Experts at the University of California found that homeowners are 300 percent more likely to buy an energy-saving plan if the message is "Stop losing 50 cents a day" instead of "Start saving 50 cents a day". Do you want to make a proposal to your management for a €100,000 savings plan? You're more likely to get it through if you present your message in terms of a €100,000 loss, should your plan not be accepted.

    销售人员最爱亮出“物以稀为贵”这块招牌，老说什么“存货不多，赶快买进吧！”、“抓紧！限时特供！”之类的话。聪明的广告商都明白，强调对损失的恐惧比强调收益更能见效。某个肖像影楼会力劝顾客尽量买下各种照片，因为“24小时之后，库存问题就会逼着我们烧掉令公子那些没卖掉的照片”。加利福尼亚大学的专家们发现：如果一个节省能源的产品计划传达的信息是“每天少损失五毛钱”，而不是“每天节省五毛钱”，那么一家之主们百分之三百地愿意接受它。你要给公司管理层报一个10万欧元的成本节省计划吗？如果你表达的含义是避免“10万欧元的损失”，你的计划肯定更容易通过。

    We fight to protect what we have. The "Romeo and Juliet effect" describes this principle in terms of relationships. Young couples whose parents try to influence their choice of a mate are more likely to fall deeply in love than those whose parents don't interfere. In Cialdini's book Influence, a young woman from Blacksbuig, Virginia, writes, " Lat Chiristmas, I met a 27-year-old man. I was 19. Although he wasn't my type, I went out with him...I really didn't become interested in him until my parents expressed their concern about his age. The more they got on my case about it, the more in love I became. It only lasted five months, but this was about four months longer than it would have lasted if my parents hadn't said anything."

    为保全已拥有的东西，我们不惜干上一架。在情感关系方面，“罗密欧-朱丽叶效应”就很好地诠释了这个原则。父母要在选择伴侣方面给年轻的一对施加压力，反而更易使这对小鸳鸯如胶似漆，还不如不干涉。在恰尔蒂尼的《影响力》一书中，一位来自弗吉尼亚州布莱克斯堡的年轻姑娘这么写道：“去年圣诞节，我遇上了一个27岁的男生，我19岁。尽管他不是我喜欢的那种类型，我还是跟他约会了......我其实对他没什么意思，直到我父母开始关注他的年龄。他们越对我提这回事，我就越爱他。这段感情只持续了五个月，但要是正常的话也就应该一个来月，谁让我父母老是瞎掺合呢？”

    Before you go, think carefully! Do I love him, or should I leave him? A certain gain, or a sure loss? How full is the cookie jar? Maybe it's all about less really being more.

    走下一步之前，你可要想清楚！我是真的爱他，还是应该离开他？这是得还是失？曲奇饼干的罐子有多满？可能这全是因为“物以稀为贵”吧。