Does the scarcity marketing of tourism cultural and creative products trigger impulsive consumption?

This article investigates how scarcity marketing influences tourists' impulsive consumption intention toward tourism cultural and creative products (CCPs) based on the consumption impulse formation enactment (CIFE) model. Through two experiments, it finds that supply scarcity—where product availability is intentionally limited—more strongly stimulates tourists' impulsive buying than demand scarcity caused by high consumer demand. This effect is mediated by tourists' perceived uniqueness and perceived value of the products, and moderated by the creative performance of the CCPs, with high creativity amplifying responses to supply scarcity and low creativity enhancing sensitivity to demand scarcity. The study contributes to understanding the psychological mechanisms behind scarcity marketing in tourism CCPs and offers practical guidance for tailoring marketing strategies according to product creativity and scarcity type.