How too many choices ruin our lives

I spend more time browsing movies and TV shows on my streaming platform of choice than actually watching them.

Yes, of course I have an ongoing list of shows I want to watch. I’ve been adding interesting shows and movies which friends have recommended to the list ever since I signed up. The only problem is that this list has turned into quite the backlog itself. I would require a separate recommendation engine to select which of the already pre-selected shows I would like to watch next, just to better handle the backlog. Every time I find myself browsing my list, I end up getting sucked into the vortex that is the vast portfolio of other TV shows on offer.

I have added a few action flicks to my list but I am unsure whether this is the genre I want to watch today. 90+ minutes filled with cool guys actively avoiding to look at explosions? Sounds a bit too superficial.

Maybe this intense history drama I have been meaning to watch? Let’s be honest, it’s a Wednesday evening and my brain is fried from the day and I would not be able to pay the necessary attention this movie deserves.

Maybe a light-hearted travel & food show? There’s something comforting about seeing the usually Caucasian, middle-aged host trying a local delicacy in a serene and untouched environment. Until he starts to literally spit fire because he cannot handle the heat.

I usually end up watching a show I’ve seen multiple times, but I know it will always deliver happiness. At least until it disappears from Netflix. (“The Office”, the US version, obviously, I have a decent sense of humor). This show is also a great way of learning about corporate governance and modern workplace behavior. Always looking to improve myself! Kill two birds with one stone, a classic win-win situation.

But back to the scheduled programming, being overwhelmed with choice. I’m far from alone with this dilemma. We are being overwhelmed with choice, not just when it comes to movie selection.

I remember this one instance at a hyped-up gelato spot. The line-up on warm summer nights was always extraordinary, waiting more than thirty minutes for two scoops of gelato was far from uncommon. After waiting for what felt like an eternity, I was moments away from pure gelato bliss with only a happy couple ahead of me. Much to my liking one half of the couple knew what to get and ordered quickly and decisively. But then came the other half’s turn…

Even after trying at least half of the flavors on offer, the person could not decide what to get. How hard can it be to pick two flavors from a selection of 12? Sure, we can discuss the benefits and drawbacks of choosing a cup over a cone but this is no life-threatening situation. Granted, you’re picking one flavor combination out of 78 possibilities but still not exactly rocket science. Even the worst possible outcome is still two scoops of delicious gelato. Now briefly imagine what it must feel like to choose a Netflix movie with this person…

At least it gave me enough time to decide whether I should choose the fruity (Mango and Strawberry & Mint) or the indulgent option (Nutella & Dark Chocolate). I figured I’ve earned some indulgence after waiting for what felt like forever. A decision I did not regret in the slightest.

On my way out I saw the couple standing outside, eating their gelato, and unsurprisingly the indecisive half was visibly unhappy about their choice. Thankfully, smarter people have done research on this dilemma and call it the “Paradox of Choice”.

The “Paradox of Choice” is real and as Barry Schwartz stated in his article for the Harvard Business Review:

“There is diminishing marginal utility in having alternatives; each new option subtracts a little from the feeling of well-being, until the marginal benefits of added choice level off. What’s more, psychologists and business academics alike have largely ignored another outcome of choice: More of it requires increased time and effort and can lead to anxiety, regret, excessively high expectations, and self-blame if the choices don’t work out.”

The instant accessibility of literally anything does not help us in decreasing the number of choices. Our days are filled with making choices, whether this means deciding which sandwich to get for lunch, or which toothpaste to buy (Colgate currently has 57 different types of toothpaste on offer; what even is the difference between “Max White Luminous” vs. “Max White One” vs. “Max White Expert”?)

Some firms have realized that a limited number of options does not necessarily mean the consumer will switch to a competitor’s product because he/she could not find the exact desired product. Let’s just compare the current phone offerings from Apple and Samsung:

According to their website, Samsung has currently 40 different phones to choose from. Apple, on the other hand, has 16 different models. It seems like Apple is onto something, since Professor Colin Camerer is quoted in saying that the ideal number of choices is probably somewhere between 8 and 15 different options, depending on the reward, and your personality.

“Essentially, our eyes are bigger than our stomachs… When we think about how many choices we want, we may not be mentally representing the frustrations of making the decision.”

Let’s apply this quote to the “Gelato Dilemma”. Person Y has a craving for gelato and also knows that one of these 78 combinations will be “the one”, the perfect symphony of flavors Person Y will enjoy on this sunny summer evening. Desperate to find this elusive holy grail of flavor combo, Person Y tries a couple of options, much to my annoyance, but still fails to find “the one” combination. Person Y probably would have tried every single flavor but realized that this would even further contradict social norms (my slightly annoyed and loud enough sigh could have contributed to that) and also end in a slightly irritated stomach. In the end Person Y was not happy with the choice because it did not fulfil the imaginary perfect score because there’s no way this was the perfect combination. The grass is always greener on the other side…

This story perfectly encapsulates the “paradox of choice” and how we are struggling with the abundance of choices out there. While in this scenario Person Y only had to choose between 78 different option, let’s imagine there was also the option to choose two out of six toppings? And now we’re facing 675 possible options.

That loud pop you just heard? That was Person Y’s head exploding.

Unfortunately, our days are not just filled with gelato-testing but we have to make countless decisions during a normal day. Where to go for lunch? What should I do this Friday evening? Saturday is supposed to be sunny, what could I do with my friends? And many more… However then we are not talking about 675 options but thousands of options.

This is exactly the problem we are trying to solve at eezy. How can we make everyone’s life easier in a world of constantly increasing complexity?

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Watch this space as we take you through our startup journey and share some more insights.