As The Spice Girls Say “Too Much of Something Is Bad Enough”
My scientifically backed opinion on why too many options are negatively impacting consumers.
Growing up, I was always in awe of grocery stores with their long aisles filled with so many colorful and exciting products. Sadly, that awe is not there anymore when I shop; now I struggle to get through the whole process without feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of options. Through research, I found this seems to be the case with many other people when it comes to too many choices.
When provided with an immense number of options, many consumers cannot make it through the decision-making process. A 2009 study tested consumers with a number of jam options. At first, a majority of the consumers choose to view the considerably larger assortment. When they were asked to pick one, however, shockingly, they were 10X more likely to choose from the smaller assortment. This idea of a consumer’s desire to have more options and yet how it leads to feeling overwhelmed has been named “the paradox of choice”.
I dealt with this paradox when I moved into my first apartment; I was looking forward to decorating and personalizing the apartment to represent me. This excitement soon turned to dread, as every single purchase took me days, and even sometimes weeks, to follow through on. It didn’t matter if it was pillows, artwork, pots, and pans. I never felt completely satisfied, always second-guessing my choices. I have realized that I am what is considered a Maximizer. This means I feel buyer’s remorse, always questioning if I made the right decision. This issue stems from the enormous number of options on the market.
Some people disagree with the statement that too many choices are a bad thing. A study was done on fast fashion and its consumers. When given a survey, they asked the question “what makes you choose fast fashion brands?” The third-highest ranked response was that these consumers chose fast fashion brands due to the “more options” the brand offers.
This survey though extremely interesting, only used a small group of an already segmented market — meaning the results don’t speak true to the whole of the fashion industry. Another study shows that 47.3% of clothing shoppers find the number of choices in retail stores to be overwhelming. Proving yet again that too many choices are a problem that is impacting consumers’ feelings, and their ability to follow through the whole decision-making process.
It is our job as marketers to recognize the effects too much choice is having on consumers and try to figure out ways to help alleviate these issues. It will be interesting to see how brands handle this growing issue, as the market’s noise and clutter increase each day, both online and off.
