Thirty two choices of ketchup
You may think that the more options a company offers, directly leads to more sales and happy customers.
🚨 Wrong 🚨
Contrary to popular belief too many choices actually overwhelms customers. As a company you think that by providing countless options, you are doing a better job at marketing, but that is not the case. There has actually been a study conducted which clearly supports this idea.
Sheena Iyenga, a student from Columbia University tested out this in Menlo Park, California. Over the course of two weeks Sheena and her friends stood outside of a local upscale grocery and offered samples of exotic jams. There were two options, either six or twenty four flavors.
You would think that everyone would want the twenty four flavors because, hey the more the merrier. And you would also think that more options directly lead to more sales. Well, that marketing theory has just been proven wrong. Even though more people had stopped to sample when they were offered twenty four flavors, less only three percent had actually purchased. and even though twenty percent less people had stopped to purchase when they were offered only six people, of those poeple thirty percent of them went ahead to make the purchase. So, to put it simply, even though more people had stopped to sample because at first it looked more exciting, they were not as focused when it came to purchasing.
Often times, when shoppers have less options, they feel more directed and confident to make a decision. I can definitely attest to to this study and say I could not agree more.
Also, having more options is often a cultural idea. Some areas may have smaller groceries with one choice of ketchup, while some places will offer thirty two flavors. I must say, often times it just perplexes a customer and overwhelms them. It is necessary to find that right balance of providing customers with the right amount of choices with out prvoding too many. That is an important key to successful marketing.
