Food for thought...

In a World Full of Choice: Simplify

"In the Columbia University study, people took significantly more time (a scarce commodity) to make decisions when presented with 30 chocolates. They felt they had "too many" choices. Subjects reported finding the decision-making process enjoyable, although they also thought it was difficult and frustrating. When participants were given the choice of receiving a box of chocolates or $5 as compensation for their participation, only 12 percent of those faced with 30 choices "bought" the chocolates. Of those given only six options, 48 percent chose the chocolates."

401(k) Choices: Too Often, More Is Less

"In fact, a clever experiment by economists Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper demonstrated that customers sometimes prefer less to more. The economists set up sampling booths with either 6 or 24 flavors of jam. Substantially more customers were drawn to the vivid 24-flavor display. But a mere 3% ended up buying jam there, vs. 30% of those who stopped by the stand with only 6 flavors."

Posted by: John S. Rhodes on October 27, 2002 03:34 PM

---

 

Heather and I have just started shopping at a different supermarket for our weekly shop. We moved from Sainsburys because they had just extended the size of the store and re-arranged the layout. We found it was taking us an extra 20 minutes to do our shopping and we had many more decisions to make (which of the 15 varieties of bleach should we buy).

We now shop at Asda which has a lot less choice and is also a lot cheaper. We can now do our shop in under an hour (down from 80 to 90 minutes) and it is a lot less stressful as we have many less decisions to make.

Posted by: Mac on October 28, 2002 06:35 AM

---

 

I think that for someone to purchase, the offering needs to be relevant to me. So 5 or 30 means nothing if it is all Amazon Gold Box material for example.

I know it is crap, but why do I still click on the gold box?

Posted by: JB on October 29, 2002 10:43 AM

---

 

JB, it's a bit like Picking a Scab

Posted by: Mac on October 29, 2002 03:49 PM

---

 

If you want to increase purchasing, give more choices. If you want to increase return shopping, offer fewer, more relevant choices. It's a paradox, but they are two separate things. More choice means attracting a larger crowd that is more likely to buy, but perhaps not come back if they are baffled by the large selection.

Mac, supermarkets rearrange things specifically because they want you to search the aisles. They are hoping you will see something you want and put it in your trolley. Most people shop at supermarkets for geographic reasons, so there isn't much drop-off.

Posted by: Lydia on October 29, 2002 07:18 PM

---