Is less always more? Testing the limits of the choice paradox

1. Is less always more? Testing the limits of the choice paradox Pamela Mardle Katie Gough Gabrielle Sarll University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne

2. Introduction • Explanation of the Choice Overload hypothesis • Exploration: Is less always more? Testing the limits of the choice paradox 1 • Critique: When Choice is Demotivating: Can One Desire Too Much of a Good Thing? (Iyengar and Lepper, 2000) 2 • Critique: What moderates the ‘too much choice effect’? (Scheibehenne et al, 2009) 3 • Why can no one agree? 4 • How to cope with all this choice

3. Choice overload hypothesis • Having an extensive number of options to choose from appears to have more of a negative effect than intended or expected - Feelings of dissatisfaction, regret, frustration have been shown to result from choosing from an over-extensive set of items • Individuals faced with over-extensive choice tend to defer decision, search for new alternatives, choose the default option, or simply opt not to choose (Dhar,1997) • As the complexity of making choices increases (resulting from an increase in options to choose from), people tend to rely on simple heuristics to mediate their decision-making process (Payne, 1982) and integrate less information than if faced with less options (Timmermans, 1993)

4. Tesco healthy eating semiskimmed • Tesco healthy eating skimmed • Tesco pasteurised semiskimmed • Tesco whole • Cravendale semiskimmed • Cravendale skimmed • Cravendale whole • St Ivel Advance semiskimmed • St Ivel Advance whole • Tesco pure fresh skimmed • Tesco pure fresh semiskimmed • Tesco pure fresh whole • Wiseman the one • T localchoice south east semi • T localchoice south east skim • T localchoice south east whole • Alpro light unsweetened soya • Alpro soya fresh • Alpro soya milk chocolate • Flora Pro. Activ• Lactofree semi-skimmed • So good soya drink • St Helen's pasteurised goats' • St Helen's semi-skimmed goats' • T chocolate flavoured goats' • T semi-skimmed milk with omega-3 • Tesco finest Channel Island • Tesco fresh sweetened soya • Tesco semi-skimmed goats' • Kids banana flavoured selfservice• Kids chocolate flavoured self-service • Kids strawberry flavoured self-service • Nesquik chocolate • Tesco banana flavoured • Tesco chocolate flavoured • Tesco finest Belgian chocolate • Tesco finest mochalatte• Tesco strawberry flavoured

5. Is less always more? Testing the limits of the choice paradox • This paper presents strong arguments for and against the choice overload hypothesis. • However these arguments are not evenly weighted, which may influence the readers perception of the argument. • It addresses issues relevant to real life settings and therefore has great implications for the world of marketing.

6. When Choice is Demotivating: Can One Desire Too Much of a Good Thing? -Sheena S. Iyengar and Mark R. Lepper (2000) Study 1: Choosing Wilkins & Sons Jam Method • Two tasting booths set up in grocery store: one offering 6 choices of jam; the other offering a choice of 24 • Consumers observed for initial attractiveness to each number of alternatives and subsequent purchasing behaviour Results • Initial Attractiveness to Selections - 60% of customers in store stopped at the extensive-choice of jams - 40% of customers in store stopped at the limited-choice of jams • Subsequent Purchasing Behaviour • - 30% of customers in limited-choice condition subsequently purchased a jar of jam • - 3% of customers in extensive-choice condition subsequently purchased a jar of jam • Conclusion • - An extensive selection of items is initially more attractive to individuals • - However, an extensive-choice is ultimately detrimental towards motivating the purchase of a product.

7. When Choice is Demotivating: Can One Desire Too Much of a Good Thing? -Sheena S. Iyengar and Mark R. Lepper (2000) Study 2: Extra-credit Optional Essays at Stanford University Method • Students were given the option to complete a 2 page essay on a film they had previously watched. Students chose from a set of 6 essay questions or 30 • The number and quality of essays completed in each condition were scored Results • Essays completed - 74% of students assigned to limited-choice condition - 60% of students assigned to extensive-choice condition • Quality of essays - Students in the limited-choice condition wrote a higher quality essay (M = 8.09) than those in extensive-choice condition (M = 7.69) • Conclusion • A limited-choice is more likely to encourage completion of an optional task and at a higher standard than an extensive-choice.

8. When Choice is Demotivating: Can One Desire Too Much of a Good Thing?-Sheena S. Iyengar and Mark R. Lepper (2000) Study 3: Godiva Chocolate Tasting Method • 3 conditions: limited-choice (from 6 chocolates), extensive-choice (30) and assigned choice • Participants completed a questionnaire regarding the chocolate tasting experience and upon completion were given the opportunity to redeem either £5 cash or a £5 box Godiva chocolates Results • Extensive-choice participants described the choice of samples as “too many”. • Extensive-choice participants reported their choice process as being more enjoyable yet more difficult and frustrating • No differences between confidence of being satisfied by the chocolate selected nor how informed the participants felt regarding their choice • No difference between the two conditions concerning whether participants satisficed or optimised on their choices • Limited-choice participants were more satisfied and less regretful about their choice than those in the two alternative conditions; however, participants who had the freedom to choose were more satisfied overall than those with no choice on their sample • Subsequent purchasing behaviour • - 48% of participants in the limited-choice condition chose chocolates over money as compensation compared to only 12% in the extensive-choice condition and 10% in the no-choice condition

9. Discussion of findings • It appears that too much choice can in fact be a negative factor in choosing and purchasing items • Whilst a vast array of choices may initially seem desirable, they often have an eventual detrimental effect on human motivation • The results of these studies show that human motivation is much improved when the choices are restricted • A purchase of Wilkins & Sons jam was much more likely to be made when the options remained limited • Essays were more likely to be written and of a higher quality when the choice of topics was small • A decision to invest in a box of Godiva chocolates was more likely when a sample chocolate was chosen from a smaller selection • Contrastingly, study 3 provides evidence showing that it is important for consumers to have some choice, as those who sampled chocolates previously chosen for them were least likely to take home a box of chocolates and reported being least satisfied with their sample • The studies and their resulting implications are particularly relevant and useful for the marketing world

10. Points of consideration • Was the study design appropriate for the research question? 2/3 studies used a natural observation design, therefore have ecological validity. However the 3rd study was carried out in a lab setting and therefore cannot be generalised to a wider population • Does the study add anything new? Yes. This paper provides new data and a new theory of choice paradox • Is the study question relevant? "As consumer choice grows consumers are feeling overwhelmed and it is starting to have a negative effect on lives" • Implications If too much choice leads to no choice then maybe supermarkets should reduce the number of items stocked to increase sales?

11. What moderates the ‘too much choice’ effect?- B. Scheibehenne, R. Greifeneder & P.M. Todd (2009) Study 1: Restaurant Method • Participants were entered into a competition to win either €30 or €40 worth of restaurant coupons • Upon winning, participants were given the choice of either prize – if they chose the latter option, they were required to choose a restaurant to dine at from a list of either 5 or 30 • Participants rated how difficult their choice was and whether they thought the range of restaurants was large or small Results • No difference between choice of coupon over cash for participants selecting from an extensive list than from a limited list (35% vs. 30%) • Participants in the extensive-choice condition had slightly more difficulty in making a choice than those in the limited-choice condition • The variety of the extensive-choice condition was perceived as larger than that of the limited-choice condition. (This shows that the size of choices available was not subjective) Conclusion • No supporting evidence for the choice overload hypothesis • The effect is not seen regardless of the fact that more items make a more difficult choice

12. What moderates the ‘too much choice effect’?- B. Scheibehenne, R. Greifeneder & P.M. Todd (2009) Study 2: Charity study (three collated mini studies) Method • Participants took part in an unrelated laboratory study. Upon completion, they were given €1 and were offered the choice to keep it for themselves or donate it to charity • Before deciding what to do with the money, they were presented with a list of either popular or unknown charities of varying sizes • Participants were either required to justify their decision with a written statement or make no justification at all Results • ‘Too much choice’ effect was not evoked from: - a decrease in number of choices in limited-condition - a increase in number of choices in extensive-condition - the familiarity of the charity - cultural differences • Justifications contained more characters when choosing from a larger set of charities Conclusion • Only the requirement to justify one’s decision did evoke the “too much choice” effect due to the choice being more difficult

13. Discussion of findings • This paper discredits the ‘too much choice’ effect as it is not observed in any of the studies except when a justification of the choice is required • At least, the effect is less robust than Iyengar and Lepper (2000) suggest

14. A new paradigm? Factors that may be important in such a new paradigm: • Assortment structure – Organisation, number and distribution of assortment affects ease with which information can be retrieved, quality of the decision made and motivation to purchase • Decision strategy – The too much choice effect may be a result of failure to adapt ones decision strategy to the current situation • Decision avoidance – Explore possible different explanations for why people avoid making a decision E.G. keeping the status quo

15. Points of consideration • Was the study design appropriate for the research question? The design is appropriate for the issue at hand, however the lab settings still restricts its generalisation to the wider population • Does the study add anything new? It builds upon previous research, aiming to establish in what conditions the too much choice effect occurs • Did the study methods address the most important potential sources of bias? Yes. Factors that may bias the data were controlled for e.g. The participants remained anonymous, ruling out demand choice effects • Implications The researchers suggest that further research needs to be undertaken to explore a new paradigm in which the too much choice effect occurs reliably

16. Why can no-one agree? It seems that the ‘too much choice’ effect does influence consumer behaviour, but not in all circumstances A meta analysis by Scheibehenne et al’s (2009) highlights that the ‘too much choice’ effect may depend on an interaction between several factors that all have to hold before it is elicited

17. Why can no-one agree?Individual differences • Everyone’s decision making processes are different: • A Satisficer is someone who searches and selects something that is ‘good enough’ • Maximisers aim for the best possible option in a given set and search all options to find it • Schwartz et al (2002) proposed that the ‘too much choice’ effect is more likely to affect maximisers, because finding the best option gets harder as the set size increases

18. Why can no-one agree?Familiarity • Some items in a given choice assortment may be familiar to some but not others, creating a choice bias unknown to the researcher • Lack of familiarity with, or lack of prior preferences for the items in the choice assortment will result in the choosers not being able to rely merely on selecting something that matches their own preferences (Iyengar and Lepper 2000)

19. How to cope with all this choice… “Our research shows that consumers are finding their own solutions to cope with this increasing burden of choice. Choosing well known and trusted brands is one, but some people are starting to employ less obvious strategies like buying only organic products or shopping only on a Friday when the supermarket shelves are less full.” Michael Willmott

20. How to cope with all this choice… • Lighten up when selecting your bread or milk- don’t take the everyday task too seriously- it’s not the end of the world if you buy bread with oats in by mistake! • Opt for small shops that offer less choice- big potatoes vs. small potatoes! • If you are confused, ASK FOR HELP! If you know you just want salted butter then ask for advice rather than ending up with low fat, diary free, gluten free, organic butter • Save those big decision moments for things that warrant the potential stress, like... • Choose when to choose- only start thinking about when to decide what cheese to buy when you are in the cheese aisle...not hours before • Enjoy what you have, don’t waste your time worrying about what you don’t have • Be a satisficer (accept a ‘good enough’ option) not a maximiser (always wanting ‘the best’ option)

21. Conclusion • There are two completely opposing views regarding the existence of the ‘too much choice’ effect. • Both views are supported by sound evidence – it appears that the argument has not yet been resolved. The question of whether the effect exists in consumer terms is still open and no solid conclusion can be made. • However, Scheibehenne’s (2009) paper proposes that the ‘too much choice’ effect may exist, only under certain conditions rather than being a universal effect as suggested by Iyengar and Lepper (2000). • In real life settings, it is clear to most that the effect does play a part in our satisfaction and decision making processes in consumption situations. • Further research outside a laboratory setting is proposed to examine the effects of the paradigm with ecological validity. • More investigation into the choice overload hypothesis is certainly called for as the arguments for and against its existence has not yet come close to reaching a concrete conclusion.

22. “In America I have seen the freest and best educated of men in circumstances the happiest to be found in the world; yet it seemed that a cloud habitually hung on their brow, and they seemed serious and almost sad even in their pleasures” - Alexis de Tocqueville (1830)