Back in the year 2000, two researchers conducted a psychology study…
with jam.
The researchers set up a jam-tasting stall in a California supermarket and offered customers
varieties of jam – sometimes 6, sometimes 24.
They found the display of 24 jams attracted more customers, but only 3% of jam tasters
actually bought jam.
When they displayed 6 varieties, 30% of those who tasted the jam bought some.
And the customers were more satisfied with their choice if it was from a smaller number
of options.
The less choice, the better.
In “The Paradox of Choice”, psychologist Barry Schwartz labelled that feeling of too
many jams or the choice of too many candy bars or menu items as “choice overload”.
The idea isn't new—in the 1300s French philosopher Jean Buridan theorised if you were faced with
the choice of two equally tempting options, you would delay your choice.
Like an equally thirsty and hungry donkey choosing between a bucket of water and a pile
of hay.
Things don’t end well for the donkey.
Schwartz points out that modern society has more choices than ever before, which leads
to a decrease in your motivation to choose and dissatisfaction with your final choice.
But this is kind of counterintuitive when you consider the supreme number of options
stores and brands have.
At Domino's Pizza they have 39 menu options and at Starbucks, 120 beverage options.
I went and counted them.
Economist Tim Harford said “It is hard to find much evidence that retailers are ferociously
simplifying their offerings in an effort to boost sales.”
Normally research kind of informs business practices...
I’m confused.
A few years ago researchers in Switzerland did a big analysis of 50 experiments similar
to the jam study.
These experiments offered participants things like jelly beans, coffee, dating partners
and wallpaper -- all where participants had to choose between a variety of options.
But they couldn't find any evidence of the "choice is bad" effect.
Nothing was wrong with how the jam study was conducted, their findings were just...
Different.
The reality is that we can't really say if more or less options motivate you to make
a decision.
Or if you’ll be satisfied with that decision.
And a lot of other things affect your capacity to choose: like what mood you're in or how
difficult the decision is.
Maybe choice isn’t as much of a paradox or brain jam as some psychologists have led
us to believe.
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