Pamela Mardle
Katie Gough
Gabrielle Sarll
University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
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
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)
• 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
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.
When Choice is Demotivating: Can One Desire Too Much of a
Good Thing? -Sheena S. Iyengar and Mark R. Lepper (2000)
Percentage Bought
Study 1: Choosing Wilkins & Sons Jam
Method
 Two tasting booths set up in grocery
70
store: one offering 6 choices of jam; the
60
other offering a choice of 24
50
Customers stopping at
 Consumers observed for initial
stall
40
attractiveness to each number of
30
Customers purchasing
alternatives and subsequent purchasing
jam
behaviour
20
10
Results
0
 Initial Attractiveness to Selections
6
24
- 60% of customers in store stopped at
Number of jams displayed
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.
When Choice is Demotivating: Can One Desire Too Much
of a Good Thing? -Sheena S. Iyengar and Mark R. Lepper (2000)
Percent
Percent
Study 2: Extra-credit Optional Essays at Stanford
University
Essay completion
Method
80
70
 Students were given the option to complete a 2
page essay on a film they had previously watched. 60
50
40
Students chose from a set of 6 essay questions or
30
20
30
10
0
 The number and quality of essays completed in
6
30
each condition were scored
Choice of essay questions
Results
 Essays completed
- 74% of students assigned to limited-choice
Essay Quality
condition
8.2
8.1
- 60% of students assigned to extensive-choice
8
7.9
condition
7.8
7.7
 Quality of essays
7.6
- Students in the limited-choice condition wrote a 7.5
7.4
higher quality essay (M = 8.09) than those in
6
30
extensive-choice condition (M = 7.69)
Choice of essay questions
Conclusion
• A limited-choice is more likely to encourage completion of an optional task and at
a higher standard than an extensive-choice.
When Choice is Demotivating: Can One Desire Too Much of a Good
Thing? -Sheena S. Iyengar and Mark R. Lepper (2000)
Satisfaction
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0
6
30
Choice of samples
100
90
80
Percentage
Study 3: Godiva Chocolate Tasting
Method
 3 conditions: limited-choice (from 6 chocolates), extensivechoice (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
70
Chocolates
Cash
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0
6
30
Choice of samples
•
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 nochoice condition
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
Points of consideration
 Was the study design
 Is the study question relevant?
appropriate for the research
"As consumer choice grows
question?
consumers are feeling
2/3 studies used a natural
overwhelmed and it is starting
observation design, therefore
to have a negative effect on lives"
have ecological validity. However
rd
the 3 study was carried out in a
lab setting and therefore cannot
 Implications
be generalised to a wider
population
If too much choice leads to no
 Does the study add anything
choice then maybe
new?
supermarkets should reduce the
Yes. This paper provides new
number of items stocked to
data and a new theory of choice
increase sales?
paradox
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
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
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
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
Points of consideration
 Was the study design
 Did the study methods address the
 Does the study add anything
 Implications
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
new?
It builds upon previous
research, aiming to establish in
what conditions the too much
choice effect occurs
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
The researchers suggest that
further research needs to be
undertaken to explore a new
paradigm in which the too much
choice effect occurs reliably
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
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
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)
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
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)
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.
“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)