Choices, Choices, Choices

Society today is overwhelmed with the unlimited amount of choices we have to make on a day-to-day basis. As a marketer, we are solely concerned with giving the customers what they want. This includes anticipating their wants and needs so we can satisfy them even before they know what their wants and needs are. As a result, many products and services have too many different choices and this can lead to confusion for the consumer as they try to decide on the product that fits their needs best. In the Pod cast by Barry Schwartz titled The Paradox of Choice, he discusses this overwhelming choice phenomenon, and gives his opinions on why this is actually hurting rather than helping the consumer.
First of all, Barry discusses the dogma that the world believes in that has led to this overwhelming amount of choices. In this belief, if we want to maximize welfare for the world, we need to maximize choice, which leads to more freedom for individuals. On the surface this sounds like a great idea! However, with further examination, it is easy to see why this much choice can actually become debilitating for the customer. Barry makes three points as to why having too many choices is a bad idea. First, these overwhelming amount of choices lead to paralysis rather than liberation for the consumer. I agree fully with this statement because I have experienced this many times first hand. For example, I’m sure you all have stood in the grocery store aisle for 15 or more minutes trying to decide on something as simple as which cereal to buy. Often times, you might get frustrated and decide that you might not need any cereal after all!
The second point Barry makes is that with all the choices consumers have now, they will be much less satisfied with their choice than if they were fewer options. If in fact, we are not 110% satisfied with our choice, it is very easy to think about the other choices and consider the opportunity costs associated with each choice. I find myself having this problem fairly regularly. A simple but common example of this problem would be having a hard time deciding what to order at a restaurant with too many menu items. I always order one thing, and then wish I had ordered the other option I had in mind. This principle applies to small purchases like this but can also apply to large purchase decision when it is more important to make the right decision.
The third point he makes is very similar to the second point but it actually something as marketers we are very familiar with: cognitive dissonance. With all these choices, Barry stresses the fact that consumer’s expectations have risen greatly. We now expect to buy something and it be the perfect product for us. Even if we pick a great product, we will always be unsatisfied with it because we bought the product with such high expectations. In this case, if what we choose is not perfect, we have no one to blame but ourselves. Consumers can no longer blame the industry for not producing the best products because there are so many choices, that we should’ve been able to pick the perfect one.
Barry Schwartz’s points have a large impact on marketing positions. Now, it is our job to not only provide choices for our customers, but to also make sure we are not overwhelming our customers with too much choice. He has made a very important customer insight that should be taken into account very seriously. I would say this will become a major concern for companies as they look into how many choices they should be providing to their customers. Companies do need to make sure they are offering the right mix of products as to not overwhelm customers but to also make sure all of their needs are met. I think this is going to really affect the marketing world as we need to figure out what exactly our customers want without scaring them with all of our options.