The Paradox of Choice or When Good Enough is Good Enough

Barry Schwartz's book The Paradox of Choice explores the downside of having too much choice.

The core of Schwartz's argument is that consumers are so overwhelmed by choice that it has two significant negative effects. First, instead of liberating people it tends to paralyze them (e.g., Orange Juice with pulp, without pulp, with some pulp, with pulp and calcium, with pulp, calcium and added vitamins, etc). Second, consumers actually feel worse when purchasing a product that has too many choices or options. For example, a consumer that has purchased a digital camera after reviewing hundreds of similar products may have made an informed choice, but is still likely to feel worse for it because of the overwhelming sense of having made an imperfect purchasing decision (ie., there must be a better camera out there). Too much choice therefore tends to defer decisions and extend the purchasing cycle as consumers grapple with a matrix of possibilities.

Malcolm Gladwell, the author of Tipping Point and Blink, shares Schwartz's view and explains how offering consumers too much choice impairs their ability to make snap judgements and purchasing decisions. As Gladwell says, "the only way to get people to buy quickly is to radically simplify".



The lesson for product managers is that less is more. By streamlinling or restricting choice and focusing more on product quality and design, sellers can significantly reduce the complexity and anxiety facing buyers today and drive overall sales. Case in point: until very recently, the two most popular consumer devices of our time -- the iPod and the Razr -- came in only one color. As Barry Schwartz explains: know when "good enough is good enough". Amen, Barry.

Now, I'm off to the drug store to decide among 25 choices of toothpaste. Help me!