A Study on the Dilemma of Choice

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Table of Contents

Abstract
Introduction
Method
Material
Results
Discussion
References

Abstract

The psychological community has studied the concept of choice for many years. The earlier studies indicated that individuals were more satisfied with having a greater selection of choices than those with no choice.

As the number of choices that individuals make increases, this earlier research was no longer sufficient to understand the issues facing the average individual. Later studies on choice were done that compared the satisfaction level of a small number of choices with a larger amount. The study indicated that the individuals were more satisfied with the choices made when they had a smaller selection to choose from. This is consistent with the current psychological research on choice.

Introduction

In Too Much Choice Barry Schwartz explores the dilemma that faces the average consumer as they navigate a grocery store. The number of choices that a consumer has to make going through a grocery store is astounding. The choices do not stop at the grocery store either, in every facet of an individual’s life they are forced to make choices from what company health care plan to choose, where to invest their retirement money along with the other choices of daily life such as what to wear and where to work (Schwartz, 2006). The studies done by psychologists over the years have indicated to companies and marketers that consumers want more choices. Many companies have taken those studies and continued to create new products to appeal to the consumer’s desire for choice.

While the majority of companies are continuing to increase the number of items they produce and sell some companies are experimenting with offering consumers less choice. Google the internet search agent offers consumers less choice on their web page but consistently out pre-form Yahoo and MSN (Schwartz, 2006). Companies who opt out of increasing the number of choices a consumer has to make are selling more of their products.

According to Barry Schwartz consumers are now facing choice overload and have developed a good coping mechanism to allow them to exist in a world with too many choices (Schwartz, 2006). They focus on the bands and products they know and ignore the rest. Barry Schwartz’s research is similar to the research done by Sheena S. Iyengar and Mark R. Lepper.

In the article When Choice is Demotivating: Can One Desire Too Much of a Good Thing by Sheena S. Iyengar and Mark R. Lepper; the researchers examine a well-researched concept in psychology from a new perspective. The option of choice has been well researched over the past 30 years. These studies have indicated that when an individual is given multiple choices they experience greater satisfaction with life and an increased perception of the amount of control they have over their actions. In this article, they examine research that they conducted where the participants were offered a multitude of choices. This increased amount of choices represents the participant’s daily life choosing between items that are very similar and often offer little or no advantage to the consumer when compared to a similar product (Lepper).

To test the effect of the increasing amount of choices that the average consumer faces on a daily basis the psychological test would need to include more options. The researchers performed three studies in different real-world situations. Two of them focused on the participant selecting a consumer product; in one instance they were choosing between different types of jam and in the other different types of chocolate (Lepper). The third study focused on students in an introductory psychology course and the option of writing an extra credit assignment after choosing from 6 options or from 30.

In each instance, the increased number of choices appeared to inhibit the participants rather than liberating them (Lepper).

The concept of choice has been explored by researchers for many years. While many of the older scientific studies have indicated that a greater selection of choices appeals to many consumers current research indicates that too many choices can create a negative effect on the average individual. Barry Schwartz is one researcher that has been exploring the concept and dilemma of choice for many years. During his research, he has identified several psychological factors that may be responsible for choice overload to decrease the level of satisfaction felt by individuals about their decision (Schwartz, 2004).

According to his research as the available options increase individuals are more likely to regret their decisions due to that level of regret and the increase in anticipating regretting their decisions which leads individuals to avoid deciding (Schwartz, 2004). Individuals will also see a rise in their expectations of the benefits of the decisions that they are responsible for making which reality has a difficult time matching resulting in the individual being disappointed with their decision. Since the individual was responsible for that decision they blame themselves for the disappointment which they face (Schwartz, 2004).

The study below is based on the prior research mentioned above. The two groups were randomly selected to either have to choose from a limited number of options or a high number of options.

Based on the prior studies the hypothesis being tested was that individuals who choose from a smaller number of options would display a greater degree of satisfaction with their selection when compared to the individuals choosing from the wider variety.

Method

In this study, there were 100 participants. Of the 100 individuals, 18 were male and 82 were female. The mean age of the sample population was 22.84 years old with a standard deviation of 7.23.

Material

The results from this study were obtained by the following procedure. The participants were randomly assigned into two groups where half of the participants were shown images and descriptions of six cell phones while the other half were shown images and descriptions of thirty cell phones. This was done so that both conditions of the study were well represented. Those conditions were the lack of choices and the abundance of choice. The participants were told that they could nominate a phone that they liked with the chance of winning the phone in a drawing that occurred later. For the chance to win the phone they would have to participate in the survey and answer six questions.

The first three questions were identifier questions such as their student number, age, and gender.

The remaining questions were how much they wanted to win the phone, how difficult it was to choose the phone, and how satisfied they were with the cell phone. The last three questions were rated on a ten-point Likert scale ranging from not at all to very much for the question on how much they wanted the phone.

On the question of how difficult it was to choose the phone the scale ranged from not at all difficult to extremely difficult. The satisfaction question was rated not at all satisfied to extremely satisfied.

Results

Table 1. Summary statistics for Motivation between Limited and Extensive Choice groups

Motivation

	M	SD
Limited Choice	8.18	2.17
Extensive Choice	8.13	2.23

There was a slight difference between the Limited Choice group mean scores and the Extensive Choice mean scores in regards to Motivation. However an independents measures t-test showed that the difference between the data in Table 1 was significant.

Table 2. Summary statistics for Difficulty between Limited and Extensive Choice groups

Difficulty

	M	SD
Limited Choice	3.78	2.50
Extensive Choice	5.64	2.25

There was a difference between the Limited Choice group mean scores and the Extensive Choice group mean scores with the Limited Choice group having lower scores in regard to Difficulty. An independent measures t-test showed that the difference between the data in Table 2 was statistically significant.

Table 3. Summary statistics for Satisfaction between Limited and Extensive Choice groups

Satisfaction

	M	SD
Limited Choice	8.55	1.64
Extensive Choice	6.12	1.82

There was a difference between the Limited Choice group mean scores and the Extensive Choice group mean scores with the Limited Choice group having higher scores in regard to Satisfaction. An independent measures t-test showed that the difference between the data in Table 3 was statistically not significant.

Discussion

This study provided the researchers with the following results. There was no difference between the two groups on motivation, there was a difference between the two groups on difficulty and there was a difference between the two groups on satisfaction. These results indicate that the hypotheses were supported by the research. Due to the hypothesis being supported by the research it is indicated that consumers find it easier to make choices that they find easier and more satisfying when they are choosing from a limited number of options. While this is interesting in a research setting it becomes more interesting when viewed in a real world setting, because the companies that present consumers with fewer choices could receive more income from those options and have a more satisfied customer base.

The research done during this study corresponds to the research done by Mark Lepper and Barry Schwartz which indicated that the multitude of choices causes indecision and ultimately non-action from both the participants in the research studies and consumers. The inability of consumers to feel confident about there decisions affects there level of satisfaction with their lives and could lead to serious concerns in the mental health field.

As the median age of the participants was 22.84 years old, should the study be repeated it would be beneficial to have participants from other age brackets included. The additional information of how older individuals respond to the questioner could assist researchers in understanding how the increased number of choices affected individual’s satisfaction levels at various ages.

References

Iyengar, S.S., Lepper, M.R. (2000). When choice is Demotivation: Can one Desire Too Much of a Good Thing? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79(6), 995-1006.
Schwartz, B (2004). Choice overload burdens daily life. Web.
Schwartz, B (2006). Too Much Choice. [Video]

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