Too Many Choices
“When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”
Yogi Berra
I’ve just come back from the grocery store. On my shopping list—I always shop with a list— was my favourite Colgate variety of toothpaste. I buy a couple of tubes when it’s on sale but today it was nowhere to be seen; discontinued, as it turns out.
I looked over the other Colgate varieties, some of which were on sale: toothpaste to whiten your teeth; toothpaste to prevent cavities; toothpaste to freshen your breath; toothpaste to protect your gums; toothpaste to protect your enamel; toothpaste with fluoride; toothpaste with charcoal; toothpaste for sensitive teeth; toothpaste to give you a Hollywood smile; toothpaste for kids; toothpaste in upright tubes; toothpaste in bottles; toothpaste in 70, 98, 120, and 190 ml size; and toothpaste in three-pack deals. And that was just the Colgate brand. I could also choose among a similar array by Crest or Sensodyne.
Overwhelmed by the bewildering number of choices, I left the store with no toothpaste at all.
Once, the only toothpaste choices were Colgate or Crest. Each brand made only one variety. Take it or leave it. Heads or tails. You had a 50/50 chance of getting it right and either choice was probably satisfactory. With all the choices listed above, you may ask, “Why can’t they just make one perfect toothpaste that does everything?” That’s what I’d like to know!
“Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black.”
Henry Ford
Freedom, and freedom to choose, is a cornerstone of democracy. If a little choice is good then isn’t more better? It seems not. In The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less, American psychologist Barry Schwartz guides us through all the reasons why too many choices can be paralyzing and, eventually, result in deep dissatisfaction. Schwartz calls this “the peculiar problem of modern affluent Western societies.”
According to Schwartz, “ . . . our experience of choice as a burden rather than a privilege . . . is the result of a complex interaction among many psychological processes that permeate our culture, including rising expectations, awareness of opportunity costs, aversion to trade-offs, adaptation, regret, self-blame, the tendency to engage in social comparisons, and maximizing.”
Maximizers vs satisficers
Schwartz begins by dividing consumers into two camps: maximizers and satisficers. Maximizers are perfectionists who seek to make the best possible choice. Satisficers are satisfied with “good enough.” Maximizers are more likely to experience regret, brood longer over bad choices, are found to be less satisfied with life in general, and experience depression at higher rates than satisficers.
You know you’re a maximizer when it takes you eight weeks to choose new eyeglass frames, as I did this past winter. Because new glasses are so expensive and because I keep my glasses for so many years, my decision had to be the right one. Wanting to leave no stone unturned or frame untried, I visited just about every optician within a 75-kilometre radius and kept changing my mind about which frame was my favourite. I knew that the perfect frame was out there somewhere, waiting for me. “Ugh. It’s like dating.” I could have, as a satisficer friend of mine did, walk into one optician’s office, choose a pair, and walk out within half an hour.
As Schwartz points out, we can be maximizers in some areas and satisficers in others. I might take two whole months to choose eyeglasses but I can’t be bothered to change my internet provider. What I have now is good enough.
After deregulation in Canada, the communications industry swarmed with competitors. The onus was now on the consumer to choose their service provider and plan. The consumer who wanted to get the best rates had to do their own comparison shopping and, as with so many other choices, become knowledgeable in a field outside of their own expertise. The wrong choice could result in massive inconvenience or the loss of hundreds of dollars a year. I won’t leave my current internet provider because I might regret it. I’m afraid to make the wrong choice.
The road not taken
The entire advertising industry is geared toward making us feel inferior and dissatisfied with the choices we have already made. We compare ourselves to our neighbours and find ourselves lacking. The appeal of our latest acquisition wears off and our heads are turned by the newest shiny toy. Every decision we make involves lost opportunities and trade-offs. Regardless of the choice we make we’re missing out on something that is potentially better. The more choices we have, the more that we are missing out on.
In her book Regret, Janet Landman says, “Regret may threaten decisions with multiple attractive alternatives more than decisions offering only one or a more limited set of alternatives . . . Ironically, then, the greater the number of appealing choices, the greater the opportunity for regret.”
Some choice is better than none but too many choices lead to what economist Fred Hirsch called “the tyranny of small decisions.” Whether we dither over which eyewear or toothpaste to buy, or spend hours online comparing internet plans, too many choices mean that our decision-making energy expenditure is out of all proportion to the satisfaction or difference these decisions bring to our lives and it costs us. When every brand of every product available offers so many choices, it’s no wonder that, despite our affluence, we are experiencing a decline in our overall psychological well-being.
“The secret to happiness is low expectations.”
Barry Schwartz
Schwartz suggests these ways to minimize dissatisfaction with our choices:
Voluntarily limit your options to fewer choices.
Think about why a particular decision is important or not and devote your decision-making energy only to those decisions that really matter.
Become a satisficer rather than a maximizer. Know yourself and develop standards for what is “good enough” (see point #2 above).
Stick with what you always buy and don’t be tempted by “new and improved.”
Make your decisions nonreversible and remove yourself from the market.
Look for reasons to be grateful for the choices you’ve made.
Minimize regret and know that rarely does any single decision have the life-changing power we imagine.
Be aware that satisfaction with our decision wanes after time through adaptation. Don’t chase after the next new thing once the initial thrill wears off.
Lower your expectations and allow for serendipity.
Don’t fall into the social comparison trap. Focus on making the right decision for you.
Learn to view limits and rules as liberating rather than constraining.
https://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_the_paradox_of_choice?language=en