Choice is Good... but too much of it is BAD

The TVC for a noodle brand shows a kid asking a series of questions to arrive at the fact that choice is good.

There have been a lot of arguments in favour of providing choices. It leads to personalization of offers. One can target greater population. A seller can provide more options. And finally, the customer feels empowered and in control of the buying process when he can select and decide the item to purchase from various options available.

I would advise the product managers and marketers to exercise caution when providing options. Let’s walk through the customers’ mental buying process. For sake of example, we will consider an item which is fast becoming a frequent purchase – a mobile handset.

When a customer has decided to purchase a new handset, there is a set of features and functionality that forms a checklist in his mind. He looks at various options available and shortlists those models that meet the mandatory and sufficient needs from this check list. Finally, he zeroes on one model and purchases the same.
What happens next is very interesting. Have you ever considered why you are dissatisfied after you buy a product?

When the customer has purchased the product, his universe of options now reduces to just two. The first option is the model he has recently purchased and the other option is a “collation” of all other models. So it is now a comparison between one model and the “best features” of all the remaining models that was originally being compared. When this evaluation plays in his mind, he obviously feels a doubt that his decision was not correct and he feels disappointed. Sometimes this process happens even while the purchase is being processed. Ever noticed that slight tinge of doubt on your decision and purchase while your credit card swipe is being authorized?

Most often this disappointment gets translated into dissatisfaction with the product purchased and eventually with the supplier or manufacturer.

It is very important that the choices be kept at an optimum. Cause the fact there is a choice of options forces the customer to take one more decision. Any step in the buying process delays the sale and every step is a potential drop from the purchase process. Thus choices can delay the sales closure since the customer now has to perform one extra evaluation and take an additional decision. Even when a customer does make a decision, the post purchase evaluation will result in dissatisfaction with his decision. The blame will ultimately rest on the supplier / manufacturer. Hence, I reiterate, keep the choices at an optimum. Let there be a real reason for the option to exist.

In case of the noodle, whenever I walk down the breakfast aisle, I take the easy way out. I pick up one of each flavor and dump it in the shopping cart. That’s one less decision for me.

And as for the mobile handset, I still get the tingle that maybe the E72 was not the right handset to buy…sigh!!! Especially when I use my wife’s phone … an E5 from the same manufacturer at 60% the cost…sigh! sigh!!. Ford was so right… any colour as long as it is black.

If you read this, do leave your feedback / comment.