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I am paralyzed by seemingly trivial decisions. Which tires to get for my car? Should I replace my malfunctioning GPS, and if so, with which model? The more options, the worst it is. Over the years, I've sought out strategies for reducing the number of choices, such as by arbitrarily choosing a brand (like a Brother printer or Dell laptop or Wrangler jeans).
Turns out I'm not along -- and there's a relatively easy cure, once you understand what's going on. Barry Schwartz's book literally changed my life by helping me understand that there are times when it's important to invest the time to make the absolute best choice (like when buying a new home) and there are times when "good enough is good enough." In those situations my new strategy is to make a set of criteria and literally choose the very first product or option that meets that criteria... and stop shopping.
Schwartz has some excellent language and vocabulary to describe the problem and the solution.
How good is this book? Well, I've purchased copies for family members and business partners, and said, "Read this book if you want to understand me." And as I said, it has changed my life. Understanding why I go crazy when faced with choices, why I sometimes get angry and shut down was the first step. With that knowledge, I now have coping mechanisms that prevent me from getting angry and storming out of the store when faced with four pairs of dress shoes at the store. Now I sit down, ask the clerk to bring me ONE pair, and if I like them, I buy them, happy as a clam.
Sound like you? Read this book. It will change your life.
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I have read a number of books over the years on the subject of how consumers make decisions, and what factors affect those decisions. I was intrigued by the topic of this book, but found it came up a bit short.
=== The Good Stuff ===
* The book does offer a decent summary of various "theories" of consumer choice. If you are not familiar with some of these, this book is not a bad overview. For example, the way a question is worded can have tremendous influence on the way people make choices (positive sounding statements are preferred to negative sounding statements, even if they mean the same thing). Similarly, some consumers are not happy until they have examined every option, while other consumers will buy as soon as they reach some minimal level of satisfaction.
* The topic of the book purports to be that as the number of choices expands to large numbers, humans are less satisfied than they are with a smaller number of choices. Certainly this is true in the extreme- if you walked in to a supermarket and found 3,932 varieties of ketchup, you'd probably be somewhat annoyed. Whether you grab any old one or simply give up and switch to mustard depends on the individual, but little question you would be happier with fewer choices.
=== The Not-So-Good Stuff ===
* I have two main criticisms. The first is that Barry Schwartz doesn't stay on topic. While the thesis of the book seems relatively simple (There can be too many choices), it wanders through various economic theories of consumer behavior. At the end of the book, he never really ties all of these theories together to support his thesis, and ends up relying on anecdotal explanations to prove his point.Read more ›
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hrough this book , Barry has tried to explain some of the commonly felt shopping distresses. While most of them will sound familiar (have myself scratched my head in front of the toothpaste shelf and then picking up one at random, so much for all the millions spent on ads), Barry has brought out a psychological explanations behind the same. So at least i am reassured that I am not the only one facing such turmoil.
In terms of concepts I liked the positive versus negative language "discount on cash" vs "surcharge on credit". There are many occasions when I felt we were making the customer aware and doing a favour, not realising that using such a straight language may just be bad marketing.
The endowment effect is also a good insight for marketeers, bundle more and give an option for customers to remove than do the reverse.
However, as the book progresses, i felt too many concepts were being brought in, thus making me lose track of the same. And too many studies to support them - get confused too often between the correlation and causuality. By the last chapter, it almost reads like a gospel or a guide towards nirvana - satisfice more and maximise less. I am not sure that many would agree unless you are already a satisficer.
In summary, the book starts with an interest concept , but gets lost somewhere in between and shifts to a different orbit by the end.
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THE PARADOX OF CHOICE by Barry Schwartz Four and Half Stars- Must Read for anyone interested in "decision making"
A fantastic book on why more is less (or less is more). It is a fantastic essay on how the culture of abundance robs us of satisfaction in life, and more importantly bring in depression. It shares enough case studies and examples of why more is less, and how to increase satisfaction life.
Key Idea: Giving people too many choices tends to lessen their satisfaction. “Maximizers” are people who, given a choice, will exhaustively search all the options, seeking all possible information, in order to make the best possible choice. This behavior generally consumes a lot of time, and often leads to nagging doubts, perhaps where no one clear winner emerged. “Satisficers” are those who settle for a choice that is “good enough” for them These people are generally happier with their choice, and spend less time choosing, leaving them free to enjoy other things.
Counterintuitive wisdom
1. We are better of if we embraced voluntary constrains of choice on our freedom of choice, instead of rebelling against in thme 2. We are better off when we choose good enough instead of seeking the best 3. Lower your expectations about the results of your decisions 4. We are better off if our decisions are irreverseable 5. We are better off if we paid less attention to what others do around us
Summary of the book by Chapter: Lets go shopping: Every area of our life from the super market to the education market offers way too much choice.
New Choice: Filtering our extraneous information is the key function of consciousnesses.Read more ›
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This item: The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less
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