Buying Behavior as a Function of Parametric Variation of Number of Choices

Shah, Avni; Wolford, George

doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01906.x

Cited by 146 publications

(123 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Rather, one may hypothesize that the negative relationship between number of alternatives and satisfaction known as the too-much-choice effect is observed only after a certain threshold of choice complexity has been crossed. Although such a threshold model is currently speculative, it is worth pointing out that not only the present findings, but also prior research by Shah and Wolford (2007)-who observed a negative trend between the number of alternatives and satisfaction only for medium to high assortment sizes, that is, after a certain threshold of choice complexity had been crossed-is in line with such a perspective.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Less may be more when choosing is difficult: Choice complexity and too much choice

2010

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Less may be more when choosing is difficult: Choice complexity and too much choice

2010

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“…Other researchers found similar results in choices among other items, including pens (Shah and Wolford 2007), chocolates (Chernev 2003b), gift boxes (Reutskaja and Hogarth 2009), and coffee (Mogilner et al 2008). Iyengar and Lepper (2000) also found empirical evidence for choice overload in a study in which the quality of written essays decreased if the number of topics to choose from increased.…”

Section: Past Research On Choice Overloadsupporting

confidence: 58%

“…In the case of studies by Reutskaja (2008) and Reutskaja and Hogarth (2009), where the assortment size varied between five and 30 with increments of five, we selected the contrast between 10 and 30 options. In the study by Shah and Wolford (2007), where assortment sizes varied between two and 20 with increments of two, we contrasted the mean of small assortments ranging from six to 12 with the mean of large assortments ranging from 14 to 20 options. For Mogilner et al (2008), we calculated contrasts between the small and the large assortment separately for participants who were relatively familiar with the domain of choice (so-called preference matchers) and those who were relatively unfamiliar with it (so-called preference constructors) to retain the interaction effect and to include all data.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Past research suggested that possible consequences of having many options to choose among might follow a curvilinear relationship, such that an initial increase in the assortment size leads to a more-is-better effect but a further increase eventually leads to choice overload (Reutskaja and Hogarth 2009;Shah and Wolford 2007). To test this proposed relationship meta-analytically, we fitted a quadratic function …”

Section: Influence Of Moderatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Can There Ever Be Too Many Options? A Meta-Analytic Review of Choice Overload

Scheibehenne¹,

Greifeneder²,

Todd³

2010

J Consum Res

827

483

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The choice overload hypothesis states that an increase in the number of options to choose from may lead to adverse consequences such as a decrease in the motivation to choose or the satisfaction with the finally chosen option. A number of studies found strong instances of choice overload in the lab and in the field, but others found no such effects or found that more choices may instead facilitate choice and increase satisfaction. In a meta-analysis of 63 conditions from 50 published and unpublished experiments (N p 5,036), we found a mean effect size of virtually zero but considerable variance between studies. While further analyses indicated several potentially important preconditions for choice overload, no sufficient conditions could be identified. However, some idiosyncratic moderators proposed in single studies may still explain when and why choice overload reliably occurs; we review these studies and identify possible directions for future research.

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“…As examples, choices over many options have been shown to lead to forgoing decisions or choosing simpler options (Chernev, 2003;Greifeneder, Scheibehenne, & Kleber, 2010;Iyengar & Kamenica, 2010;Iyengar & Lepper, 2000;Reutskaja & Hogarth, 2009;Schwartz, 2004;Shah & Wolford, 2007). In addition to arguments based on regret and satisfaction (e.g., Iyengar & Lepper, 2000;Schwartz, 2004), the predominant explanation for choice overload effects has been information overload (e.g., Jacoby, Speller, & Kohn, 1974;Lee & Lee, 2004;Schwartz, 2004).…”

Section: Information Overload and Choice Order Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Information overload or search-amplified risk? Set size and order effects on decisions from experience

Hills

Noguchi

Gibbert³

2013

Psychon Bull Rev

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How do changes in choice-set size influence information search and subsequent decisions? Moreover, does information overload influence information processing with larger choice sets? We investigated these questions by letting people freely explore sets of gambles before choosing one of them, with the choice sets either increasing or decreasing in number for each participant (from two to 32 gambles). Set size influenced information search, with participants taking more samples overall, but sampling a smaller proportion of gambles and taking fewer samples per gamble, when set sizes were larger. The order of choice sets also influenced search, with participants sampling from more gambles and taking more samples overall if they started with smaller as opposed to larger choice sets. Inconsistent with information overload, information processing appeared consistent across set sizes and choice order conditions, reliably favoring gambles with higher sample means. Despite the lack of evidence for information overload, changes in information search did lead to systematic changes in choice: People who started with smaller choice sets were more likely to choose gambles with the highest expected values, but only for small set sizes. For large set sizes, the increase in total samples increased the likelihood of encountering rare events at the same time that the reduction in samples per gamble amplified the effect of these rare events when they occurred-what we call search-amplified risk. This led to riskier choices for individuals whose choices most closely followed the sample mean.Keywords Information overload . Decisions from experience . Risk . Choice overload . Consumer behavior From what we wear to how we entertain ourselves, we are constantly choosing among sets of alternatives. It is as if our lives are merely extended department store experiences, where we commonly make hundreds of choices before we reach the checkout aisle. Although these decisions often rely on past experience-for which there is ample literature

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Buying Behavior as a Function of Parametric Variation of Number of Choices

Cited by 146 publications

References 5 publications

Less may be more when choosing is difficult: Choice complexity and too much choice

Less may be more when choosing is difficult: Choice complexity and too much choice

Can There Ever Be Too Many Options? A Meta-Analytic Review of Choice Overload

Information overload or search-amplified risk? Set size and order effects on decisions from experience

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