It is a real paradox, as duly theorized by Barry Schwartz: too much choice increases our dissatisfaction. The greater the number of similar products displayed, the greater the likelihood of having to deal with bewildered customers, or even customers who buy less!
And think that this is one of the most frequent problems in the e-commerce context, where the average user is forced to decide on the purchase within chaotic listings, in which the chosen product is often surrounded by many equally attractive alternatives.
The question then arises spontaneously 🤔: how can you develop communication on your e-commerce to ensure that the wide choice of products presented does not end up overwhelming and ultimately driving away your own customers?
In short, where does the Paradox of choice come from?
The American psychologist Barry Schwartz, who in 2004 published the famous 'The Paradox of Choice', explained it to us.
Barry Schwartz was quite precise: there are three reasons why an excessive amount of products can overwhelm us and distance us from buying, and it is on them that the Paradox of choice rests.
psychology applied to the web and neuromarketing.
I refer to a work by psychologist George Miller, who in the 1950s published 'The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information' or 'The magical number seven, more or less two: some limits on our ability to process information ', an essay with an extremely explanatory title.
paradox of ecommerce choice
This survey explains how people are able to keep in mind only 7 (plus or minus 2, therefore 5,6,7,8, or 9) objects at a time. Beyond that number, everything gets confused, for the simple fact that the human mind is not ready to deal with that cognitive overload.
In short, this is what is meant when the cognitive cost is referred to in the Paradox of choice. Simplifying as much as possible, it means that presenting a large number of choices in front of the customer - and therefore 12 different detergents for the washing machine, or 29 different snacks, or even 18 different cans of cat food - means giving them too much to think about, making the his difficult and painful decision.
Therefore, if on the one hand the number of products to choose from has been continuously increasing, on the other hand our cognitive capacity has remained unchanged.
When too many products are presented on a store shelf or on an e-commerce page - a tot more than 7, referring to Miller - then our mind is overloaded.
But that's not all, because our mind, in reality, does not automatically give up the choice. No: instead of thinking rationally about the decision to make - an almost impossible process, given the amount of options available - our mind lets itself go to shortcuts and heuristic processes based on stereotypes and bias.
In this case, we can only refer to the studies of Daniel Kahneman, and the intervention of System 1, the fastest but also more emotional, impulsive and fallacious system, instead of system 2, which is slower and lazy.
What does all this mean in a sales context? It not only means that decisions in similar situations may be less correct. But it also means that, faced with such a difficulty, the purchase decision is often postponed. And you know, often a deferred purchase is a canceled purchase - or one made by the competition.
Confirming all this is a famous experiment conducted in 2000 by Iyengar and Lepper, who, inside a supermarket, set up two different tables in turn for free product tastings. In a first example, 24 different types of jam were presented on the table, while in the second example the types were reduced to 6.
Well, in this second case, as many as 30% of people bought a product, whereas in the case of the 24 different jams only 3% of customers chose to make a purchase.
paradox of ecommerce choice
The postponement of the choice
As anticipated, being overwhelmed by an excessive number of possible choices can also push us to postpone the choice.
This is the result of the laziness and inertia that distinguish the human mind, added precisely to the too many products on display. Think about possible retirement plans. In his book, Schwartz talked about 156 different plans in the United States that citizens could choose from.
Aren't they a little too many?
How can you be sure you are making the right choice from all of these options?
Where can you find the material time to analyze each individual offer and understand its advantages and disadvantages?
Who has enough skills to face this choice?
Certainly, since it is your future and your savings, it is not a choice that can be left to chance. Well, faced with such a difficulty, as announced, our mind ends up postponing.
Not once, but several times.
Post-purchase remorse
The dissatisfaction after the purchase was certainly not born yesterday. Even a hundred years ago, unfortunate deals were made from time to time. At that time, however, the shopkeeper could be blamed: he had been the one to give us a disappointing product. Today, however, the fault is ours, because we choose which product to buy.
post-purchase remorse
Is it really possible that out of 20 dishwashing detergents not one really removes burnt grease and dirt?
We must surely have chosen badly.
Is it really possible that of all the T-shirts that were in the store, this one retired from the first wash?
Again, our fault.
You just found out how post-purchase remorse is generated. Remorse that among other things tends to continually amplify, because with the abundance our expectations also grow, which - almost - punctually are also disappointed.
For these three reasons, more choice doesn't mean more happiness.
This is what the Paradox of choice is. Now you know him. You know why your customers, faced with the breadth of your e-commerce business offer, sometimes run away before making purchases. And you also know why they often make purchases which then turn into returns.
What can you do about it?
Well, if you keep reading you will learn some efficient strategies to make sure that the paradox of choice does not constitute a problem for your e-commerce.
Find out how to manage the paradox of choice to decrease the cognitive load of your users and increase #conversions on your #ecommerce!
Share on Twitter
Strategies to circumvent the Paradox of choice and increase conversions
1 Study and predict the needs of your users
Users come to your e-commerce to make a purchase, and then to get hold of a product.
In short, your portal is a means, not an end.
It is a tool that must be used to achieve subsequent satisfaction: therefore, it should not surprise you that users are in a certain hurry, and therefore want to waste as little time as possible on your pages.
Do you want to ensure that your potential customers do not 'feel' the cognitive cost of their purchasing choices?
Well, then you go out of your way to help them, to anticipate their moves, making them come to the purchase decision immediately.
To do this you need to study in depth all the data you have available on your audience, so as to know their desires and their behaviors: in this way you will know what to offer to your audience.
Why propose 50 different solutions, when you already know very well that there are 5 that will be much more appreciated than all the others?
Think for example of Spotify: based on all the data it collects on users, the portal individually presents customized lists of tracks, which from time to time tend to be more and more appropriate, also using a machine learning algorithm to go to predict which pieces individual users will be happy to discover.
On a graphic level, therefore, it enhances the prominent products, making sure to insert immediately visible and persuasive call to action.
2 Reduce the chances of remorse and emphasize loss aversion
It has been seen that, among the reasons why we can speak of the Paradox of choice, there is also that relating to post-sales remorse.
Do you want to remove the possibility of dealing with customers who are dissatisfied or disappointed with their purchase decision and, at the same time, want to increase the conversion rate?
Well, then you should take advantage of loss aversion, that is, that cognitive bias that helps us persuade undecided customers.
Using targeted phrases such as 'take advantage of the best price guaranteed' or 'Here is the lowest price ever' you will be able to trigger the fear of losing a juicy deal in users, a very powerful feeling
Furthermore, once they have purchased that product, they will know that they have 'saved', and therefore have made an economically advantageous choice
3 Filter your products
We have said that one of the main problems, when talking about the Paradox of choice, is linked to the excessive cognitive load that users find themselves facing.
How can you make life easier for your e-commerce users?
Well, among the most effective solutions there is undoubtedly that of filtering the products in a detailed and clear way.
---end first part