Choice Reduction – overcoming the barrier of choice overload

Andrew Watts Holly Murrell Cai Jin

How often do you sit down to dinner and flick through your streaming services before finally settling on that comfort show that you have watched more times than you can count, with slightly colder food, feeling significantly wearier?

Or how about when you’re on Deliveroo looking for a takeaway? What was meant to be a weekend treat that spared you from cooking, suddenly becomes a chore, scrolling through countless restaurants, menus and reviews. And often, when it finally arrives, it is a let-down, leaving you wishing that you had saved your money and just cooked something instead.

Both scenarios have one thing in common, choice overload; an unconscious bias which describes how too many choices can cause people to become overwhelmed.

At surface level, offering more choices appears to be a positive for both brands and consumers. However, when you dig a little deeper, it is the inverse. Whilst more choice may seem to offer consumers increased freedom, the time spent debating these choices results in fatigue, anxiety and regret when choosing the best option. In his TED talk, psychologist Barry Schwartz explores two negative effects of choice overload:

1. Choice Paralysis

The first is choice paralysis, whereby consumers are unable to make a decision, either defaulting to their usual choice or choosing not to purchase at all. The more choices we have, the more energy we use to decide between them. It is this increase in energy that causes us to feel fatigued.

Schwartz gives context to choice paralysis by referencing a study on retirement plans in Vanguard, where the more funds Vanguard offered, the lower the rate of participation from their employees. This is as the more funds there were on offer, the harder it is to choose, so much so that employees continue to put off their choice until they have missed the opportunity. Not only did employees forgo benefits in the form of returns on their investments, but they also passed up money from the employer, who offered to match their contribution. This example demonstrates the debilitating effects of choice paralysis to the point where people are forgoing significant financial benefits due to their inability to decide.

2. Opportunity Cost

As the number of choices available increases, so too does the opportunity cost – you naturally think about what you may be missing out on. It’s because with an increase in the number of alternatives, there is a higher perception of loss when one alternative is chosen. It is this comparison between choices that leaves consumers feeling less satisfied with their decision, even when it is a good one.

Think back to the Deliveroo example earlier. Rather than spending £25 on a takeaway that you didn’t quite enjoy in the end, what could you have done instead? You could have gone for coffee, brunch, to the cinema, bought a nice bottle of wine, or an item of clothing. The truth is, there are many other things that you could have done with that £25, and it is the loss of these ‘could have’s’ that contribute to low satisfaction and regret.

From a brand’s perspective, offering more choices may be seen as an opportunity to increase sales by expanding their target audience, catering to as many needs as possible. However, by overwhelming consumers, brands are inadvertently causing negative product evaluation and decreasing purchase likelihood.

So how do brands win?

You may be reading this and thinking, what does this mean for my brand? Do we need to cut our product ranges? How many products is too many? But fret not, there is a way to overcome choice overload without sacrificing your range.

 We refer to it as our Choice Reduction Sales Trigger, which simplifies choice, so people don’t suffer from overload and default to their current behaviour.

 Over the course of two-years, we at KHWS worked with Durham University Business School to distil years of behavioural science and consumer psychology research into 9 Sales Triggers, providing a robust, yet accessible methodology that:

1. Makes sense of unconscious biases and heuristics from a brand owners perspective

2. Identifies the unconscious cues that inform marketing which will nudge people to buy your brands

So how have brands leveraged  Choice Reduction?

 Taxonomy – Gift Edits

In the month of December, I cannot avoid the elephant (or reindeer) in the room. Christmas. The season of joy, mulled wine, mince pies and gifting.

Unlike birthdays, where you typically only need to buy a gift for one recipient, your Christmas shopping list feels endless. You have family, friends and neighbours to buy for, not to mention the office Secret Santa…

But what do you get everyone?

Are you doomed to scroll through the hundreds of thousands of pages becoming increasingly more panicked and fatigued as you click through? Will you delay and procrastinate until you’re running around on Christmas Eve drenched in sweat and guilt? Neither scenario seems appealing, but with so many people to buy for and so many gift options for each person, how can you make it easier for consumers to find perfect gifts for their loved ones

Well, Etsy gift edits have you covered.

And no, I’m not talking about the view all products section with a ‘gifting’ header slapped on the top. I’m talking about the uber specific gift edits, which break down products into smaller sections with relatable prompts such as ‘what keeps them entertained’ and ‘what’s their style’. Each prompt then shows a range of profiles showing profiles such as ‘The Film Buff’, ‘The Self-Care Enthusiast’ or ‘The Scandinavian Style Lover’. Allowing you to pick a category that aligns with the recipient’s interests to find targeted gifts that they would like.

To make it even easier, Etsy also break down these profiles by product type. Taking the already fairly niche profile of ‘Scandinavian Style Lover’ as an example, this section then breaks down into categories such as jewellery, wall hangings, Nordic gnomes, etc., which are all in Scandinavian style.

Whilst this may feel like a longwinded ad for Etsy, it is merely acknowledgement of and appreciation for their solution to reducing choice overload on their site. By breaking their products into specific, relatable categories, Etsy have made a daunting task a more manageable and positive experience. Which is no mean feat for a retailer that as of 2024 had 9.04 million active sellers alone.

Moment – Twinings

With long documented benefits, herbal teas have been hailed for their health promoting properties, due to the antioxidants, vitamins and minerals found in different plants. As a growing number of consumers seek a healthier lifestyle, the herbal tea category has expanded.

However, without a keen understanding of herbology, botany or herbal teas in general, it is not always clear what health benefit, or even taste, that is associated with each type of herbal tea, especially with more obscure ingredients. Valerian root, anyone? 

Whilst Tesco’s 86 listings for Fruit and Herbal Tea is significantly lower than the millions of Etsy products, the unfamiliarity with ingredients and subsequent lack of understanding surrounding herbal tea means that this is a category where consumers can become easily overwhelmed with choice overload when in the aisle.

In launching their Superblends range in 2018, Twinings aimed to combat this by ensuring their range conveyed the botanical properties and taste of their range in a modern yet informative way. By simply drawing shoppers focus to the primary health benefits of each product, Twinings provided a shortcut for health-conscious consumers, reducing the noise within the category and preventing shoppers from becoming overwhelmed.

Product Selector – ASICS

 How better to prevent choice overload, than providing a tailored product selector tool, which helps shoppers find the perfect product for them, with minimal effort, fatigue or chances of becoming overwhelmed with research and choice?

Meet ASICS’ product selector, ‘Shoe Finder’. After identifying that 80% of runners wear the wrong shoes, ASICS undertook a challenge to empower online shoppers in their purchase of running shoes. Seeking to replicate the in-store experience in an ecommerce environment, ASICS launched Shoe Finder.

Rather than trawling through descriptions, reviews and recommendations when looking for trainers, ASICS ask shoppers 4 key questions to determine their demographics and needs before providing a recommendation for the most appropriate option. Streamlining the process significantly and reducing any risk of shoppers becoming overwhelmed, subsequently increasing conversion.

Don’t believe us? What if we told you that since implementing Shoe Finder, ASICS have seen an average 53% uplift in conversion rate, prompting an expansion of the tool into other sports, such as tennis.

How to make your brand the obvious choice

Brands must strike a balance between freedom to choose and choice overload. What works for one brand, may not necessarily work for another. Simply classifying which trainers are made for running is not enough, with all of the different variables to consider (e.g., terrain type, support needed, cushioning level, etc.) this choice would remain difficult. Whereas, if Etsy implemented a gift selector tool that gave you one option per recipient, shoppers may feel restricted, losing the option to put thought into the gift and opening up room for regret in choice.

It is only when brands fully understand their consumers, that they can improve their experience and prevent choice overload being the reason for not converting a sale.

At KHWS, it is this understanding that we bake into every execution and message, as we know that creativity only works if it resonates with your consumers buying behaviour.

For more information on how you can overcome choice overload to create more positive user experiences, increased satisfaction and higher conversion rates, get in touch!

Andrew Watts - andreww@khws.co.uk

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