I just finished watching Barry Swartz’s lecture on the “Paradox of Choice”. His philosophy made a lot of sense to me and changed my view on shopping forever. This blog will explain my thoughts and my own experiences with the paradox of choice.

WE REGRET IMPERFECT CHOICES WE MAKE

Schwartz discussed the power of choice as a double edged sword for the consumer. On one hand, it gives us the freedom to make our own decisions, but on the other hand, the process can lead to unhappiness. Schwartz says that one side effect of having a lot of choices is that it leads us to regret the options that we don’t take. It dawned on me that I often find myself regretting a purchase because it didn’t make me 100% satisfied. Schwartz also has a philosophy that the more choices we have, the higher possibility there is for regret of a bad decision. As consumers, we expect to get something perfect and end up setting our expectations too high. It only makes sense for consumers to feel like there IS a perfect answer out there since there are often times so many options to choose from.

WE BLAME OURSELVES FOR BAD CHOICES

Schwartz also talked about how having too many options to choose from can lead to depression. If we as consumers make a purchase that we regret, we start to blame ourselves for not finding the item perfect for our needs. Schwartz makes a point that instead of blaming the manufacturer for only providing one boring product, we get mad at ourselves for having so many options and picking the wrong one. This leads to unnecessary depression and self loathing. I wholly agree with this theory because when I buy a bad product, I always get mad at myself for not picking one of the other ones that I had an option of choosing before.

WE DON’T FOCUS ON WHAT’S REALLY IMPORTANT

Another interesting point that Schwartz brought up is that if we are presented with a choice and have to think about, we are easily distracted from our current situation. For a moment we forget to have fun while shopping or vacationing and focus our attention on the decision at hand. Schwartz says that this could completely ruin the mood of the occasion and cause us to create a negative memory when it really should be a positive one. I have firsthand knowledge of this in an instance where I was supposed to make chili con queso for a party. When I got to the grocery store, there were so many different cheeses to choose from that I wasted a lot of time trying to figure out which cheese was the best. When I got to the party I was so stressed out with my choice that I couldn’t really enjoy myself. I was constantly worrying whether the other people at the party actually liked what I had brought, and I felt miserable the whole time.

MORE CHOICES = MORE ANNOYANCES

After watching the lecture, I began to think about how I have fallen victim to the paradox of choice. Many times I have felt this dissonance that occurs when too many choices are made readily available at my service. The best example that I can think of is the act of buying shampoo. First and foremost, let me just tell you that when it comes to shampoo, I never stick with one shampoo over and over again. I haven’t felt like I have found the perfect shampoo yet that does everything I need it to or smell the way I would like my hair to smell. Because of this, I am constantly changing my shampoo for the different smells and hair treatment remedies that the different shampoo brands promise to provide.

So when I’m at the closest HEB, Target, or Walmart looking for shampoo, I find myself in a rut looking for that perfect smell and service combination. I have so many choices to choose from since there are so many attributes that can unite and become one perfect hair product! Just look at the task that is laid out in front of me!

I suffer from this “paralysis” that Barry Swartz speaks of and I will literally sit for eternity (okay, exaggeration at its best) but I will really sit there for half an hour looking for just the right product with the right smell, brand, and service. When I finally commit, I hurry home to shower right away so that I can test out my new hair showering products. After my hair dries, I somehow...someway always feel like I didn’t choose the right product. The smell just isn’t right or the service promised doesn’t deliver how I imagined. I just know that my perfect hair potion is still at the store and it’s my fault that I didn’t take out a little more time to research even further for a better shampoo. What’s even worse is that because I’m a poor college student, I buy in bulk so I’m stuck with my decision for months!

Going to the store and choosing between the two didn’t take me long at all because I would feel confident in my decision (I mean, I had a 50/50 chance of getting it right!) The opportunity cost I’d be taking part in wouldn’t be very high at all. Most of the time I would be really happy with my decision, but if I happened to feel like I chose the wrong item when I went home, it’d be okay with me because I knew exactly what the right one was for the next time. I can tell you this, any feeling of regret that I had back then comes nowhere close to the regret that I have now when I have to choose one thing from an ample supply of choices.

1. Which brand if any do you prefer?
   A. Pantene Pro-V
   B. HERBAL ESSENCES
   C. Suave
   D. Garnier Fructis
   E. Dove
   F. I have no preference
   
2. What smell do you prefer out of the following?
   A. FRUITY
   B. Flowery
   C. Spice
   D. Minty
   E. Evergreen


3. Do you like 2 in 1 products?
   A. YES
   B. No
   C. Does Not Matter


4. What best describes your hair?
   A. STRAIGHT
   B. Curly
   C. Coarse
   D. Super fine


5. What best describes what you would like your shampoo to do for you?
   A. Frizz Control
   B. Smooth/straight
   C. Extra volume
   D. Rebuilding
   E. MOISTURIZING
   

After taking the short quiz...the computer would generate a shampoo that best describes what I’m looking for and TAH DAH...

This picture would pop up. As you can see, this short quiz will help eliminate a lot of time I’d normally be wasting looking for a product. This quiz would also help narrow down my choices CONSIDERABLY.

By the way...please don’t make fun of me for using baby shampoo for so long. Instead, please give me any advice you have on shampoo products that you think I might like. Thanks!