Consumer Choices: Too Many or Too Few

A recent report on MarketWatch, an NPR business news program, examined how we make buying decisions based on the number of choices we are offered (Choices: Too little, too much, just right).

The report explains how some stores like Wal-Mart and Best Buy are purposely limiting their inventory, not to save money, but to limit the number of choices available to shoppers.The report includes an interview with Frank Murtha, managing director and consumer psychologist for Marketpsych, who shares a case study showing that shoppers actually made more purchases when offered fewer choices. In our experience, the real question is… what combinations of elements (packaging, marketing messages, offers, etc.) are most powerful in motivating consumer to choose a particular product? There ARE a lot of “cues” that consumers must process and trade-off (price, brand, availability, etc.) when choosing a product. Defining what combination is most effective for your brand means you can maximize the impact and gain a greater return on your marketing dollars.