I was initially introduced to Sheena Iyengar in my
first graduate level class, MSLD 500. We were asked to complete a blog entitled
Ballet Slippers or Adorable and had the pleasure of listening to a TED Talk by
Ms. Iyengar. I really enjoyed that speech and how she presented herself and her
ideas and hoped I would get the opportunity to view another one of her TED
Talks. This week I received that opportunity when I was asked to view her TED
talk entitled How to Make Choosing Easier
in which she explains the idea of choice overload. Iyengar (2011) discussed her
research in which she tried to determine how an individual would react and the
outcome of being faced with choice overload. In most cases the more choices
offered to an individual, the less likely they are to choose.
Iyengar (2011) discussed a grocery store that she
liked to visit while in college that was known for their variety of products
including nearly 350 types of jam. My first thought was that the grocery store
would be a very nice place to visit. She mentioned that tourist would visit
each day to take pictures of the various products offered. The lines of jam,
peanut butter, and chocolate would be something I would love to see one day if
I had the opportunity. But then I began to shift my thought process to visiting
the store as a consumer. If I had to decide which peanut butter I wanted and
had a choice of several hundred then I may suffer from analysis paralysis.
According to Chua (n.d.), one description of analysis paralysis is to spend a
very long time thinking over a single decision. In this instance how would I
choose an item? Would I be vanilla and go with the product I have always used?
Would I decide strictly on price? Would I take an Eastern philosophy approach mirroring
Japan’s Samurai ethic, Bushido, and begin to practice patience and frugality
while standing all day in one aisle trying to make a single decision (Hoch,
Kunreuther, & Gunther, 2001)? Or would I eventually give up and either just
grab something at random or decide that a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is
not worth all of the hassle and stress?
Iyengar (2011) stated that choice overload can lead
to three major consequences including (a) the reduction of engagement, (b) the
reduction of satisfaction, and (c) a reduced decision quality. Today’s society
is under the impression that more choice equals more success. We do not have
the luxury of snapping our fingers and having thousands of choices disappear, so,
in a world full of hundreds of varieties of products, how can we reduce the
stress of choice overload? Iyengar (2011) offers 4 methodologies to improve the
act of choosing including (a) cutting products and options, (b) concretizing,
or making choices vivid, (c) categorizing the choices, and (d) conditioning for
complexity. As I listened to the explanation of each of the methodologies, I
began to wonder if any of the methods would be useful to me when faced with
choice overload. Two of the methods were particularly appealing- cutting and
categorizing. I realized that both of these methods would be useful in both my
personal and professional life to help me thrive in the art of choosing.
We have all heard the slogan that less is more. In a
world full of hundreds of options for each product, the slogan becomes reality.
If companies are able to rid themselves of several inessential products then
they could see an improvement in their bottom line while providing a greater
choosing experience for their customer. According to Iyengar (2011), “When the Golden Cat
Corporation got rid of their 10 worst-selling cat litter products, they saw an
increase in profits by 87 percent -- a function of both increase in sales and
lowering of costs” (7:40).
A
couple of months ago, I was at home sick with the flu. Since I was not able to
do much, I decided it would be a good idea to pick out a movie and relax. When
I began looking at all of the DVDs I could not decide where to begin. With a
subscription to Netflix and Hulu, it is rare that I choose a DVD as
entertainment and had forgotten how many DVDs we actually own. I sat on the
floor in front of the entertainment center for about thirty minutes trying to
make a decision on what to watch and did not have any luck. I was frozen
between some of my favorites and some of the movies we bought on sale and I
never watched. I thought to myself, how can something as simple as picking out
a movie to watch be so complicated. Iyengar (2011) stated, “we tend to choose
not to choose even when it goes against our own self-interest” (4:20). After
many unsatisfying minutes, I simply decided a movie was not worth the hassle
and went to bed. In this example, I
became frustrated with not finding an acceptable movie and let emotions get in
the way of my decision. Hoch, Kunreuther, & Gunther warned that emotions
can lead to “unproductive coping habits such as avoidance” (p. 108).
Fast-forward
to about two months ago when my girlfriend decided that we should watch a DVD
because it was a rainy and lazy Sunday afternoon. I told her about the debacle
I faced the last time that I attempted watching a DVD. She told me she had a
solution to the problem. She picked out five movies and asked me to choose one
to watch and the choice was much easier. In this case, less was definitely
more.
There
have been instances where reducing the number of options has also led to
productivity in my professional life. I am the accountant for the Foundation at
Daytona State College and we have approximately 450 active projects
(scholarships). Each year the college holds several events around campus where
the Foundation is allowed to ask for employee donations. Up until a couple of years ago, the Foundation
employees would hand out a list of all of the scholarships and ask for
employees to donate to the scholarship of their choosing. I do not know about
you, but I do not have the time or energy to read a list of a couple of hundred
scholarships, especially when I am at a health fair or carnival. The
fundraising campaign for employees was not going as well as the Foundation
hoped it would, so a decision was made to cut down the options. The employees
now can view a much shorter list of 20 to 25 of the most popular scholarships
and descriptions to determine where they would like to donate. The shortened
list helped the Foundation see an increase in employee donations and the
Foundation now receives approximately $1,500 per month as a result of employee
donations.
In
describing categorization, Iyengar (2011) stated that categories must say
something to the chooser. I recently saw this description of categories in
attempting to pick an elective for my graduate program. I spoke with my advisor
and she said that the only restriction on my electives is that they must be
selected from the College of Business. I thought to myself that the decision
shouldn’t be too difficult and asked my advisor for a list of approved options.
When I received the list, I quickly realized that I was wrong as there must
have been at least 75 options on the approved list. I began to read the course
descriptions and realized I was fighting a losing battle as there were simply
too many to choose from. I had a second
conversation with my advisor and told her that I was lost and having difficulty
choosing my electives. She then emailed me a list of a couple of electives
broken into categories. The list contained accounting classes, additional
leadership classes, and other. When the
choices were categorized, the decision was much less painful. I now have two
options that I am considering for my final elective.
One
of my job responsibilities is to prepare quarterly financials to be delivered
at the Foundation Board Meeting. When I was new to the job, one of the reports
we delivered on a quarterly basis was a list of all of the active scholarships
and their balances. In one of the first
board meetings I attended, one of the members commented that the list of balances
by project number was great, but it did not help him much as a board member. He
stated that his goal as a board member is to help the Foundation raise funds in
an attempt to award scholarships. He indicated that if a donor came to him and
asked what area of the Foundation was in the most need for donations then the
list was worthless to him. He said that a list broken down by area would be
more effective. So, we developed
divisions (or categories) such as general, math, humanities, nursing, athletics,
etc. Each project, or scholarship, is assigned to the division that best fits
the donor’s wish. The quarterly reports were also updated to include a list of
the scholarships by division. Now the board members are able to see that, for
example, the technical scholarships are in need of donations and make an effort
to raise funds for that category.
The
four methodologies discussed by Iyengar (2001) were all very helpful in making
choices. But there are also other ways I can improve my ability to decide. The
first concept is limiting my emotion in the decision process. Hoch, Kunreuther, & Gunther (2001),
stated that minimizing negative emotions plays a large role in making sound
decisions. Another way to improve my
decision-making process is to identify my goals and begin taking steps to get
there. These techniques combined with the aforementioned methodologies should
allow for an improved experience in choosing.
References
Chua, C. (n.d.). How to stop analysis paralysis and make great decisions
quickly. Retrieved from https://personalexcellence.co/blog/analysis-paralysis/
Hoch, S., Kunreuther, H., & Gunther, R. (2001).
Wharton on making decisions. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Iyengar, S.
(2011) Sheena Iyengar: How to make choosing easier | Video on TED.com. TED:
Ideas worth spreading. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/sheena_iyengar_choosing_what_to_choose.html
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