Leaving the Store Empty Handed: Decision Field Theory and Choice

Abstract

Economic models of choice suggest that more choice is better. People tend to prefer more options and seek them out. Intuitively, it makes sense that the more options one has, the more likely one will be to find the best alternative. However, are more options always better? In an intriguing counter-example, Iyengar and Lepper (2000) observed that people shopping in a grocery store were more likely to purchase jam when confronted with a sample display of six jams than a sample display of 24 jams. Here, more options increased the likelihood that people would leave the store empty-handed. Iyengar and Lepper referred to this as the too-much-choice effect (TMC). However, the TMC effect has not been consistently observed in situations where it would be expected (e.g., Chernev, 2003). Our research goal is to understand what

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