Sheena Iyengar offers a new book on the effects of choice. Here's a nice review of it. Even if you haven't heard of Professor Iyengar or read the original research, you can guess that it's about choice and how people choose. Most particularly, this line of work explores the effect that the number and type of options people face influences how they think, feel, or act. Thus, it is not just the content of the things to be chosen from, but rather how many things are available, how they are arranged, and how they are presented that affects choice.
A persuasion take on this starts with the familiar WAC triple play: A variable may function as a WATTage dimmer switch, an Argument, or a Cue. It's easy to construct illustrations of Choice as each element in the WAC.
Most obviously, Choice affects WATTage. Particularly as the sheer number of options increase, people tend to get overwhelmed with all the information available and quickly default to that Low WATT Peripheral Route. They then seek Cues among the options - gee, that's a pretty red label! - and use that to guide the final choice. Note that Number of Options is not the Cue; the Cue is another feature, the pretty red label. Number of Options overwhelms cognitive capacity, trips Low WATT processing, and the search for easy Cues.
Now, reduce the number of options to three or four, and make each option similar and relatively familiar, like choosing from a display table of three new cracker treats a food company offers. The amount of information to be considered here is relatively simple and the Number of Options makes for easy side-by-side comparison. You can quickly pick up each box and scan the nutrition labels and compare. You can easily taste test each cracker and compare. Now, Number of Options has flipped the High WATT switch and folks go Central Route, looking for Arguments about each cracker - nutrition and taste.
So, Choice can move the WATTage dimmer switch in either direction, depending on, in this instance, the Number of Options.
Now, consider Choice as an Argument. When is the Number of Options information that bears on the central merits of the issue? Business and economics is a great area for this. Imagine that you run a food business and you're looking to expand the number of products you offer. The business plan that produces more products more efficiently is more desirable. Thinking about going to college and aren't sure about a major? Wouldn't you like a school with lots of programs? Want a job that has lots of opportunity for change, variation, and growth? All of these instances demonstrate where the sheer Number of Options is actually an Argument that allows you to choose a more satisfying job or mate or school or whatever.
Finally, how is Choice a Cue? A classic application of Choice as a Cue is the Comparative Ad. Here's are a couple of examples. Start with an old ad for PCs.
Now, what's for dinner.
Which car do you want?
And, the classic checklist.
Gee, I'll take the one with the Most Choices, Sir! You don't have to think, to have that Long Conversation in your head. Just note which one has More and which one has Less. It's easy!
Thus, to understand Choice, start with the WAC and realize how you can use the Same Thing, but achieve wildly different effects depending upon its function. Iyengar details these many combinations and variations in her books for your edification.
And while most of the examples are from common life with a focus on shopping, realize that Choice applies throughout your life: the major you select, the job you take and whether you stay or leave, whether you choose to marry and who you pick as a mate, the political party you join and how you decide to participate in politics. There's a lot of Choice in life.
But, always start with the WAC!
