In recent studies by behavioral scientists, they repeatedly found that offering too many options – or choices – reduces sales.
Robert B. Cialdini discusses this in his book, Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive.
"When does offering people more makes them want less?"
When offering new employees retirement options anything more than two choices they find it overwhelming. The result, no decision was made.
When Procter & Gamble reduced their number of versions of Head & Shoulder from 26 to 15, even they were surprised when they experienced a 10% increase in sales.
On the other end of this, ice cream parlors who offer hundreds of flavors, people were attracted to the parlor yet the most purchased flavor was vanilla.
Was it because there were too many choices? Behavioral scientists said yes. The large number of options was a publicity lure – that's social proof in action – but when they got there, they were overwhelmed. They first tried a few new flavors but only 1 out of 3 ever chooses a new flavor. Vanilla seemed to prevail.
Many times when I was ready to buy an info product on the Net, I came to the bonus section, and saw a long list of bonuses. I was overwhelmed. It diminished the value of the original document for me. Were they adding the bonuses because the original document wasn't as valuable as they said it was?
Well, that's another discussion.
Back to my purchase.
I was serious about the buying the information but actually didn't because of the number of bonuses offered.
This makes my point – when are too many choices going to reduce sales?
This occurs everywhere in our lives . . .
How many times have you offered your spouse or children an open option to what they can have for dinner? You know what happens. Silence.
The behavior scientists say stick to two. They will come up with a third choice -- expressing what they really want. And because of social proof, everyone will agree.
This also occurs when I go out with either one friend or a group. "Where do you want to eat?"
Total silence.
No one can think of anything. When someone gives two choices, a third appears and everyone agrees.
Now, back to your sales . . .
Are you offering too many or too little choice options in what you're selling?
In shoe sales, women try on many shoes but the majorities buy the first ones they tried on. Then again, it depends on the social proof occurring.
This frustrates new shoe sales persons but not the experience ones -- they expect it.
If you offer three options, each more expensive, no one seldom choices the cheapest because psychologically they don't want to be seen as cheap. But then again it depends on the social proof – how many people know they are buying it.
If friends are around, they buy the expensive item even if they actually preferred a different one. If there's no social proof (no one is around that knows them), they buy the cheap one if they like it.
This happens whether you own a hotel gift shop or are ordering off a menu in a restaurant.
You can watch the people who are influenced by social proof when they are ordering off a menu. They are the ones that want to know what everyone else is ordering before they place their own order. They require social proof. They don't want to be left out of making the right choice. Psychologically, this behavior appears everywhere in their life if it appears when they are in a restaurant.
There's no right answer to how many is too many. Because there are too many circumstances that influence the situation that needs to be evaluated first.
In a spa, women want to have more than one service, yet when offered too many choices they then buy only one. This is why spa's offer bundles. It makes it easier for the buyer. What's too many bundles though? That's for your testing.
Even Procter & Gamble surprised themselves. And look how many behavioral scientists they have on staff!
It goes back to testing. Test. Test. Test.
Test the number of options – choices – you offer.
Many times less is more.
Unless, of course, you want publicity to be your sales force, like offering thousands of flavors. However, remember another thousand-flavored ice cream parlor isn't news anymore.
This is the challenge of persuasive selling.
