Have you ever been overwhelmed by too many choices?
Too many options can leave us confused and less satisfied with our decisions. This phenomenon, known as the Choice Overload Effect (or Overchoice), highlights how an abundance of options can actually hinder our ability to make a "good" decision and lead to dissatisfaction even after the choice is made.
In 2000, Professors Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper from Stanford and Columbia University put together one of the most famous modern behavioral experiments. They setup a small booth in front of a grocery store, and they pretended to sell fruit jam. They set out either 6 jars or 24 jars of jam. They found some fascinating insights:
This brings us to our online forums and community spaces:
Too many options can leave us confused and less satisfied with our decisions. This phenomenon, known as the Choice Overload Effect (or Overchoice), highlights how an abundance of options can actually hinder our ability to make a "good" decision and lead to dissatisfaction even after the choice is made.
In 2000, Professors Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper from Stanford and Columbia University put together one of the most famous modern behavioral experiments. They setup a small booth in front of a grocery store, and they pretended to sell fruit jam. They set out either 6 jars or 24 jars of jam. They found some fascinating insights:
- When they were selling 24 jars of jam, they drew more people to sample jams. There was more interest.
- When they were selling 6 jars of jam, they got more purchases. They were x6 more likely to buy a jar!
This brings us to our online forums and community spaces:
- How do we balance offering variety to attract members while ensuring they don’t feel overwhelmed by too many choices?
- Could simplifying options in certain areas (especially in monetization or account upgrades) increase member engagement and satisfaction?
- Have you experienced choice overload in your community management efforts, and how have you addressed it?
