Choice Paralysis — How It Affects Your Conversion Rate

Choice paralysis; it is one of the most common mistakes businesses can make in the development of their marketing.

What Studies Have Shown.

Have you ever gone to a shoe store and been unsure which sneakers to buy? Have you ever debated with co-workers what you should eat for lunch? If so, you’ve experienced one of the most common and understudied phenomena impacting a consumer’s pathway to purchase: Choice Paralysis.

“Back in 2000, psychologists Mark Lepper and Sheena Iyengar were involved in a study where two tables of jam were presented to grocery-store customers. One had 24 choices; people who sampled from this table got a $1-off coupon. The other table only had six choices, yet people ended up buying more from the table with fewer choices!” ~ Mark Schenker

Are More Choices Creating Choice Paralysis?

Needless to say, helping client’s fix choice paralysis is one of the cornerstone needs of almost every business I work with. From Landing Pages to Email Campaigns, you will always get a higher conversion rate the less you distract your target form doing what you want them to do.

“Choice can no longer be used to justify a marketing strategy in and of itself. More isn’t always better, either for the customer or for the retailer. Discovering how much assortment is warranted is a considerable empirical challenge. But companies that get the balance right will be amply rewarded.” ~ Harvard Business Review

While choice paralysis does not affect all brands or all types of people in the same way, based on an analysis of more than 200 social media conversations, the data showed:

• A majority of consumer indecision is around products consumers use every day.
• 78% of choice paralysis conversations center around products consumers spend a moderate to a considerable amount of time within their everyday lives.
• Fashion, gaming and mobile device purchase decisions showed the highest levels of choice paralysis, likely because they are directly tied to self-identity.
• Nearly 1/3 of choice paralysis conversations were about products within the same brand.
• Over 60 percent of choice paralysis occurs when a consumer must make a decision between one or two items. Most people know what they want, but have trouble pulling the trigger on a purchase.

Lastly, one concept that is often discussed when seeking solutions for overcoming the risk of choice paralysis is the concept of removing fuzzy messaging. Fuzzy Messaging tends to not speak to a clear choice adding to the paralysis. Read more about Conversion Rates and Scientific Marketing, and how we can now use methods and metrics to help us market more effectively!

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