Why human brain find it hard to choose when we have too many choices.

Introduction:

                         We are always in a situation where we have to choose between different things. And this often happens to us when we go shopping or to buy some groceries by seeing so many varieties of products and we find ourselves stuck at choosing the right one. The human brain finds it really hard to choose when we have too many choices and this phenomenon is called the “Paradox of choice”. In this article, we will take a look at why our brain finds it hard to choose from a wide variety and what factors affect our decision-making ability. So, let’s take a look into it.

What is the psychology behind the choice?

                       When we are given two or more options, we have the capacity to choose. The psychology of choice investigates the reasons behind our unconscious choices, the driving forces behind them, and the requirements they are intended to fulfill.

              Whenever we are making a certain choice, the first thing that we consider before choosing is that this choice should be according to our interests and should provide us certain benefits. 

                      Suppose that you go to a grocery store and you want to buy milk. The first thing that comes to your mind after seeing a wide variety of milk is that i have to buy the milk which is best in quality and also which is reasonable to my budget. We have set our interests and then we choose according to these standards.

                      But choosing is always not that simple because in today's world we have a wide variety of products to choose in which we really get messed up and we fall into the “Paradox of choice”.

The paradox of Choice:

                      The paradox of choice is the observation that having a lot of options to pick from might stress people out and make decision-making more difficult rather than making them happy and ensuring they receive what they want. In his 2004 book The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less, Barry Schwartz discussed the drawbacks of having too many alternatives. According to Schwartz, having too many options can actually cause worry, indecision, paralysis, and discontent.

                    It always seems good to shop from a large variety of products but intuitively it really causes us mental fatigue in making decisions and sometimes we end up making the wrong decisions.

                   So, here comes the next thing: How do we choose when we have too many options?  What are the factors which affect our decision-making?

Bias:

              The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines bias as "an inclination of temperament or outlook; especially: a personal and sometimes unreasoned judgment."

                         Bias doesn't merely relate to an opinion or belief about one item in particular. In psychology, "bias" also refers to behavioral characteristics that influence our decision-making process and our ability to draw conclusions. We have two kinds of bias: conscious and unconscious.

                    Conscious biases are those biased attitudes of which we are aware of. Suppose you like cars more than bikes because you think that driving a car is much easier than driving a bike. This is the bias you are well aware of.

                    And unconscious bias is that biased attitude of which you are not aware. Let’s say you like black color more than pink color. And you don’t know why you like black more than pink. This is your unconscious biased attitude.

Here are two important cognitive biases that influence our decision-making unintentionally.

Anchoring-bias:

                   We frequently base our decisions on the first piece of information we learn. Let’s say you go to buy a dress and its original price is $15 but due to a Sale, you get it for $12. Then you would consider it as the best deal and you buy it before checking other shops and their prices. This is the phenomenon of anchoring bias.

Framing effect bias:

                   The way things are presented to us really affects our decision-making ability. Let’s say you go to buy cheese from a grocery store and you have two varieties of cheese, one with good packaging and the other one with cheaper packaging. You will always buy cheese with good packaging because its appearance is making an impression on you that this is a good product.

Conclusion:

                          Therefore, it is always likable to offer too many choices to customers in order to make it simple for them to buy whatever they want, but in reality, this causes them to become confused while trying to choose from a large variety of products. When faced with too many options, we humans frequently become confused and lose our willpower, which leads us to purchase a product that we have already tried or can reasonably rely on. When given too many options, the buyer sometimes decides not to make a purchase.