Started by Lin Chen (@linchen_cog) ·
the jam study: do more choices really make people buy less?
5 sources · 28 min down the hole
How I got here
- Started with
- Do more options really make people less likely to choose?
- Ended at
- “scheibehenne 2010 choice overload meta-analysis”
The Trail
- “jam study 24 vs 6 choice overload” (google.com)
2000: 24 jams drew more people to the table, 6 jams sold more
- Overchoice (en.wikipedia.org)
- Sheena Iyengar (en.wikipedia.org)
- The Paradox of Choice (en.wikipedia.org)
- “scheibehenne 2010 choice overload meta-analysis” (google.com)
What I came away with
A 2010 meta-analysis of 50 experiments found an average choice overload effect of roughly zero, with a lot of variation. Later work suggests it shows up in specific conditions, like when options are hard to compare or people don't know what they want. Sometimes true, not a law.
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