According to the Abundance Paradox; Too many options reduce the appeal of what people actually choose. Because thinking about the attractiveness of non-chosen alternatives reduces the pleasure felt from the chosen thing. When you enter a website to buy a product, you encounter thousands of options. Even if you do a lot of filtering, the number of remaining options is still too many. You won’t even realize how many minutes pass while you are examining the products. Let’s say, after a long search, you found the perfect outfit and bought it immediately. It is exactly what you want and it will suit you very well, there is no one happier than you.
But what is that! After a while, you will find a much better outfit than the one you bought. From this moment on, the feeling of satisfaction with that outfit you bought begins to decline rapidly. Because you are stuck with it when there is a much better one. This situation occurs frequently in almost every issue in the modern world. Clothes, food, movies, events, travel, relationships and more… There are so many options for everything that it is not easy to decide which one to choose. This brings with it various problems.
Let’s give an example and detail the issue through relationships. Since the number of people you can reach has increased incredibly with the internet, you no longer have to be limited to the people in your immediate circle.
Although this sounds good at first, this increase in your options actually brings with it some negative situations. Nowadays, everyone has dozens of dates, and it is no longer surprising that the person you feel close to while texting may actually be messaging others.
If you use a dating app, you can match up to 50 people a day. When you start talking to someone from such a dense crowd, even if the conversation goes well, you match with someone else and see that they are more interesting. “Oh, that’s better! Let me focus on that.” You say, inevitably.
When you get stuck on a small detail during the conversation, you don’t even feel the need to take it from the bottom and immediately look at alternatives. That’s why you are frequently exposed to what you think are unreasonable blocks, disappearing and not writing, late responses, and being ignored. Of course, just as all these things were done to you, you do the same to others. In fact, the reason why people in relationships and married people are cheating more now is related to this situation.
So what is the reason behind all this? This situation needs to be explained with King’s Law and the Abundance Paradox. Let’s talk about the scientific reason for this situation, starting from economics and leaving psychology:
King’s Law, put forward by the British philosopher Gregory King towards the end of the 18th century, was first exemplified through agricultural products. Gregory King observed that a 10% increase in the supply of wheat causes a 50% decrease in prices, while a 10% decrease in the supply increases the price of wheat by 10%, and that a decrease in the supply of agricultural goods increases the total income of the producer, whereas an increase in supply causes prices to increase. It has been observed that the producer’s income decreases by decreasing the
If there are many potatoes on the market and it is easy to access them, the price becomes cheaper. It used to be very easy to fall in love with someone in your neighborhood or class. Because it was the most valuable potato you’ve ever seen. Nowadays, you have started to say “It turns out there are so many good potatoes”, but the abundance of good potatoes has reduced the value of good potatoes and caused them to be easily dispensed with. So it’s a matter of supply and demand.
Gregory King, who tried to determine the relationship between increases in production quantities and decreases in prices through his observations, is considered one of the first pioneers of econometrics in this respect.
Based on King’s Law in econometrics, Barry Schwartz examined the purchasing process and consumer behavior and supported with research that abundance is not actually a positive situation as in King’s Law.
In his book “The Paradox of Choice” published in 2004, Barry Schwartz argues that the abundance of options affects your decision-making behavior and that even if you make a choice, you cannot be satisfied enough.
Schwartz comments on this research: The effort it takes to make a decision can discourage consumers who are presented with too many options. That’s why consumers may tend not to decide. Even if they buy, the effort involved in making the decision reduces the enjoyment of the outcome. Too many options reduce the attractiveness of what people actually choose, because considering the attractiveness of alternatives not chosen reduces enjoyment of the thing chosen.
Sheena Iyengar, one of the leading researchers in the field of Abundance Paradox and consumer behavior, reveals in her book “The Art of Choosing” that abundance creates a paradox through many studies and practices.
In one of her most famous studies, Sheena Iyengar chooses a store with 348 types of jam. She sets up a small stand at the entrance of the store for customers to taste and puts first 6, then 24 different jams there.
He observes two things: First, in which situation are people more likely to stop and taste the jam? While there are 24 different jams, approximately 60 percent of the people who come stand in front of the stand and examine the jams. While there are 6 different jams, approximately 40 percent of those who come stand in front of the stand and examine the jams.
Here, abundance of variety means access to 20% more people. However, when it comes to purchasing behavior, while there are 24 different jams, only 3% of those who stop there buy jam. While there are 6 different jams, 30% of those who stop buy a jar of jam. Roughly, when people are offered 6 different jams instead of 24, 6 times more people buy jam.
As seen in this research, increasing options does not increase sales, on the contrary, it decreases them. If we go from relationships again, the situation can be summarized as follows: Actually, you taste many jams, but you can never eat a good jam to your satisfaction. This is exactly what today’s relationships have become.
The more options you have, the more your expectations increase and the more you have the potential to produce “if only”.
Each “if only” produced naturally leads to more regret and a diminishing sense of satisfaction with the option you chose. Before you can relax and experience the happiness of success, you are under the stress of having to be alert for the next opportunity.
You all feel these emotions. The majority of you want to have more control over the details of your lives, but the majority of you are trying to simplify your lives due to dissatisfaction. This is how your “modern paradox” is formed.
In the world of options, the abundance of options creates “those who seek perfection.”
For those looking for the best, each choice must be the best among its alternatives. In order to find the best one among the alternatives, it is necessary to evaluate and perhaps list all the options. The “best” house is better than a “good enough” house. A “best” job is better than a “good enough” job. A “best” lover is better than a “good enough” lover. And in today’s world there is always a better home, a better job and a better lover.
The more choices you have to make, the more nervous you become; Before you can focus on exactly what’s important, you have to move on to another topic. This causes your willpower to weaken. After you decide on something, the first question that comes to your mind is, “Did I choose the right one? Would it be better if I chose the other one?” It is possible.
You need to limit the options to a reasonable number and acquire the discipline to focus on the important options and ignore the others. Otherwise; The options have a high potential to drag you into endless anxiety and regret. The goal of seeking perfection can be the source of dissatisfaction; This brings unhappiness.
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