Examining the Role of Choice Closure in Choice Overload Phenomenon

Abstract

The need for variety have many negative consequences on the decision making process like dissatisfaction, difficulty in decision making, lesser confidence and discomfort with the choices made. Individuals always try to make their own escape mechanism to avoid the negative consequences of choosing form a large set of options. In this journey they often loose up on some important choices and also don’t enjoy the decision making process. This thesis throws light on constructive role of choice closure as a tool to make the decision making in case of overload manageable. Research conducted on choice overload and negative consequences have build upon the seminal work of Iyengar and Lepper, (2000) “The Jam Study”. This study brought into notice how large number of choice can be detrimental to the decision making process. However, studies by Chernev, Böckenholt, & Goodman, (2015); Townsend & Kahn(2014) have highlighted the importance of external and internal factors. This thesis is an attempt to address the contradictory findings from choice overload research and by analyzing the constructive role played by choice closure and also the role of external and internal factors like ideal point availability and mental representation which have not yet been explored. The research also proposes the role of consideration set formation i.e. “shortlist and choose” strategy to minimize the overall negative consequences of choice overload.A between subject experimental design is employed across four experiments to study the above mentioned relationships. Experiments were conducted to firstly validate the choice overload phenomenon, explore the role of ideal point and mental representation in presence of choice closure and finally the effect of reopening an already made choice. Pilot study validated the presence of choice overload in smartphone buying situations. Pre test were conducted to run through the experiments. The results indicated that consumers tend to have positive consequences when encountered with closure during the decision making process and also tend to be more confident and comfortable with the choice made. Theoretical contributions include the role of ideal point and mental representation in presence of choice closure in the decision making process coupled with large assortments. Managerial contribution presents a very strong case where external help can be provided to the customers to help them attain closure with the decision making process. This work will be highly useful in offline as well as online commerce settings to ease out the decision making process. Also this can be used in training sessions of sales personnel to teach them about acting as an aid in the decision making process.