Paradox Of Choice

We walk down an aisle in a grocery store and are instantly bombarded by thousands of choices. We spend time vacillating on our decisions. I could be at the grocery store for hours sometimes because I am so horrible at making decisions and there are just too many options!! I feel like once I get use to being a grown up and start to favor certain brands the grocery store will be less of a nightmare for me. To a certain extent I am thrilled that there are options out there because life would be so boring if they didn’t exist. Also, more options means no monopolies, so prices stay competitive; options allow you to find products that suite your needs best. On the flip side, I think that more choices have turned people into bratty consumers because now we always want more. I love variety and having the power to choose, but I hate making decisions. I feel like I am a walking oxy-moron.



Barry Schwarz talked about the official dogma revolving around maximizing a person’s welfare. This happens by maximizing individual freedom because freedom is good and valuable. This is established by maximizing choice because more choice means more freedom and more freedom means more welfare. However, Schwarz thinks more choices paralyzes us because we become less satisfied with the decisions we make. This is due to the possibility that we regret the choice we made because we had so many other choices to choose from. Whenever I go to a restaurant, where there is a large selection and variety of food, such as The Cheesecake Factory, I always regret my decision because I wish I would have made a different choice. So, even if the choice I made was delicious, I am still less satisfied. When a class I need to take has lots of options for professors, I always have a hard time deciding. If there were only one teacher then the decision is made for me, but when there are more, I feel compelled to do research and find out who is the best professor.

Schwarz also talked about the escalation of expectation. Adding options to people’s lives can’t help but increase the expectation people have about how good those options will be and that produces less satisfaction with results even when they are good results. I would have to agree with Schwarz’s opinion that the secret to happiness is low expectations. I got married over the break in Cozumel, Mexico, and my family and friends took a cruise to get there. Well, reading reviews I had gained the impression that the Carnival ship we were taking was one of the older ships and the décor was very outdated. I went into the cruise having low expectations about the actual ship and it worked wonders for me! I wasn’t disappointed at all and was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t as bad as I had anticipated.

Schwarz says that why choice makes people miserable is 1) regret and anticipated regret 2) opportunity costs 3) escalation of expectations and 4) self-blame. Some choice is better than none, but more choice is not necessarily better than some choice. I remember choosing which university I was going to attend and it was narrowed down to UT and A&M. I knew whatever decision I would make would be amazing, but I would have two totally different experiences. Where would I meet better friends, get a better education, what happens if my future husband chose the opposite school I did?! I was in a paradox. Every other day my senior year in high school I would change my mind because I kept regretting my decision. Thankfully, I ultimately made the right choice- Hook ‘Em Horns! Consumers are in the midst of paradoxes everyday and have to conquer their indecisiveness about what products to buy or services to use. Companies have to work extra hard to make sure their product is most satisfactory so that consumers will be repeat customers and not experience buyers remorse.

Generation Y

Generation Y consists of people who were born somewhere between 1979 and 2000. I was born in 1986 so I am on the older side of this generation. So obviously my opinions and experiences will be different than from a kid who is now in 4th grade. My family didn’t get our first home computer till I was in 6th grade and my sister who is also in this generation was a freshman in high school. None of my friends really had cell phones until we turned 16. Facebook didn’t get big until I was a freshman in college. With technology constantly and rapidly expanding, people younger than me have been exposed to technology way longer. Babies born in 2000 already had personal laptops to learn their ABC’s on!

While I was reading the Businessweek article about Generation Y I found myself having to adjust to the fact that it was written in 1999 and was a little outdated. However, there were main points that I agreed with and that got my attention. The fact that my generation comes from families where the divorce rate is 50%, we have working mothers, and are more racially diverse makes us very different from the baby boomer generation. Parent’s preferences in life can impact the way children view those same products. For instance my next car will probably be a Toyota because my parents always advocated how great of cars they were and that is now instilled in me. However, sadly with both parents having to work and spending less quality time with their kids, Generation Y has created their own views about brands which has made it a challenge for marketers to connect with them because they differ greatly from their parent’s generation.

The stereotype may be narrow but there are many truths to how the Net generation is viewed. I agree that this generation is globally oriented and open minded. We have a great desire to be connected- whether it be with friends, family, interest groups, music fans etc. That is why when I look around class I see people texting or while walking to class I see people either talking on their phone or listening to music. We respond quicker to emails and text messages than we do traditionally mail. We want the latest and greatest new gadgets, and we are constantly on the internet. Every time a new phone comes or a new game system emerges out we feel compelled to own it.

We come from a generation where we can fast forward commercials using TiVo or listen to our iPod so we don’t have to hear commercials on the radio. We don’t like to be interrupted! Because we have been so flooded with media, marketers have to refocus how they are going to reach this generation. We want things to be on our time, we want instant gratification, and for us to be making the decision not just some commercial trying to trick us into buying something. I agree with an article on the website ‘Growing up Digital’ that Y Consumers want options, customization, to be able to change their minds, and to try before they buy. I think marketers should be focused on finding ambassadors to share the company’s product with friends. I agree with the podcast when it talked about the Y Generation trusting the opinions of their friends more than seeing something about it on TV. Marketers need to look more into sponsoring events, having interactive websites, and finding way for us to test their products instead of focusing on traditional media outlets such as commercials. Kids are still very influential and can be swayed in certain directions. Marketers just need to figure out how to sway them in their direction. I remember going through the costume closest at my house and pulling out something my mom use to wear way back in the day that was in style right then. So, it is not just that the baby boomers and the Y generation have totally different taste. It is about figuring out how to market these older brands in a new Generation Y way.

I feel I am a fairly typical member of this generation. My life seems to revolve around the internet. Checking my email is one of the first things I do everyday, and I am constantly on Facebook checking out if my friends posted any new pictures. However, I am not as big into music as most people in my generation, and I am also not a huge technology buff, so I am content with my older phone and iPod. I hate commercials, but I love discounts and saving money. I feel I am open minded like the rest of my generation and also hate being told what to do!

Marissa Hughes

Assignment 1 coming soon!