Do consumers have too much choice? Stacy Schiff seems to think so. (NY Times)
In taking cluster analysis and its classifications to the logical extreme, are we not building a superfinicky society? Five minutes in any Starbucks line will answer that one. We used to be one nation, undivided, under three networks, three car companies and two brands of toothpaste for all. Today we are the mass niche nation. This is a country in which 40 percent of the eligible population doesn't vote, but can be expected to maneuver its way through a sprawl of options every time it heads out for tooth twine. Increasingly the brick-and-mortar world resembles the virtual one: an infinite landscape of microscopic subcategories, in which one loses oneself, twice.
A friend in Seattle - I'll call him Mitch, because that is his name - reports a full-scale identity crisis in the toothpaste aisle. There he stood, two coupons in hand. Was he ready to become a rejuvenating-effects, tartar-protection kind of guy, or was he wed to the fight against tobacco stains? And to think it all used to boil down to squeezing from the bottom.
The transformative power is dizzying. The pressure is on; the paralysis sets in. It's like a torture session with a demonic optometrist. If A is better than B, and 2 is better than 3, is A better than 2? How to choose among tartar-control and whitening and breath-enhancing? And moreover - this is America - why should we have to? I want it all. Darwinistically speaking, shouldn't "whitening" have automatically ceded to "extra whitening" anyway?
I happen to think consumer choice is good. In fact, I can't get enough. Russ Roberts (Cafe Hayek) agrees in this NPR interview from back in March.
UPDATE: Until today I had not noticed that Don Boudreaux (also of Cafe Hayek) wrote this in response to a letter writer responding to Schiff. Radley Balko agrees as well. Deb Frisch does not agree, but Don doesn't sweat it.
It sounds like the author of this article is just not sure of what she wants. The CPG industry is notorious for "targetting on the fence" consumers via loud packaging and advertisements. The hope is that they catch the eye of these individuals, get them to try their product, and then turn them into a life long consumer.
For those consumers that are already brand loyalty or attribute loyal consumers, it is a no brainer decision regarding what tooth paste to buy. They have their brand and they are sticking to it.
I agree with you Dr. Polley, that choice is a great thing. I also agree with the author in that sometimes walking in uninformed about a purchasing decision can leave your head spinning. What I usually do when that happens is do my homework on the item and figure out what I want out of it. This usually works best when I am buying something like a stereo.
Many would be ashamed to admit that they need to do their homework on what they want out of a toothpaste, but it is this ashamed feeling that encourages Consumer Package Goods companies like P&G to use the loud advertisements and multiple product lines. If they can get you to try their item they have achieved one of their marketing departments major goals.