Marketers Need to Think ‘Less’ to See ‘More’ Bottom Line

I apologize for the short hiatus. I believe it was a form of both self-preservation after an intense semester of intellectual engagement and a form of self-restoration, gearing up for the next ‘adventure’ of my young life. I recently finished reading Barry Schwartz’ The Paradox of Choice, Why More is Less (I enjoy reading about human behaviour and why we do the things we do). As a young professional in the marketing field, I am curious about how the human psyche handles the abundance of decisions we encounter daily, and what this means as more products labelled, ‘NEW!’ and ‘MORE!’ are produced.

Barry talks a lot about how people who are considered ‘maximizers’ (I, myself, included), want the best and will search high and low to make this happen. However, with so many choices nowadays, this becomes quite draining, and individuals will also make the choice, not to make the choice, once the situation becomes too overwhelming.

I am currently assisting with a conference in Munich, Germany entitled Digital Life Design (DLD). This has been amazing! One of the speakers, Linda Stone, spoke last year at the Conference on people’s attention. She discussed how people want simplicity. (Similar to Prof. John Maeda’s The Laws of Simplicity). With all this choice, companies need to focus and simplify and, perhaps not offer as many choices to consumers as originally intended. In our marketing discussions, we’re always discussing product extension, offering ‘new!’ products, and ‘more this’ and ‘more that;’ however, it is vital to acknowledge consumer’s purchasing decisions and buying habits in order to decide what will truly engage their attention.

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