Too much of a good thing?(variety is always good a research by business school professors)

Private Label Buyer, October, 2005

A recent research paper co-authored by professors John Gourville of the Harvard Business School and Dilip Soman of the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management dispels the notion that variety is always good.

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Commenting in an interview with Working Knowledge, a Harvard Business School publication, Gourville said that too many choices can confuse the shopper to the extent that he or she may actually decide to put off the purchase. Gourville believes that companies that produce consumer-packaged goods use line extensions and new flavors or types as, what he calls, "a blunt tool" to gain additional shelf space. The end result is a proliferation of offerings that may benefit the consumer very little.

Many...

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