Impact of Variety on Consumer Happiness: Marketing and the Tyranny of Freedom, The

Academy of Marketing Science Review, 2002

Remi Desmeules, 104 - 3437 Oak Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6H 2L7. Phone (604) 730-1761. Comments are highly encouraged and should be sent to remi@interchange.ubc.ca The author would like to thank Harish Sujan and two anonymous reviewers for the very helpful comments in revising this manuscript. This manuscript was part of a special issue on Consumer Happiness and Life Satisfaction edited by Harish Sujan.

The Impact of Variety on Consumer Happiness: Marketing and the Tyranny of Freedom

The link between the provision of choice and motivation is by no means unclear. Many researchers in psychology have proven time and again that choice does improve intrinsic motivation and satisfaction, among many other things. In these studies, the reader may want to note, the conditions are often "with choice" or "without choice", where the provision of choice is limited to a few options. Likewise, economics theory assumes that an increase in variety will be accompanied by an increase in the likelihood that consumers find exactly what they are looking for and thus increased variety results in more utility. Two of the assumptions in this model of rational choice are that consumers can evaluate options and determine their preference AND will aim to maximize their utility by choosing was is best for them. That is, people know how good the options presented to them are and they will pick out the best one, the one that maximizes their utility.

Most research efforts do not try to identify the behavior of the variety-satisfaction relationship when variety is large. If anything, an observer would assemble views from psychology and economics literature and assume that variety drives satisfaction (or utility) up all the way to the maximization of the potential utility that could have been derived from the purchase or experience. That is, the curve stops at the maximum utility and other alternatives can be ignored. This relationship and understanding of the impacts of choice seems to be held by most. Indeed, more choice is the way progress is leading us. Selection and assortments are very potent marketing value propositions, and consumers are surely attracted by the promises such retailers can make. Again, if anything the relationship is logical and uses common sense. But still, do we really need 500 TV channels and hundreds of different ice cream flavors? It is conceivable that many of us would be tempted to say "no". It will be our goal to provide probable explanations for the phenomenon and further propose the consequences and negative impacts of overwhelming choice.

The aim of this paper is to provide a theoretical framework for the study of the impacts of marketing strategies on general happiness. The goal is to provide a road map to establish a link between constructs of consumer behavior and happiness. We will propose the intervention of a new construct that we will name "consumer happiness". The first application of the theoretical framework will be a look at high-variety strategies in marketing. We will try to identify areas for further empirical research that will complement extant efforts in the area.

In Section 1 of the paper we will look at elements in the literature that somehow question the value of choice. In Section 2 we will present a theoretical framework that offers links between marketing strategies, consumer behavior constructs and happiness. In Section 3 we will propose and explain a relationship between variety and the positiveness of consumption experiences where we will discuss the factors necessary for consumption experiences to have a negative impact on the happiness of consumers. In Section 4 we will present conclusions and areas for further research and empirical testing.

SECTION 1: QUESTIONING THE VALUE OF CHOICE

Tyranny of Freedom The basis for questioning the value of choice in our first reviewed piece of research is the observation of a growing trend in the number of cases of clinical depression. Schwartz (2000) argues that freedom, autonomy and self-determination can become excessive and be experienced as a kind of tyranny. The main idea is that an aspiration to self-determination can be problematic and lead not to freedom of choice but tyranny of choice. The author condemns the American society's focus on an all-encompassing freedom. The tyranny of freedom is concerned with whether or not it is beneficial to have countless options as opposed to a more restricted, easier to evaluate set of options. Basically, the author suggests that people faced with the decision of how to allocate their time or money are confronted with an overwhelming array of possibilities, and the ensuing choice process and post-choice evaluation can have detrimental effects.

To make his argument, Schwartz undergoes a thorough examination of rational choice theory. In turn, he questions the validity of the assumptions of well-ordered preferences, complete information, and attribute evaluation and categorization. He argues that rational choice theory is on the one hand too rich, because it gives people credit for more calculation and flexibility than they possess, and too impoverished since it fails to appreciate a range of influences on decision making that are not themselves amenable to rational calculation. He warrants that choices people make can leave them with the intimidating feeling that they could have done better. The author's thesis is articulated around the recognition that modern American society and culture have evolved into one that features an excessive focus on freedom.