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The Role of the Brand on Choice Overload

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Abstract

Current research on choice overload has been mainly conducted with choice options not associated with specific brands. This study investigates whether the presence of brand names in the choice set affects the occurrence of choice overload. Across four studies, we find that when choosing among an overabundance of alternatives, participants express more positive feelings (i.e., higher satisfaction/confidence, lower regret and difficulty) when all the options of the choice set are associated with familiar brands, rather than unfamiliar brands or no brand at all. We also find that choice overload only appears in the absence of brand names, but disappears when all options contain brand names—either familiar or unfamiliar. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

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Notes

  1. Note that this is different from the experiment by Iyengar and Lepper (2000) with Godiva chocolates. Given that all their chocolates were represented by only one brand (Godiva), the mere categorization effect could not apply, since with only one brand the choice items could not be grouped into categories.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science and International Relations, University of Palermo, Via Maqueda 324, 90134, Palermo, Italy

    Raffaella Misuraca & Francesco Ceresia

  2. Department of Psychology, Washington State University, 14204 NE Salmon Creek Avenue, Vancouver, WA, 98686-9600, USA

    Raffaella Misuraca

  3. Department of Psychology, Portland State University, 1721 S.W. Broadway, Portland, OR, 97201, USA

    Ursina Teuscher

  4. Facoltà di Scienze Umane e Sociali, Università di Enna “Kore”, Cittadella Universitaria, 94100, Enna, Italy

    Palmira Faraci

Authors
  1. Raffaella Misuraca
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  2. Francesco Ceresia
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  3. Ursina Teuscher
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  4. Palmira Faraci
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Correspondence to Raffaella Misuraca.

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Misuraca, R., Ceresia, F., Teuscher, U. et al. The Role of the Brand on Choice Overload. Mind Soc 18, 57–76 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11299-019-00210-7

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