We live in a world that offers an amazing array of consumer goods. Thanks to the internet, our range of choice is wider than ever before because now we can order consumer goods from not only out-of-town vendors, but from all around the world. That’s not always a good thing, because we can become confused or even paralyzed by the prospect of making the wrong selection. It’s not only online stores, but online reviews and rankings of goods that can cause confusion -not to mention a serious commitment of time. And who’s to say which reviews and rankings are valid?
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An article at the New York Times (non-paywalled here) describes the phenomena of people who do endless online research to make sure they are buying the absolute best toaster before making their purchase. These people are called maximizers, as opposed to others who look around for a “good enough” deal on a toaster and are called satisficers (a word that combines satisfy and suffice). Of course, legitimate concerns over what we can afford will impact our decision-making style. I used a toaster as an example, but this phenomenon can apply to everything from groceries to college choice to dating sites to real estate.
The research tells us that maximizers often do make the best choices, but that doesn’t necessarily leave them happy, as they can feel anxiety over possibly making the wrong choice before the purchase. After the purchase that anxiety may continue as regret, because there might have been a better option after all. Satisficers are more likely to buy the first thing that meets all their personal criteria, and will save time and cognitive energy by not worrying about their decision once it’s made. People rarely fall completely into one category or the other. Most of us will devote way more time and energy into researching large decisions like a new house than small ones like tonight’s restaurant. Yet there are folks who will spend so much time reviewing restaurants that they forget to go to dinner.
The discussion at Metafilter makes it clear that many of us are checking listicles and reviews mainly to avoid buying crap that will fall apart before the purchase is justified, because there is an awful lot of subpar goods for sale in our modern throwaway society.
(Image credit: Masod Shahrestani)
Source: neatorama