Knowledge Will Set You Free

I feel it necessary to start this blog post with an examination of my biases. I am, what I would call, a “moderate libertarian”. It is my political and philosophical persuasion, that I abide by what Barry Schwartz calls the “Conventional Western Wisdom”. Freedom and choice, inseparable in value, should be maximized, which will result in immeasurable happiness. Where some of my libertarian brethren take this almost to the point of anarchy, wishing to privatize things like the police, firemen, and schooling, I do not. I agree with Mr. Schwartz in that everyone should have “their own fishbowl” so to speak, which varies in scope and size based on an individual’s ability to choose.

There is an incredibly large degree of empowerment in choice. Choice provides people, whether they are buying a product, service, or even voting in an election, a sense of satisfaction that they made a choice, any choice, and can attribute a sense of value to that choice, because it was their own. In his book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Robert Cialdini makes the claim that people actually have a stronger relationship with something, anything, once they actually make that choice, because of an internal desire to remain (and appear to others) consistent. There may still be, and frequently is, buyer’s remorse, but the connection to that brand, that product, that service, that politician, is stronger now that the decision and endorsement was made. I own, and take pride in my decisions, and like to stick with my decisions.

Think about the last time you received a gift, something marginally useful that you may not have actually purchased for yourself. Now think about another item, that is, again, marginally useful, but this time you purchased it for yourself. Which item do you find yourself trying to use more often? Even if that item requires a lot of extra effort? Which item would you be more likely to sell at a garage sale? If you are anything like my family and I, the gifted item is nearly disposable, while the purchased item gets its try every now and again. I come from a family of foodies, so one year I decided to give my mom a pasta machine for her birthday so we could make homemade pasta at home. It has been used literally once in almost 8 years, but has somehow made it through 4 different moves without being lost or sold at a garage sale. In an attempt to make handmade potato pasta called gnocchi, my dad purchased a potato ricer a few years ago. After a failed (and laborious attempt) to make a perfect batch of gnocchi, my dad has been trying to use the ricer in a number of different (and unintended) ways, all with little success. But he continues to try, for reasons until recently, I did not take the time to examine.

Where I find Mr. Schwartz is almost entirely correct with his “Paradox of Choice”, is with an uninformed or uneducated consumer. I know about as little as someone can know about household repairs, or how an automobile functions. Send me into a Home Depot or Autozone, even with a specific list of products, and I will freeze up given the choice of even just 3 different brands or options. To the uninformed consumer, much like his example of purchasing jeans, where he only knew of one style, or his example of patient autonomy, choice is certainly not a good thing. Choice means you can make a mistake, and choice means that there is always the possibility you have made the wrong choice, leaving you with a hefty sense of buyer’s remorse. I recently stood in front of the pain reliever section at CVS for about 10 minutes trying to decipher all of my options (time relase, extra strength, rapid release, PM, etc) before buying the generic, regular strength, Tylenol. I even went in, thinking I knew what I wanted, but ended up confused and “paralyzed” by the situation, not knowing the merits or downfalls of each option.

So how do we get the best of both worlds, a plethora of choice without the paradox of choice burdening every purchase? Make it as easy as possible to educate consumers and make them feel at ease with their purchase. Segmentation, in many ways, makes this possible. Certain price points message a perceived value on the customer’s end. Effective packaging and messaging can easily queue the customer into whether this product was meant for professionals, for children, for the elderly, for the tech savvy, for whoever. The internet has proven an unbelievable research tool for all forms of product research. One study even discovered “70% of online consumers said they use the Internet to research everyday grocery products” (Prospectiv, January 2008). Consumer ratings and reviews empower customers with the confidence the product will be functional, durable, and valuable (through the star ratings), and specific consumer insights on the product itself (the review material).

While there is certainly something to be said about the ills of too much choice (for example, the choice for Barry Schwartz to dress himself), I feel the effects were vastly over exaggerated in this twenty minute segment. Furthermore, it seemed Mr. Schwartz was not ashamed to also mention (or briefly push, rather) the idea of income redistribution, leaving one to wonder if the two ideas merely run parallel with one another, or if one is the byproduct of the other. I reveal the fact my biases certainly influence/cloud my judgment and opinions, I can only hope in its 304 pages, this is disclosed in “The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less”.

Edit:

Upon reflection of this topic, my post, and the podcast, I changed the title of the article to “Knowledge Will Set You Free”. While touching on the subject of politics, which along with food, movies, and music, I tend to weave into every discussion, I did not fully explain my planks for a better society; or why exactly, education, education on and about most everything, is so truly important. In order for my libertarian utopia to exist somewhere, even in my imagination, it MUST be filled with educated citizens. Citizens who understand that although an income tax does not exist in a libertarian utopia, the welfare of others is essential in maintaining a functioning society, so they give to charity out of both altruism and necessity, but not a legal sanction to do so. Citizens who understand that pollution and waste are exactly that, and do not partake. Citizens who understand the risks involved with drug use, even casual drug use, and do not partake in the hardest controlled substances, even though it would be legal to do so. Citizens who, because of a diverse and thorough education, are tolerant, if not accepting, of others lifestyle choices, cultures, abilities, etc, and simply do not have the power to legislate any discriminatory laws or practices into being. Maybe I am confusing education with a strong sense of morality here, but those I have regarded as having the highest sense of morality, always have impeccable and seamless logic to demonstrate their points, a sign of a highly educated (or at least highly intelligent) person.

So how does this starry-eyed political diatribe relate to consumer purchasing and decision making? Because the only way more choices can hamper a consumer; because the only way to suggest LESS options for the consumer, without actually asking the consumer, is a good thing, is if there is no faith that consumer can make an educated decision on their own. I actually find it rather insulting someone would insinuate I should have to make fewer choices, and always be fine with it. I have seen people standing in the wine isle with the “deer in the headlights” look, absolutely flabbergasted by the selection. A quick response: any good liquor store will have an expert on hand, to guide your decision, discover your wants, and suggest the best option for you. Paradox smashed, problem solved, and education delivered with minimal output! The internet contains a PLETHORA of information on nearly any subject, easily accessible, and enough to remove shopping paralysis. It is believed one of the key contributing factors to Amazon.com ‘s longtime success was their effective and widespread use of customer ratings and reviews. I can personally recall instances of starting a very basic, broad search, (cookware for example) and narrowing down to a few options, having no idea what I was looking for going in. It has been theorized Amazon is losing market share to others, especially as of late, because of the widespread use of reviews on competitor’s websites.

Knowledge will set you free my friends, knowledge will set you free…