The Paradox of Choice

Have you heard something called “ The Paradox of Choice?”. If not, the paradox of choice is basically the idea that the more choices we have the lesser we’d feel contentment. This is based on the book by Barry Schwartz with the same title, “ The Paradox of Choice”.Reflecting on the book, recently I had a conversation with my mom about why I love to shop at a particular place.All these stems to our routine that goes like this: every week, we would have a list of things that we need to buy to run the house and it’s mostly consisting of essentials, the bottom part of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Then, we would choose the store where we would buy them. This is the part where it gets interesting, the store.

There are many grocery stores throughout the city with different options and catering different needs- from wholesale to regular daily use, even the premium market. I usually alternate between the premium grocery store and the wholesale. In terms of price, the wholesale is definitely cheaper. However, I still don’t like going there because there are just too many brands, too many items and sometimes, a long queue. Meanwhile at the premium grocery store, lately I feel like I am basically paying a premium for something so basic. I would rather use the extra money to travel than to pay a premium price for something basic.

Then, enter a small grocery store that fits for daily needs. It’s a mom and pop store managed by only 4 employees and is also a store that sells baby needs. For the last couple of weeks, I love going there and I told this to my mom and wondered, “ why do I like going there?”. My mom said, “ It’s because they don’t have too many options and only the essentials.”

It got me thinking that she could be right. The more options that are presented to me, the more difficult it is to make a decision and choose. It gets pretty overwhelming and I ended up not enjoying the experience at all. It’s why I also don’t do online shopping too much and tend to stick with a few brands I know. Now, since I started thinking about only buying the essentials and trying to stick to a budget, this mom and pop’s shop is really helpful. They have everything and the price is pretty reasonable. They managed to stay with basics that regular people need in their life. From rice to soaps, everything is there and it’s not an excessive selection of brands. Even better when they also offer local products that are also often cheaper.

Now, I know the reason why I often feel slightly overwhelmed when grocery shopping. There were just too many options and to my brain, I prefer lesser choices that will just make my decisions a lot easier. However, it doesn’t mean that I am not a fan of trying new things, it just is going to take me quite a few months and years to switch to something or try something that ends up not becoming new again. For some reason, I don’t really feel any regret or feeling like I missed a good deal just because in that store, everything is pretty basic and there’s rarely any discounts. I think discounts and even deals often feel like they’re there to make you second guess your options. With small stores and limited choices, they don’t do that. It goes the same with clothes, shoes, etc. At least for me, I would go to a store with limited items instead of going to a place with varied options that will end up just overwhelm my brain.

Like this morning, we went to the same grocery shopping with our list and went back feeling satisfied. We know that though there are a few choices like above, they are still a reasonable amount. Unlike when we went to wholesale and though they were cheaper, I always came back home feeling like I missed something, like a good deal or just totally unhappy about my purchase as it becomes a lot more difficult to stick with the list. Do you face a similar experience when grocery shopping?