Decisions, Decisions, Decisions
The Jim Carrey movie, The Truman Show seems more fact than fiction. I beleive it was Shakespeare who said, "All the world's a stage and men and women are merely players." Like minimum wage actors reciting scripted lines, we move through life trying to
keep from being devoured by a school of marketing and media piranhas. Whether
it’s strewn across highways on LED billboards or blasting from the bass of a
car stereo, the song remains the same: Buy
me. You need me to be happy. Don’t be left out. Enough is enough already.
Sheeny Iyengar—though blind—can see better than most of us. In a world of darkness, she sees clearly. Rather
than allow her impairment to limit her, she pushes against the tide of
consumerism, and offers a gift of marketing genius overflowing with awareness
and insight.
Sheena said choice overload causes consumers (yes, that’s you
and me) to disengage in the buying process; it results in a lack of decision
quality; and diminishes our purchasing satisfaction. Think about it; who’s
happier: The Indonesian couple able to purchase enough food for a three-course
meal or the American family pushing through the overcrowded Wal-Mart superstore
with a cart full of groceries?
In her video called How
to Make Choosing Easier Sheena Iyengar identified four techniques designed
to help us make better decisions.
Cut – the
principle of “less is more.” Consumers get lost in variety.
Concretization
– make your product real and specific. Simplify your advertising.
Categorization
– create more categories than choices. People like to group products together.
Make it easy to find and understand.
Condition for
Complexity – gradually increase the complexity of an advertisement.
Sheena’s first suggestion—cut (less is more)—describes my
favorite hangout perfectly. In his book Onward,
Howard Schultz said, “I have never embraced traditional advertising for
Starbucks. Unlike most consumer brands that are built with hundreds of millions
of dollars spent on marketing, our success had been won with millions of daily
interactions." Schultz doesn’t flood televisions or radios with
commercial after ridiculous commercial. His “less is more” strategy toward
advertising has won my business—and the bold flavor of Arabica beans doesn’t
hurt either.
Though many are lost in the latte verbiage, a simple “house bold”
gets it right every time. As a coffee consumer, Starbucks’ decision to avoid
investing large sums of money in television advertising inspires me. Once in
the store you can select a simple cup of coffee or an extravagant drink. On hot
days, my wife and I indulge in grande-double blended-no whip-mocha-Frappuccino!
But more often than not, it’s a strong house blend that starts my day.
Sheena’s observation toward categorization is a life-saver
for a logistician. Each day, my work is filled with ordering, tracking,
managing, and shipping hundreds and thousands of aircraft parts. One of the key
functions of asset management is separating the parts by system, function, and
repairability. For instance, Lockheed Martin categorizes their parts based on
system: avionics, engines, flight controls, landing gear, etc. Within each
category, items are further disseminated based on useability and functional
life cycle. Ms. Iyengar’s principle of categorization streamlines the ordering
process and aids buyers and consumers in selecting the right part quickly and
easily.
Whether it’s a hot cup of coffee or an F-22 canopy seal, enabling
consumers to seamlessly identify and order items while avoiding the inundation
of choices makes life easier and much less frustrating.
In addition to the cut and categorization strategy identified
by Ms. Iyengar, another helpful element toward improving one’s ability to
decide is the mental preparation done beforehand. Wile spending time browsing
and mulling about within a mall or a Wal-Mart may seem like a great way to pass
the time, it also results in unnecessary purchases. Knowing what you need exactly prior to going
to the store and sticking with the original intent can help a person focus their
decision. It’s much easier to decide at
home what you need rather than stand in the midst of hundreds of different
products and in your indecision, buy one of each.
Legacy chooses wisely.
Steve
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