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Review
"Schwartz lays out a convincing argument.... [He] is a crisp, engaging writer with an excellent sense of pace."--Austin American-Statesman
Product Description
The author of The Battle for Human Nature explains why too much choice has led to the ever increasing complexity of everyday decisions, why too much of a good thing has become detrimental to human psychological and emotional well-being, and how to focus our lives on making the right choices. Reprint. 35,000 first printing.
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First Sentence
CANNING THE SHELVES OF MY LOCAL SUPERMARKET RECENTLY, I found 85 different varieties and brands of crackers. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
CANNING THE SHELVES OF MY LOCAL SUPERMARKET RECENTLY, I found 85 different varieties and brands of crackers. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
84 of 86 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
this is a fantastic book that manages to articulate a set of ideas and experiences that I have had for a long time. namely that whilst choice has been fetishised in western societies, and become an unquestionable good, in fact a lot of the time choice a) it makes us uncomfortable (and unable to choose!) and b) doesn't deliver what we expect. this book predominantly deals with a).
one of the main points in the book is that different types of people deal with choice differently. satisficers will choose something that meets their needs, whilst maximizers will try and find the "best" option from all the choices available (it's not a simple split, some people approach different choices in different ways but anyway....). I definitely fit into the latter category. however what this book explains is that as a result maximizers will often be unhappy. this is so on the money. the amount of time I spend agonizing over some choices, and then questioning them afterwards to ensure that I didn't miss something.
there are some really interesting examples in here that I've been boring people to death with. for example the one about people buying jam. they are far more likely to buy one jam when there is only a choice of half a dozen than when there is a choice of twenty or more. it seems we get paralysed by too much choice. similraly there is a great story about people's responses to a hypothetical choice between using different vaccines - one guaranteed to cure one third (but only one third) of those it's used on, and an experimental one that will cure everyone if it works but there's only a one in three chance it will work. how you phrase the proposition has a big impact on how people respond. finally there is genuinely surprising (to me anyway) evidence that people in more restrictive communities are happier.
that said I have found quite a few people hostile to the idea that choice can be a bad thing when I've discussed this book with them. it's currently politically correct to advocate freedom of choice and want to expand it. as such I find that some politico types (more commonly but not always right-wing) are extremely threatened by any criticism of choice.
but to me that demonstrates why this is such a useful book.
50 of 54 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I remember reading about ten or twelve years ago of Russian immigrants to the West who were overwhelmed by the choices in the average supermarket. Accustomed to a choice of cereal or no cereal, they became paralyzed when confronted with flakes, puffs, pops, sugared or not, oat, wheat, corn, rice, hot or cold, and on and on. Now, according to Barry Schwartz, we are all overwhelmed by too many choices.
No one is immune, he says. Even if someone doesn't care about clothes or restaurants, he might care very much about TV channels or books. And these are just the relatively unimportant kinds of choices. Which cookie or pair of jeans we choose doesn't really matter very much. Which health care plan or which university we choose matters quite a lot. How do different people deal with making decisions?
Schwartz analyzes from every angle how people make choices. He divides people into two groups, Maximizers and Satisficers, to describe how some people try to make the best possible choice out of an increasing number of options, and others just settle for the first choice that meets their standards. (I think he should have held out for a better choice of word than "satisficer.")
I was a bit disappointed that Schwartz dismissed the voluntary simplicity movement so quickly. They have covered this ground and found practical ways of dealing with an overabundance of choice. Instead of exploring their findings, Schwartz picked up a copy of Real Simple magazine, and found it was all about advertising. If he had picked up a copy of The Overspent American by Juliet Schor or Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin instead, he might have found some genuine discussion of simple living rather than Madison Avenue's exploitation of it.
I enjoyed the first part of The Paradox of Choice, about how we choose, but the second half, about regret and depression, seemed to drag. Fortunately, I was able to choose to skim the slow bits and move right to the more interesting conclusion, about how to become more satisfied (or "satisficed") through better decision-making.
25 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Barry Schwartz answers the question with analytical clarity and with supported research and makes a logical and compelling case concerning the unhappiness associated with to much choice.
We are being bred by the world of marketing through the power of persuasive and pervasive media. Consumers are confused with too much choice but no one has calculated the cost to our quality of life. There are those who can cope and those who struggle, but we are all affected in one way or another.
Why is it that now that we are empowered with the ability to purchase more than ever before and with so much choice is depression on the increase and reaching a growing number of our children?
The Paradox of Choice provides the reason. It is a comfortable read and at the end there are steps to take to achieve a better perspective on our role as consumer in this culture.
I think teachers, parents as well as politicians, psychologists, business & the marketing community would receive a benefit by reading this book.
We are being bred by the world of marketing through the power of persuasive and pervasive media. Consumers are confused with too much choice but no one has calculated the cost to our quality of life. There are those who can cope and those who struggle, but we are all affected in one way or another.
Why is it that now that we are empowered with the ability to purchase more than ever before and with so much choice is depression on the increase and reaching a growing number of our children?
The Paradox of Choice provides the reason. It is a comfortable read and at the end there are steps to take to achieve a better perspective on our role as consumer in this culture.
I think teachers, parents as well as politicians, psychologists, business & the marketing community would receive a benefit by reading this book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
I kinda wish I'd CHOSEN something else...
I had such high hopes for this book. I was expecting it to focus largely on consumer culture, and to have some profound 'light bulb' moments that would really make me stop and... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Miss E. Potten
How you shop and buy
Interesting to marketeers and psychologist alike.
This book contains lots of little stories that bring psychological experiments to life. Read more
This book contains lots of little stories that bring psychological experiments to life. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Peter W. Burden
Worse than a complete waste of time - it is extremely aggravating.
I read this book and the author claims you are better off if other people (more expert than you) make your decisions for you. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Paul
You are a marketer? Buy it.
I'm one of those responsible for the paradox. One of those "on the other" side of the counter. With over ten years spent in marketing its hard for me to look at this book as a... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Mikolaj Pietrzyk
an informative text
The book is a detailed and well written explanation of some psychological phenomenons that make us unhappy when faced with multiple choices. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Mauro Mazzieri
Interesting
As an essay this was pretty interesting. As a persuasive book, less so. He is a good writer but not always convincing. Read more
Published 18 months ago by The Emperor
A dictatorship's wet dream
Read this book if you wish, but I do not advise it. Barry Schwartz argues that actually having less choice leads to more happiness, 5 of his arguments are :
1. Read more
1. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Mr. Samuel Delahunty
Unneveringly apt
I'm a layman when it comes to psychology & sociology, but I found this book very easy to read. Barry Schwartz supports all his assertions with multiple examples from real-world and... Read more
Published on 17 Mar 2010 by Caroline O
Oversimplified but insightful
This book falls in the "popular psychology" book category. Its author tries to convince us that maybe not the easiest but an essential way to improve our life and happiness is to... Read more
Published on 1 Mar 2010 by K. Scheller
Self-help or business guide?
Full of revelations and useful on any number of fronts; this seems to have been written as a self-help book with a long psychological build up and a fairly relaxed tail suggesting... Read more
Published on 12 Nov 2007 by Maclennane
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