Paradoxical Behavior Makes Consumers Unpredictable: Report

Paradoxical tensions among consumers are making their behavior unpredictable and baffling many sellers, according to a report released Monday by a global strategy and management consulting firm.

Consumers want choice but are overwhelmed by it; want to control their decisions but want curation of their choices; and want to live certain values but can’t always prioritize them, according to the report by the Kearney Consumer Institute (KCI) based on survey data gathered from 14,000 consumers in the United States, Europe, and Asia Pacific region.

“Brands have more data than ever about consumer demographics, behavior, spending, and opinions. But we still often categorize consumer behavior as ‘unpredictable.’ To understand why, our research found three key consumer tensions that help explain this behavior,” KCI lead Katie Thomas said in a statement. These key tensions include:

• Options vs. Overload. The report explained that consumers seem to expect a product that suits each type of skin, diet, or fitness need, yet in many major categories, most consumers believe there’s already plenty to choose from — if not too much.
• Curation vs. Control. Two out of three consumers say they like making all their decisions themselves, the report noted, but it’s logical that consumers want and need some level of curation to make sense of all their options.
• Facts vs. Feelings. Consumers want to “do their own research,” and they trust themselves more than they trust brands and institutions, the report found, but have limited reserves of time, energy, and motivation.

The research suggested that retailers and brands aren’t striking the right balance between facts versus feelings, curation versus control, and too many choices. “When retailers and brands balance the tension, applying emotional intelligence and great merchandising, they will better navigate the mindset of the future consumer to address their needs,” Thomas stated.

Decision Fatigue

Choice presents a prime example of the paradoxical behavior cited in the report. Only one in four consumers said they’re overwhelmed by the number of decisions they need to make each day, the report noted, but qualitative research tells another story. Call it decision fatigue, analysis paralysis, or the paradox of choice, but people often start by sharing that they’re exhausted by options.

“Decision fatigue is very real,” Thomas told the E-Commerce Times. “What brands say they’re responding to is their belief that consumers are demanding ever more specialized options, but the reality is that consumers are overwhelmed by a staggering number of choices in the aggregate.”

“How can brands and retailers address this inconsistency?” she asked. “The best way is to gain a firmer grasp of the consumer’s lifestyle and then respond to that. So, it’s a combination of understanding and merchandising. For example, Trader Joe’s does a great job of this by offering fewer choices while matching those to the consumer’s lifestyle.”

“The paradox of choice leads to analysis paralysis among consumers,” added Matthew A. Gilbert, a marketing lecturer at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, S.C.

“When there are too many choices, consumers are often unable to make a choice,” he told the E-Commerce Times. “The solution is to have a limited selection of options, not every possible product permutation.”

Innovation Without Clutter

The report advised sellers that sometimes it’s best to forgo additional options and look for better ways to innovate and offer choices without adding clutter to the market.

“Adding new products to the market is part of the innovation process. The key for sellers is to offer product choices in sets rather than offer them all at once,” explained Anthony Miyazaki, professor of marketing at Florida International University in Miami.

“Putting your prospective buyers into a situation where they are required to select from hundreds or even thousands of offers is a recipe for failure,” he told the E-Commerce Times. “Buyers need to feel that they have a choice and feel confident in the choice they are making, but the choice set needs to be controlled to avoid information overload where making no selection can often be the result.”

“When I look at this problem with clients, I ask, ‘How can we group these products better? In what way can we bucket them to make it easier for people?’” added Liz Kressel, CEO of Lizard Strategy, an e-commerce and live shopping agency in New York City.

“If you just lay out your individual products — particularly if you have over 10 SKUs — people will start to get overwhelmed,” she told the E-Commerce Times. “That’s why curation is super important. Consumers can get overwhelmed quickly. It’s why you don’t want to put 30 things on a navigation bar.”

Taking Consumers for A Ride

The Kearney report maintained that the consumers of the future want to feel like they are being brought along for the ride. It recommended reorienting consumer research plans around on-the-ground qualitative research, using grassroots marketing, and building feedback loops with consumers to understand their full lifestyle and the joys and challenges they face. Embrace a test-and-learn mentality and enhance consumer-backed design, it added.

“I would urge brands to look beyond traditional research sources and look at more active qualitative feedback loops,” said Liz Miller, a vice president and principal analyst with Constellation Research, a technology research and advisory firm in Cupertino, Calif.

“Be it from digital customer listening posts or from qualitative panels like UserTesting, just be ready to really hear and then be transparent with why you might not be or will be doing something,” she told the E-Commerce Times. “Share those voices and celebrate the good, bad, and ugly.” “But — and this is a big but — if you cannot commit to being transparent on the ride you want to bring customers along on, if your instinct is only to show the good or censor any part of the experience, customers will feel more betrayed and decision fatigue won’t be your only problem,” she added.

Mark N. Vena, president and principal analyst at SmartTech Research in Las Vegas, noted that sellers can enhance consumer involvement in their products by incorporating interactive experiences, such as crowdsourcing product features, designs, or flavors, which can make consumers feel actively invested in the product.

“Engaging storytelling, transparent development processes, and exclusive behind-the-scenes content can strengthen emotional connections,” he told the E-Commerce Times.

“Offering personalized options or co-creation opportunities allows consumers to shape products to their preferences, fostering deeper attachment. Loyalty programs that reward feedback, testing, and advocacy can further cultivate an engaged community around the brand.”

Exploiting AI

Rob Enderle, president and principal analyst at the Enderle Group, an advisory services firm in Bend, Ore., recommended engaging consumers when considering product options to boost consumer interaction.

“Advisory councils work with existing customers, so they feel they have some say in what results,” he told the E-Commerce Times. “Then when the product arrives, the seller points out the features that the customer had direct influence over, creating the impression the product was built for them.”

“This was virtually impossible to do at scale before AI, but now that we have AI, it opens up a wealth of possibilities,” he added.

“The Kearney study shows that for many product categories, a large portion of consumers feel that there are too many options from which to choose,” Miyazaki said. “This presents great opportunities for sellers to work on guiding the purchase decision process — in essence, focusing efforts on buyer development rather than product development.”

“Sellers need to utilize artificial intelligence in the product presentation process,” he continued. “Because no two consumers are the same, it follows that the selling process should be different for each consumer.

“By offering choice sets that match consumer preferences for evaluating feature details, analyzing choices, and even connecting emotionally, sellers can help consumers in their decision processes while at the same time nudging them toward product purchases that will benefit the company’s bottom line.”