Choice Overload Among Children

Abstract

Choosing from many options can influence post-choice satisfaction in two distinctly different ways. On one hand, a wider assortment should increase the likelihood of preference matching, leading to higher satisfaction. On the other hand, having too many choices can sometimes create an overload that decreases post-choice satisfaction. Choice overload effects have been found among adults and were mainly attributed to increased cognitive demands and a higher feeling of regret. Like adults, children also choose from many options daily, but their reaction to choice set size has not been systematically explored. Children’s reactions to various set sizes are important because the pivotal factors that influence the choice overload phenomena – namely cognitive ability and the sense of regret - evolve during childhood. Hence, children may reveal different reactions at different stages of cognitive and emotional development. In the current study, children from three age groups were asked to choose a prize from small to large assortments. We then measured post-choice reactions and asked children to complete a cognitive inhibition test. We found that preschoolers showed a choice overload effect only if their cognitive ability was relatively low; fourth-graders showed the opposite effect, with higher satisfaction as set size increased; first-graders showed a mixed reaction to set size. These results suggest that increases in cognitive demands constitute a key component of the mechanism underlying choice overload effects. Furthermore, because regret is cognitively unlikely among preschoolers, these findings also suggest that regret might not adequately explain choice overload effects.