Positive affect moderates the impact of assortment size on choice satisfaction

• Positive affect moderates the relationship between assortment size and satisfaction.
• Positive affect eliminates choice overload in large assortments.
• Positive affect has no effect or may lower choice satisfaction in small assortments.
• We propose a meta-cognitive explanation for the observed effects.

The present research proposes that positive affect mitigates choice overload. Results from four studies show that whereas people in neutral affect feel less satisfied when choosing from a large relative to a small assortment, people in positive affect do not experience a decline in satisfaction and may even feel more satisfied when choosing from a large, relative to a small assortment. It is proposed that positive affect has these effects by shifting people's attention from the difficulty of the choice task to the quality of the assortment, as a basis for judgment of choice satisfaction.

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