Application of Paralysis Analysis Syndrome in Customer Decision Making

The term “analysis paralysis” or “paralysis of analysis” refers to over-analyzing (or over-thinking) a situation, or citing sources, so that a decision or action is never finally taken, resulting in paralyzing the outcome. It is a general myth that when a consumer is given more choices by the vendor the sales go up. This research paper attempts to apply this principal to consumer decision making process during choosing a product. This paper presents the details of the study. It was found that consumers are known to postpone their buying decision when they are spoilt for choices, while they have closed deals quicker when there have been lesser options to choose from. It was concluded that when customers have more choices, they buy less; in decision-making people often simplify using the wrong criteria; more choices lead to greater dissatisfaction because expectations are raised. This also provides a product comparison or version comparison chart and helps to simplify the interface: prune unnecessary options or tuck them in an optional “advanced options” section.