Funnel Choices to Cultivate Creativity

A classic exercise to develop individual creativity is to give someone a few objects—like a paper clip, a facial tissue, and a scrub brush—and ask the person to list all the different ways the objects could be used together. The assumption is that this task—using all the objects together—would be more difficult with, let’s say, six objects than with, let’s say, three. But does this mean that the six-object task develops more creativity than the three-objects task?
     Research at New York University-Stern and University of British Columbia suggests that it does not when it comes to consumers behaving creatively. Their conclusion is that if shoppers have fewer options available—a smaller number of paint options for a decorating project or a smaller number of alternatives for preparing a dinner—creativity increases.
     When shoppers are making purchase decisions that they believe express their personal values, they’re happier if they believe they’re exercising creativity. It appears that you can help your customers do this by progressively limiting their choices as they move toward a purchase decision.
     This finding fits with other evidence that a well-organized store encourages customer creativity, as long as it’s not overdone. Consumers do require sufficient complexity to stay engaged.
     All this is more true for consumers who are highly experienced in combining the merchandise to meet objectives—the confident amateur interior decorators and chefs, for instance. The NYU/British Columbia researchers explain it by saying that the experts feel a greater need to evaluate all the available alternatives than do the novices, who want to keep things easy. With an abundance of choices, the experts become anxious, which can immobilize creativity.
     As a retailer, you want shoppers both to make purchases and to be satisfied with their shopping experiences. Observing shoppers might lead you think that having more options results in more satisfaction. Researchers at Cornell University explored that issue. They found that as the number of alternatives got large, additional shoppers are attracted to the store, but unless the retailer funnels the choices for each shopper, satisfaction fades.
     When it comes to cultivating creativity, one further step is important: Point out to the customer evidence of creativity. Restricted choice increased shopping enjoyment and objective creativity for experienced consumers. But the restricted choice often decreased the subjective feelings of creativity expressed by those consumers. Except if their creative output was pointed out to them.

Click below for more:
Offer Neatness to Creative Shoppers
Clear Up Clutter Ambiguities
Protect Shoppers From Too Many Choices