Categories and Choices (7-17-08)

Designers often ask people to make choices between various options. Mogilner and her colleagues have found that if the items from which people are to choose are classified into categories (even if those categories are meaningless) those making selections are happier with the option they have selected. The more familiar that people are with the items they are selecting among, the lower the impact of dividing options into categories on happiness.

Cassie Mogilner, Tamar Rudnick, and Sheena Iyendar. 2008. “The Mere Categorization Effect: How the Presence of Categories Increases Choosers’ Perceptions of Assortment Variety and Outcome Satisfaction. Journal of Consumer Research, vol. 35.