The expression “seasonal shopping events” or “SSEs” refers to specialized events, often related to national or religious holidays, in which retailers create shopping opportunities, by offering discounts and promotions, to attract consumers and maximize sales volume. The end of November brings two of the most relevant SSEs, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Historically, Black Friday has been the largest consumer spending day in the US and has spread globally. But more recently, with the increase of online shopping, an alternative spending day has gained relevance, Cyber Monday. The rise in popularity of e-commerce brings changes to consumers’ choices and behavior, which become even more evident during these days of mass shopping.
As consumers transition from physical stores to online purchasing, their entire shopping experience is transformed. When navigating the virtual shopping environment, consumers’ now face an overwhelming amount of options, which can affect their intention of buying and even increase the anxiety of making a purchasing decision. The difficulty of making a choice when presented with multiple options is called “choice overload” and has been largely studied in Behavioral Economics. Having more choices is not always better, since it can decrease the satisfaction with the final decision and even increase negative emotions, such as regret.
The idea of choice overload was first introduced by French philosopher Jean Buridan in the 13th century, who theorized that when people face two equally attractive options they delay their decision and eventually choose at random. In the 1970s, Polish psychiatrist Zbigniew Lipowski referenced Buridan in his own article, proposing that “more options lead to confusion, anxiety, and an inability to choose”. However, abundance of choice is not enough for there to be choice overload. Recent literature on the topic has pointed out some necessary preconditions, such as unfamiliarity with the items presented in the choices and no obviously dominant option. Both of these preconditions are met in the Cyber Monday online purchasing environment, as new products are constantly put on sale and consumers have access to a wide range of online retailers who sell similar items.
Although the internet offers consumers more product variability and convenience, the risks, anxiety and other potential drawbacks of online shopping are also present in the back of consumers’ mind when making an online purchase. For instance, due to the lack of experience and the intangible nature of online shopping, consumers are likely to be less certain about decision contexts, thus, being more vigilant in an online environment compared to offline shopping. This mindset of vigilance can increase consumer’s anxiety when trying to make the right choice, which together with the huge amount of information online, can increase the negative emotions experienced by consumers during the shopping process.
As the scale of online purchasing reaches new heights during Cyber Monday, this period presents the perfect opportunity to further analyze the effects of choice overload on consumer’s behavior. For example, the flash-discounts on online websites can add pressure for consumers to make a choice, which could lead to an impulsive purchasing decision and later regret on the part of the buyer. Online retailers can create strategies to mitigate such effects on the shoppers’ experience, such as providing temporary discounts for a limited number of products of a specific category, so that consumers can make informed choices and still be satisfied with the amount of options available.
As a seasonal shopping event of growing importance, Cyber Monday reflects how the increase of online shopping has affected consumers’ behavior. The transition from offline to online purchasing brought greater convenience and accessibility to consumers, but also increased choice overload and anxiety due to innumerable choices available and greater uncertainty regarding the digital buying environment.
Sources:
Choice overload (no date) The Decision Lab. Available at: https://thedecisionlab.com/reference-guide/psychology/choice-overload (Accessed: 25 November 2023).
Nagar, K. and Gandotra, P. (2016) ‘Exploring choice overload, internet shopping anxiety, variety seeking and online shopping adoption relationship: Evidence from online fashion stores’, Global Business Review, 17(4), pp. 851–869. doi:10.1177/0972150916645682.
Vu, J.K. and Brinthaupt, T.M. (2018) ‘The evolution of seasonal shopping events: Global Perspectives’, Journal of Fashion Technology & Textile Engineering, 06(03). doi:10.4172/2329-9568.1000174.
Wang, F. et al. (2021) ‘Consumer vigilance and choice overload in online shopping’, International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 25(3), pp. 364–390. doi:10.1080/10864415.2021.1943189.
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