Choosing is a creative process, one through which we construct our environment, our lives, ourselves.
Sheena IyengarOnce the jazz musician learns all the fundamentals they can keep track of a lot of choices in an instant.
Sheena IyengarWhen Japanese went to Hawaii they would go straight and buy the same thing that they would buy in Japan. They just got it cheaper, which they liked. And so they would still eat the red bean ice cream or the green tea ice cream, but they didn't really take advantage of the variety and it wasn't clear that they cared.
Sheena IyengarWe began to look at "Why is that?" And a large part of that has to do with the fact that when people have a lot of options to choose from they don't know how to tell them apart. They don't know how to keep track of them.
Sheena IyengarPeople will make worse financial decisions for them if they're choosing from a lot of options than if they're choosing from a few options. If they have more options they're more likely to avoid stocks and put all their money in money market accounts, which doesn't even grow at the rate of inflation.
Sheena Iyengar