Research paper
Scheibehenne B, Greifeneder R, Todd PM. Can there ever be too many options? A meta-analytic review of choice overload. Journal of Consumer Research. 2010;37(3):409-425. doi:10.1086/651235
Why we cite it
A meta-analysis of 50 experiments, 63 conditions and 5,036 participants, published and unpublished, made available between 2000 and 2009, each of which varied the number of options people chose from. The mean effect was close to zero, with more spread between studies than chance alone would give. Of the moderators the authors could code across studies, two pointed toward more choice being better: prior preferences or expertise, and consumption quantity as the measure. Published and earlier studies were somewhat more likely to report an effect. The authors could not identify conditions sufficient for choice overload to occur reliably.
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