Is too much choice an issue and how do you decide what to buy?

mandal

For basic items, like flour, sugar, salt, I don't think you need that much choice, as there isn't that much variation possible. However, choice is still necessary to encourage competition in pricing. But for other items, while having a lot of choice can slow down your shopping as you consider all the variations, it means you are more likely to be able to find something that fits your needs almost perfectly. You might want a particular pack size, format, combination of ingredients, country of origin etc, and without a range of choices, you have to compromise more. There are a few things I would do if my usual brand was no longer available - I'd find out where it still was available and consider going there instead, I'd look at the alternatives and see if any were acceptable, or I might decide that that item wasn't a must-have and just do without entirely. I would prefer to have more brands to choose from, as long as they were different to each other or had something different to distinguish them from the others. There's not point having a lot of brands if they are essentially offering the same product. When there are a lot to products to choose from, I consider nutrition content (eg. how much sugar/salt is in it), flavour, quality, and price.