MORE AND MORE CHOICES--GOOD OR BAD? {2004}

By Vince Chiarelli, PTR, MRT and Owner of String Along With Vince in Largo

I recently found a copy of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN (April, 2004) I had missed reading. In it was an article by Barry Schwartz, Ph.D., describing the problems associated with too many choices, and I thought, "I see people facing this every day in my shop". According to Dr Schwartz, as the number of choices increases, confusion, bewilderment and depression increase and happiness decreases. This effect is more pronounced in some people than in others.

One group he calls "satisficers". They have little interest in choices. They see something that looks essentially right to them, buy, and are happy. There is little anxiety over having had to give up one feature or another to get something else they wanted. The end.

"Maximizers" (the other group) are interested in every facet of the item they are purchasing. They do copious amounts of research, dwell over the decision, and when they finally buy something, they remain concerned over whether or not they made the correct choice. Nowhere is this more prevalent than with buying consumer electronics. Many of us are reluctant to buy one gizmo or another because we know a new generation is on the horizon that is supposedly better.

Most of us in tennis are familiar with the concept of "paralysis by analysis"--usually applied to learning a stroke. As I read this article, I became keenly aware of how much this relates to buying tennis equipment, especially tennis racquets. As a tennis shop owner, it's my job to determine what new racquets will sell and bet thousands of dollars on being correct. When I first started, I spent many sleepless nights worrying if I had made the right choices. I had to force myself to get over this behavior if I wanted to stay in the business. As time goes by, racquet manufacturers tend to offer more and more choices as an "advantage" and to turn over their models faster and faster. According to Dr. Schwartz, this trend will not be helpful to customers!

Marketing and advertising is often, in my opinion, deceptive. In the area of racquets, a vast amount of what is presented as improvements is nothing more than "pseudotechnology"; more a result of marketing than technological genius. People have been conditioned in general to want "new and improved" but most of what they get in racquets ends up as cosmetic change or "smoke and mirrors". The effects of most of this racquet "technology," while perhaps measurable in a laboratory, are so miniscule as to be indiscernible. The pressure on both manufacturers and consumers to support a world of "new-improved-more-better" leads to a frustrating glut.

While retailers may not escape the depressing effects of the industry's "overchoice" condition, they can certainly help their customers. If a person can describe his/her style of play, a truthful, knowledgeable technician can point to a small number of choices that will make life much easier and happier.

COPYRIGHT 2004 (Previously published in FLORIDA TENNIS - Dec., 2004)

By Vince Chiarelli, PTR, MRT, Owner, String Along With Vince, Largo, FL