Reading: Matching Headings: Question 3

A It is widely assumed that offering people more options makes them better off: a shop with fifty types of coffee, the thinking goes, must serve customers better than one with five. Yet a substantial body of research in behavioural psychology suggests that beyond a certain point, additional choice does not simply fail to help. It can actively make people less satisfied and less likely to choose anything at all, a pattern researchers call choice overload.

B In one online-retail trial, a specialist tea company tested two versions of the same product page over several months: one version listed six blends, the other thirty. The longer list attracted more page visits, yet customers who viewed the shorter list were nearly five times more likely to complete a purchase, and a follow-up email survey found they also reported greater confidence that they had chosen well.

C Psychologists attribute this effect to the mental effort involved in comparing many alternatives at once. Weighing the relative merits of thirty similar products demands far more cognitive work than weighing six, and as the number of comparisons grows, so does the fear that an overlooked option might have been better. A nagging possibility that can leave a chooser anxious and prone to delaying or abandoning the decision entirely.

D This pattern is not confined to online shopping. Employees offered a longer list of retirement-savings funds have been found to be less likely to enrol in any plan at all, and subscribers presented with hundreds of thousands of catalogue titles on a streaming platform often report spending more time scrolling than actually watching, suggesting that extensive choice can quietly reduce both action and enjoyment across very different areas of life.

E The effect, however, is not universal. Several follow-up studies indicate that expertise changes the picture considerably: a novice wine drinker confronted with a long list may feel overwhelmed, whereas an enthusiast with well-formed preferences can navigate the same list quickly and often reports enjoying the wider range, suggesting that choice overload strikes hardest when a chooser lacks a clear basis for comparison.

The passage has five paragraphs, A–E.

List of Headings i. Training shop staff to guide indecisive customers ii. The common assumption that more choice is always better iii. An online trial linking fewer options to more purchases iv. The rising cost of stocking a wide product range v. Why comparing many alternatives is mentally demanding vi. Choice overload beyond the shopping aisle vii. How prior expertise can offset the effect

Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.

Paragraph A Paragraph B Paragraph C Paragraph D Paragraph E