How Many Segments Do I Need?
Sheena Iyengar is a full professor in the Management Division of the Columbia Business School. I learned of her work in Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink. Iyengar is one of the leading experts on choice, and how choice impacts our decision-making. She is also my new hero.
In her well-known study conducted at Draeger’s Market in Menlo Park, California, she conducted a study in which shoppers could sample jam. The sampling table had either six jars of jam or 24. You can guess which booth sold more jam, right? The booth with six jam samples.
Iyengar also conducted a study with Vanguard on retirement plans in which she found that the more retirement fund choices people had, the less likely they were to participate in the retirement program.
As marketers, we say, “Of course!” We instinctively know that too much choice can overwhelm and dilute the choice to the point where focus is lost. So, why don’t we apply this knowledge more often? And why don’t we apply it to our landing experiences?
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Anna Talerico is executive vice-president of ion interactive (www.i-on.com), a company that pioneered in post-click marketing. Anna and her colleagues provided professional guidance and assistance in the development of SmartTools: High-Performance Landing Pages specifically for MarketingProfs Premium members.
