The Choice Study: Less is More…

Happy July! Yes, it’s true – it’s the middle of summer and hot as heck out.

One thing you’ll find on the blog is an emphasis on research. No, you won’t be bothered by the methodology or geeky, esoteric rhetoric. However, you will find periodic discussion of cool research and their implications to strategic communications.

I’d like to share a very special one with you today – a fine piece of research from the Missouri School of Journalism’s PRIME Lab (Psychological Research on Information and Media Effects Lab). Several years ago, I was fortunate enough to be part of the flagship research team assembled when three gifted professors came together to develop the lab: Paul Bolls, Kevin Wise and Glenn Leshner. I completed my master’s thesis in the lab, served as lab manager for a semester – and traveled to NYC and Lisbon, Portugal with the Lab. My time at the PRIME lab was some of the most fun I’ve ever had – also, conveniently located a block from my favorite Chipotle digs.

Ok, clearly, I’m biased here. Nevertheless, I’m pleased to share the fascinating research by my friends: The Choice Study. Won’t bore you with the methodological details – suffice it to say, they were rigorous and intense! This experiment is interesting, in a practical sense, because it informs us professionals about optimal communication environments.



A Choice Research Duo: Researchers Kimberlee Pepple and Kevin Wise at the Society for Psychophysiological Research conference in Lisbon, Portugal.


Essentially, less is more… when you want to remember it. The Choice Study used arrays of images (some small, some large) and tested recognition. Wise and Pepple found that fewer choices = greater recall (a.k.a better recognition). I’m putting it simply, but it supports the classic strategic communications theory/practice of simple messaging, a handful of key messages and consistency more maximized effectiveness.

The Choice Study is one of those great pieces of academic research that needs to carry over and become part of industry intelligence and practice. It has direct implications on how we build campaigns, design websites and blogs – it’s significant. My research in the lab was somewhat similar – looking at effective communication on corporate websites. Read the full manifesto, The Effects of Internet Content Structure on Attention and Memory – Exploring Optimal Structure for News on Corporate Web Sites, – you’ll be the fifth reader!

All this “choice” makes me think of restaurant menus. I want to say there was an article in the New York Times a few years ago about Manhattan restaurants simplify menus – because they found patron’s valued less choice, fewer options yielded less dissonance. It’s intuitive when you put it into context. Think about the last time you went out to dinner at a place that had a huge menu. I was at TGI Fridays last month – their menu is quite comprehensive – and it was a long and somewhat arduous process to come to a decision. What’s more, I was left waiting for my food with a healthy amount of cognitive dissonance! That’s sort of like the choice study – though its findings are exclusive to recognition, not emotional discomfort.

Enough for now. Check out Choice!