Consumers, Too, Seek Closure

by Daniel Akst

Wall Street Journal
April 10, 2013

Choosing is hard and buyer’s remorse is easy. So when consumers make a choice, particularly a hard choice, they’re happier with it if they perform some small act that emphasizes the finality of their decision.

In four studies covered by a newly published paper, researchers found that “choice closure” inhibits people’s tendency to reconsider and increased the chooser’s satisfaction. In one study, participants were asked to choose from an array of chocolates on a covered tray, but only some of the volunteers were asked to restore the lid after choosing. Later, those lid restorers reported liking their chocolate more than those who hadn’t restored the lid. A similar result came from another study involving choosing foods and then closing—or not closing—the menu.

The findings are consistent with prior research showing that people often are happier with irrevocable choices, which promote rationalizing and make it harder to conduct post-choice comparisons.

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