ChocolateBoxSyndrome

In Paco Underhill's book "Why We Buy" he tells us that in a "jam taste test" when there were fewer than 4 or 5 different choices, we can make a decision about whether we like the raspberry or the plum quite easily and, more importantly, that will convert into a sale.

But if we increase the number of jams to more than a dozen, not only does our ability to decide which jam we like decrease, the likelihood we will buy a jar also nose-dives.

Given that the difference between Logonberry and Blackberry jam is minimal, why take the risk of losing the sale for the sake of more options?

A large part of usability is making making choices easier.

See: DontMakeMeThink