The Economic & Social Research Institute's (ESRI) new report, PRICE Lab: An Investigation of Consumers’ Capabilities with Complex Products, has found that consumers are more likely to struggle to identify good deals when descriptions of products force them to think about too many things at once.
ESRI undertook a number of experiments using its computerised PRICE Lab to study how well consumers are able to differentiate between good deals and bad deals.
Its main finding was that if consumers were faced with three or more factors when making a decision, mistakes were often made, and good deals were often missed out on.
Commenting on the report's findings, ESRI said; "The findings suggest that consumers can benefit if product ranges and descriptions are kept simple. Where companies instead market products in an unnecessarily complex fashion, with multiple characteristics and price components, consumers will be more likely to make mistakes.
"In markets where consumers struggle with the volume or complexity of product information, comprehensive, independent price comparison sites can play an important role, by helping consumers to integrate the information or by drawing consumers’ attention to the most important product features," it concluded.
© 2016 - Checkout Magazine by Niall Swan
