What SXSW 2026 Taught Us About Experience Design and Brand Activations
A look at what’s shaping experiential marketing, and how it translates into more intentional, effective experience design.
Does offering unlimited choice in the form of award Debit Cards or through an ever-expanding choice of certificates and merchandise in typical incentive catalogs do more harm than good?
Is less more? Will incentive program results benefit by going on an awards diet?
Given the option: Would you like to choose an item from a group of many or a group of few? Which will make you feel better after you’ve made your choice?
This question is the basis for a study and a book: When Choice is Demotivating: Can One Desire Too Much of a Good Thing? and The Paradox of Choice. They take the position that while we initially want more options from which to choose, too many options make us unsure and ultimately unsatisfied with our choices. This is truly a paradox, and a problem for any incentive program.
Let’s review the study and highlight the implications for designing award programs
Sheena S. Iyengar, a professor of Business at Columbia University, published a paper in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology called: When Choice is Demotivating: Can One Desire Too Much of a Good Thing?
It has been a long and strongly held psychological theory that more choice has greater motivation impact. This study challenges the assumption and shows that motivation actually declines when someone has too many choices. Studies conducted by Ms. Ivengar show people become frustrated when choosing amongst many options, are less satisfied with their choices and in many cases refuse to choose!
“In other words – the pain of choosing is greater than the benefit of making the choice. Here’s how the experiments went.”
In this first experiment, consumers shopping at an upscale grocery store encountered a tasting booth which displayed either a limited (6) or an extensive (24) selection of different flavored jam. The two measures of customers’ motivation were their initial attraction to the tasting booth and their subsequent purchasing behavior. All consumers who approached the table received a coupon allowing $1 off any purchase of jam.
The central aim of Experiment 1 was to examine whether the number of options displayed affected consumers’ initial attraction to the displayed product and/or their subsequent purchasing of that product.
Experiment 1 Results
Almost 10x as many people bought jam when experiencing a limited choice vs. a more extensive choice! Nearly 30% of the consumers with fewer choices purchased a jar of jam. By contrast, only 3% of the consumers exposed to greater choices purchased a jar of jam.
No awkward networking. No over-engineered engagement.
Students in an introductory social psychology class were given the opportunity to write a two-page essay as an extra-credit assignment.
Students were given either a limited (6) or extensive (30) list of potential essay topics. Intrinsic motivation was assessed by comparing the percentage of students who completed the assignment in each group and the quality of the essays.
“The city makes you want to linger. That’s by design.”
The results from both studies suggest that giving people more choice does not necessarily lead to enhanced motivation. Quite the opposite seems to be the case. In both studies, people prefer to exercise their opportunity to choose when their choices are limited, and in Experiment 2, they even performed better.
Thus, the results support the hypothesis that extensive-choice may be more appealing, but consequently may hamper intrinsic motivation.
“It felt very true to the area. Not forced. Not overdesigned.”
The research was further supported by a recent study out of Caltech. Researchers asked participants to choose from six, 12 or 24 images to include on a souvenir. By analyzing brain activity in an MRI machine, it was determined that 12 was the sweet spot for number of choices – 6 wasn’t enough, and 24 was too many.
This concept is one of secrets behind the success of discount grocer, Aldi. By stocking just a fraction of the products other supermarkets carry, they are able to keep their prices low. Less choice means that time-constrained customers can get in and out with what they need instead of needlessly going through the decision-making process.
However, as number of possible choices increase, people strive to end the choice-making ordeal by selecting one that is merely satisfactory, rather than optimal. They subconsciously do this to save time and energy.
Another possibility is that more options make a person feel more responsible for their choices. And for fear of later regret, they elect not to choose at all.
To recap – Many choices are initially attractive…That’s what we’re always looking for. How do you surprise someone in a way that feels natural, not forced?
If this research is correct, it should have huge impact on the way in which incentive and performance improvement programs are developed.
“I applaud what they did. It worked.”
No awkward networking. No over-engineered engagement.
Download our free guide that outlines the impact – and possible ways a program can be designed to leverage these findings.
Inspiration is the starting point.
What matters is what you build from it.
A look at what’s shaping experiential marketing, and how it translates into more intentional, effective experience design.
If you’ve ever been on the receiving end of a gift from a business colleague or employer that fell fat, you know the importance of selecting the right token of appreication.
It might surprise you that event planning is one of the top 10 most stressful jobs in the world.