The Economic Cost of Excess Choice: A Pilot Study on Decision Consistency and Dominated Preferences

This paper explores the economic downsides of having too many choices through a simple online experiment. Participants picked from lists of 2, 6, or 12 similar chocolates, repeating each list to test decision consistency and errors (like choosing worse options). Results showed consistency dropping sharply (60% to 20%) with more options, plus frequent mistakes across all sizes; evidence of cognitive overload and bounded rationality challenging classical theory's "more choices = better welfare." As a pilot study, it highlights variety's hidden mental costs but calls for larger tests with incentives.