Friday, February 24, 2017

Choice Overload on a Menu

I wanted to share an extension of the choice overload phenomena we discussed in class on Thursday. In the context of this class, we focused primarily on choice overload on the shelves at retailers, and sometimes while shopping digitally.

I have faced this same scenario while dining out and trying to purchase a bottle of wine from a wine list. Often times whenever there is a large and complex wine list, I am overwhelmed, intimidated, and don't want to take the time to read the entire list. The worst scenario occurs when the wine list is in another language or isn't partitioned in a way that is friendly to the average diner. Often times when faced with this scenario, I end up either just ordering a cocktail or a beer.


2 comments:

  1. I can definitely empathize with this feeling of being overwhelmed at restaurants. I've also always wondered if seeking advice from the waiter/waitress is a good idea. Do they simply recommend a pricier bottle, or something that's been sitting on the shelf for a while? My default has been to order the cheapest glass of white or red, depending on my entree.

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  2. I agree with both of you. Extensive restaurant wine lists can be daunting, although I find it fun to read through the selections. Furthermore, asking the waiter/waitress about wine is probably hit or miss. Most of them probably don't know much about about the wines on the wine list and I suspect they are told to try to up sell diners by recommending higher priced wines.

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