The Surprising Power of Choice Architecture over Consumer Decisions

How Restaurants and Airlines Subtly Manipulate Your Decisions (And Why It Matters)

Years ago, I had an opportunity to hear Rory Sutherland from Ogilvy speak about consumer choices. The kinds of choices we think are in our control — but are really not.

Well, I recently stumbled across my notes from that talk and it got me thinking again about his whole concept of “choice architecture.” It’s pretty wild when you really stop and consider how much the framing of our options influences what we end up choosing.

Take restaurants and airlines, for example. They’re both in the business of selling us stuff. But the approaches they use couldn’t be more different.

Let’s start with the way wine is sold in high end restaurants. It’s actually kind of genius when you think about it. They don’t just hand you a menu and say “pick whatever.” No, they’ve got a choreographed system designed to subtly guide you towards ordering wine without you even realizing it.