Why Goldilocks Never Checked the Shop Next Door

When Goldilocks stumbled across three bowls of porridge, she didn’t spend hours weighing her options. She didn’t check the nutritional content, compare oat origins, or wonder if the cabin next door had an organic, gluten-free, high fibre option with a sprinkle of chia seeds.

Nope. She tried three bowls, picked the one that was just right and she moved on.

It's Good Enough

Goldilocks was satisficing, a decision-making shortcut we all use, probably more than we realise. Rather than finding the best option, she settled for the one that was simply good enough. And really, can you blame her?

As consumers, we face hundreds of tiny decisions every day and we don’t have the bandwidth, the time, or the desire to over analyse, read labels, and make well thought out comparisons between what we could have. Instead, we lean on heuristics, quick mental shortcuts. We reach for what’s familiar, easy or just right enough.

In other words, we satisfice.

It’s easy to get caught up in building brands for maximisers, the people who will look at the best option available, and put in the research to make an informed intelligent choice, and this may work well for those rare, special buying occasions. But If you’re in the business of selling toothpaste, you just need to be remembered as good enough by the consumer to ensure you end up in their shopping basket.

Brands don't have to be perfect, they just have to be 'not terrible' and they can influence the daily behaviour of consumers. That isn't to say that brands shouldn't make an effort, it's just about knowing what is more important to your customers, because in the real world, 'just right' is often just right.