While shopping for GSM cell phones, get only one that will really be useful to you. Okay, so that’s not earth-shattering advice, but it bears repeating for it’s surprising how so many shoppers actually get stuff that they don’t really find useful. Strange enough, it may be that having so many options on the marketplace to choose from contributes to this situation: embaras de riches, as the French say. This is to say, the cornucopia of choices out there seem to confuse people more than anything else.

People who research consumer behavior know all about this situation. Whether it’s GSM cell phones or anything, really, people just have a harder time — and feel the attendant anxiety — when confronted (yes, “confronted!”) by too many choices. Even though such a finding might sound crazy, there are quite a few good reasons for it. Consider that about half of humanity — those typically called “guys” — don’t like shopping. And why’s that? Generally, it has to do with instant gratification. Guys just want to “get it over with.” They’ll feel this way no matter how simple the purchase, eve with something such as picking up groceries on the way home from work. So just think how much more aggravating it is when something as complex as electronics is involved!

To be sure, guys generally like technological gadgetry, since guys are typically enamored of toys to begin with. Guys like objects; they like controlling things. But today’s technology has lead to an incredible variety of features, feature-sets which only hard-core geeks would love spending time poring over…guys or gals.

Yes, then there are the ladies, the female half of the human race. These are people who often love to shop, but who find technology purchases none too interesting.

The existence of so many people who do not care about cell phones is an important fact. No wonder, isn’t it, that marketing hype is resorted to in order to hasten the purchase? Thus, not knowing the latest from the greatest, they sometimes wind up with gear they not only don’t need, but which may actually hamper their daily mobile communications!

This means that a bit of self-awareness is important when looking to buy a cell phone. What exactly do you need to do with a handset anyway? Do you really need all those features? Surf the web? Are games that important? Will you need WiFi capabilities as well, or would the data stream of your carrier’s cellular network suffice?