> Except consumers can understand toothpaste flavors.
Can we? Here's the currently available US flavors / varieties of ONE brand, Colgate:
Advanced White Charcoal Toothpaste
Advanced White Toothpaste
Anti-Tartar + Whitening Toothpaste
Cavity Protection Toothpaste
Charcoal Natural Extracts Charcoal Toothpaste
Colgate Baby Toothpaste 0-2 years
Colgate Kids Magic Toothpaste 6-9 years
Colgate Kids Toothpaste 3-5 years
Cool Stripe Toothpaste
Deep Clean With Baking Soda Toothpaste
Elixir Cool Detox Toothpaste
Elixir Gum Booster Toothpaste
Elixir White Restore Toothpaste
Gum Invigorate Detox Toothpaste
Gum Invigorate Toothpaste
Max Fresh Cooling Crystals Toothpaste
Max White & Protect Whitening Toothpaste
Max White Charcoal Whitening Toothpaste
Max White Crystals Whitening Toothpaste
Max White Expert Anti-Stain Whitening Toothpaste
Max White Expert Complete Whitening Toothpaste
Max White Expert Original Whitening Toothpaste
Max White Expert Shine Glossy Mint Whitening Toothpaste
Max White Extra Care Enamel Protect Whitening Toothpaste
Max White Extra Care Sensitive Protect Whitening Toothpaste
Max White Luminous Whitening Toothpaste
Max White One Whitening Toothpaste
Max White Optic Whitening Toothpaste
Max White Sparkle Diamonds Whitening Toothpaste
Max White Ultimate Catalyst Whitening Toothpaste
Max White Ultimate Renewal Whitening Toothpaste
Max White Ultra Active Foam Toothpaste
Max White Ultra Freshness Pearls Toothpaste
Maximum Cavity Protection 3+ Kids' Toothpaste
Maximum Cavity Protection Fresh Mint Toothpaste
Maximum Cavity Protection Toothpaste
Nature IQ Enamel Repair Toothpaste
PerioGard Gum Protection + Sensitive Toothpaste
PerioGard Gum Protection Toothpaste
Sensitive Instant Relief Enamel Repair
Sensitive Instant Relief Enamel Repair Toothpaste
Sensitive Instant Relief Multiprotection
Sensitive Instant Relief Repair & Prevent
Sensitive Instant Relief Whitening
Sensitive Sensifoam Multi Protection Toothpaste
Sensitive With Sensifoam Toothpaste
Total Active Fresh Toothpaste
Total Advanced Clean Gel Toothpaste
Total Advanced Deep Clean Toothpaste
Total Advanced Enamel Health Toothpaste
Total Advanced Gum Care
Total Advanced Pure Breath Toothpaste
Total Advanced Sensitive Care
Total Original Toothpaste
Total Plaque Protection Toothpaste
Total Visible Proof Toothpaste
Total Whitening Toothpaste
Triple Action Original Mint Toothpaste
I'm an adult male. My dentist has not informed me of any particular concerns. I wouldn't mind my teeth being a bit whiter. Which of these am I supposed to buy? Or am I supposed to buy a product from one of the other brands of the same manufacturer... Elmex, Meridol, several others, each of which has their own outrageously long lineups. Or look at a different manufacturer?
One of my professors described Toothbrush buying as the absolute most pathological case for the Paradox of Choice: dozens of ostensibly differentiated products, all in basically the same price range, all basically affordable, with no real way as a consumer to discern their efficacy or quality. You'll use the product for the next 6 months to a year, and if you pick the wrong one, your breath will stink, your teeth will fall out, and you'll need expensive surgery.
What were they a professor of? I don't see a paradox of choice here; none of those Colgate products, or anything else sitting on the shelf that's ADA accepted, is going to rot your teeth.
It is, however, a classic result of oligopoly. Oligopolists compete among themselves--and, more importantly, prevent entry from newcomers--by hyper differentiating their products. The "artificial" product differentiation also makes comparison-shopping harder and softens price competition between the oligopolists. It's a really fascinating, kind of counter-intuitive, but well known dynamic.
E.g., Crest offers a slightly differentiated product--"gleaming white plus plus" or whatever--and Colgate responds with "extra pearly white super plus."
Or a newcomer tries to sell "natural something," so the oligopolists introduce "natural stuff" and "pure friendly paste" to prevent customers that like the sound of "natural" from defecting to the newcomer.
Hotels are the classic case. Hilton and Marriott have tons of brands. Take extended stays for example. Marriott has three extended-stay hotel brands. No one thinks extended-stay hotel customers started a letter-writing campaign to Marriot saying, "I really want an extended-stay hotel that's just like Residence Inn, but with a different color combination. That's where you should invest your money. I don't need nicer furniture or lower prices, thank you. Just give me the new color scheme, thanks."
The dynamic is a counterintuitive feature of oligopolies, but it's very well known. But academia is hyper-specialized, so, yeah, everyone sees their own pet theory in everything.
On the other hand, if you've been eating sugar and drinking battery acid all along and your teeth haven't fallen out yet, please let me know what kind of toothpaste you've been using.
It's made funnier by the fact that I've never had a dentist who's cared. I asked a couple and each time got the line that the physical act of brushing matters much more than the type of toothpaste. I vaguely remember one saying "as long as it has fluoride"
I think every toothpaste ad says "4 out of 5 dentists recommend" their brand because 4 out of 5 dentists says "Yeah sure. Okay, use that one. It doesn't matter. Just brush and floss regularly and methodically"
Toothpaste was a bad example, OP's original point is still good IMO. Sometimes analogies fail, that doesn't mean that the main point isn't valid anymore.
There is a dizzying mix of GPU brands and offerings out there. Some have better cooling than others. It is a giant mixed bag just like the toothpaste example.
I love this comment. I get what the parent commenter was trying to say, but selecting toothpaste as the shining example of clear and accessible consumer choice is really funny.
> My dentist has not informed me of any particular concerns
So my dentist did actually explain stuff to me, and generally you want something less abrasive.
Brush more frequently (every meal), but not for long, and using a very soft brush, with the primary goal of raising ph above acidic levels, and increasing gum blood flow.
Although I would recommend specifically Sensodyne 'ProNamel' because it contains BioMin F, which afaik is one of the few ingredients beyond fluoride to show efficacy at remineralizing damaged enamel. It does technically require a prescription in the US, but its easy enough to find grey-market.
You're obviously supposed to conduct a double-blind longitudinal study over the course of many years, with at least 30 participants in each group, for every single sub-brand you listed.
Also, make sure there's no conflict of interest at any point in the studies.
Can we? Here's the currently available US flavors / varieties of ONE brand, Colgate:
I'm an adult male. My dentist has not informed me of any particular concerns. I wouldn't mind my teeth being a bit whiter. Which of these am I supposed to buy? Or am I supposed to buy a product from one of the other brands of the same manufacturer... Elmex, Meridol, several others, each of which has their own outrageously long lineups. Or look at a different manufacturer?