IKEA Effect
Open Access

IKEA Effect

We’ll pay disproportionately more for something we’ve helped create

Allowing customers to have some involvement in the creation of your product leads to a powerful emotional connection between the two.

Norton, Mochon & Ariely (2011). The ‘IKEA effect’: When labor leads to love. Harvard Business School Marketing Unit Working Paper, (11-091).

The study

Impact

The problem

Potential impact

The study

The studies

Setup

Setup

52 people were split into two groups and given IKEA boxes: either fully-assembled or unassembled that  they were asked to put together.

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Results

Results

Those tasked with assembling their box were willing to pay a 63% premium for it during the subsequent bidding process over those given the pre-assembled boxes.

Study graph

Setup

52 people were split into two groups and given IKEA boxes: either fully-assembled or unassembled that  they were asked to put together.

Results

Those tasked with assembling their box were willing to pay a 63% premium for it during the subsequent bidding process over those given the pre-assembled boxes.

Study graph

Setup

Results

Study graph

Setup

Results

Study graph

Setup

Results

Study graph
np_read_2490885_000000

Jerome's Expert View

Key Takeaways

1
1

Provide personalization options early in your order flow to engender a sense of ownership and significantly improve conversion. Apple do this with their customizations for a new computer, as do new car showrooms. How can you add a low-risk, satisfying sense of creation into your existing products or services, especially around your USPs?

Takeaway image
2
2

Don’t create choice overload and stress with too many pre-purchase customizations. Similarly, keep any post-purchase building effort simple, fun and low risk.  What core parts of your product manufacture should always remain out of customer hands?

Takeaway image
3
3

Frame involvement as a value-add experience and not a labour-cost-saving exercise. How much this is felt may depend on your brand, your product and what you allow to be crafted by customers. 

Takeaway image
4
4
Takeaway image
Takeaway image

Boundary conditions

No items found.

Future questions

No items found.
np_read_2490885_000000

Norton, Mochon & Ariely (2011). The ‘IKEA effect’: When labor leads to love. Harvard Business School Marketing Unit Working Paper, (11-091).

IKEA Effect

IKEA Effect

We’ll pay disproportionately more for something we’ve helped create

Allowing customers to have some involvement in the creation of your product leads to a powerful emotional connection between the two.

The study

Setup

52 people were split into two groups and given IKEA boxes: either fully-assembled or unassembled that  they were asked to put together.

Results

Those tasked with assembling their box were willing to pay a 63% premium for it during the subsequent bidding process over those given the pre-assembled boxes.

study graph

Norton, Mochon & Ariely (2011). The ‘IKEA effect’: When labor leads to love. Harvard Business School Marketing Unit Working Paper, (11-091).

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© 2013-24 Coglode
Nuggets

Snack on these...

Open access, foundational Nuggets

Scarcity

Scarcity

We value things more when they’re in limited supply

Social Proof

Social Proof

We copy the behaviors of others, especially in unfamiliar situations

Prospect Theory

Prospect Theory

A loss hurts more than an equal gain feels good

Reciprocity

Reciprocity

We’re hardwired to return kindness received

Framing

Framing

We make very different decisions based on how a fact is presented

Loss Aversion

Loss Aversion

We feel more negative when losing something than positive when we get it

Self-Expression

Self-Expression

We constantly seek out ways to communicate our identity to others

Default Effect

Default Effect

We tend to accept the option pre-chosen for us

Priming

Priming

Our decisions are shaped by memories recalled from things just seen or heard

Anchoring

Anchoring

What we see first affects our judgement of everything thereafter

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