Negotiating with the "IKEA Effect"

What the Swedish retailer teaches us about building better agreements.

Photo by Rendy Novantino on Unsplash

“A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.”

—Lao Tzu

Have you been to one of those restaurants where you get to cook your own meal? Maybe a fondue place, a Korean BBQ grill, or create-your-own pizza joint? Or perhaps you’ve bought a home meal kit that lets you prepare your gourmet food in your own house?

As strange as these concepts might sound at first (wait, I’m paying you so I can cook?), there’s something highly satisfying about making your own meal — and apparently we’ll even pay someone else just for the opportunity to chef up a dinner.

It tastes just a little bit better when you cook it yourself, doesn’t it?

The “IKEA Effect”: Is this really a thing?

There’s actually a phenomenon dubbed the “IKEA effect” that might help explain why these do-it-yourself meals taste extra-good. Curiously enough, the IKEA effect also gives us a subtle, persuasive tool we can emplo…