The Ikea Effect and Relationships

February 07, 2013Jessalyn Hutto

Yesterday, NPR’s Morning Edition introduced me to a phenomenon known as the “Ikea Effect.” If you are unfamiliar with the store Ikea (which is a phenomenon in and of itself), imagine a humungous warehouse-type shopping center in which you walk around for hours (literally, that place is like a maze!) looking at all of the awesome and creative furniture, storage solutions, and home accessories. The prices seem incredibly low for the furniture items you are ogling until you check out and have a flat, cardboard box containing your dining room table and chairs brought to you–complete with assembly instructions. Suddenly the prices make complete sense...