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by MaulingMonkey 3323 days ago
> If you go into an electronics store (a demographic that you would think responds stronger than average to the Ikea effect) most items are absolutely fully assembled. There is nothing to snap on, pull off, a sticker to apply, a thumb screw to screw in or unscrew, nothing.

I've had to connect the monitor stand to the monitor for many/most of my monitors, and pretty much everything at least needs to be plugged in eventually. Unless the batteries are permanently installed, those are often separate too. To say nothing about building your own Desktop...
1 comments
logicallee 3323 days ago
Your monitor example is good and real, however due to the shape, it's not clear that it could easily be included fully assembled in the same-sized box.

What I point out the lack of, is assembly where it could already be assembled. So, while you do have to attach a monitor to its base, you don't have to put on a rear panel, even if it snaps on, or do anything else gratuitous. (Added by the manufacturer as an assembly step purely for the Ikea effect.)

In cases where something ships with batteries, it's usually not even included separately, but instead, already fully inserted.

Since products don't add a gratuitous user assembly step, this leads me to believe that the Ikea effect is not real. An AB test would probably clear up whether it is.

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hammock 3322 days ago
The "IKEA Effect" was not designed as such, it was stumbled on accidentally. The reason IKEA furniture is assembly-required is the same reason that your monitor stand comes detached from the monitor: because these companies operate on the principle that their products be flatpackable (minimize shipping dimensions).
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logicallee 3322 days ago
Giving a theory a name doesn't mean it's a real effect. I would like to see a blind AB study that shows the effect is actually true and not someone's pet theory but which is actually false. I agree that the theory is nice and has explanatory power. Let's do a controlled study to see if it is real.
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hammock 3322 days ago
I wonder if you would like to see an AB test though? I haven't read any of the other comments in this thread yet, so stop me if you already answered that.

You also missed my point that IKEA effect is not necessarily a "gratuitous" assembly step, just any step(s) at all.

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logicallee 3322 days ago
Haha, well-made point.
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