I sometimes wonder why people love to go to IKEA and buy home furnishing items from that store. What makes it different than other stores(Courts, moms and pops furniture stores etc)?

Apparently, it’s the do-it-yourself model that makes people keep coming back to IKEA. People feels much more attached to their IKEA bookshelves, than any other bookshelves, because they had spent half an hour(sometimes even more) assembling those pieces of woods together.

“Hey, nice shelf you have there.”

“Oh yeah, I built it myself.”

Notice that the owner said “BUILT” instead of “BOUGHT.”

The same shelf will make the owner smiles every time he walk pass through it in the living room. He remembers all the sweats he produced at that fateful day.

In short, IKEA products give the users a sense of ownership, pride and experience that makes people more attached and overvalue their belongings. These are the reasons why people love to go and shop at IKEA and this is what they call, the IKEA Effect.

Read: The Upside of Irrationality by Dan Ariely