The Ikea Effect: Why (some) Architects are Undervalued (and what you can do to fix it!)

Let’s start with a question, have you ever heard of a research study called the Ikea Effect?

No?

Let me explain.

The IKEA effect was first coined in 2011 by behavioral finance experts Michael Norton, Daniel Mochon, and Dan Ariely and it gives us an insight into how people assign value.

Although the original research included a range of tests the most popular study included Ikea furniture and it went something like this:

Participants were divided into two groups and given two different sets of instructions.

Group 1 was instructed to assemble a piece of IKEA furniture and then they were asked how much they would be willing to pay for that same piece of assembled furniture.

Whereas Group 2 was instructed to inspect a pre-assembled version of the same piece of furniture, and then they were asked how much they would be willing to pay for the same, pre-assembled furniture.

You may be surprised to learn that participants in Group 1 and Group 2 had very different ideas about how much the furniture was worth.

Participants in Group 1, who had built the furniture themselves, were willing to pay on average, 63% more than those in Group 2, who were given the pre-assembled furniture.

Yes, that’s 63% more for the same piece of furniture!!!

So what does this tell us about how clients value Architects?

Firstly, this experiment demonstrates that prices aren’t fixed, and people will pay very different prices for the same thing!

Secondly, and most importantly, clients don’t value what they can’t see!!!

Yes, that’s right, clients won’t value all your hard work if they don’t know you’re doing it.

All those hours of research, testing, and designing to make sure you get the best design outcome possible will go unnoticed and unappreciated if not framed in the right way.

So, join us at the Architects Mastermind and we’ll show you how to achieve better design fees by changing the way you communicate what you do and how you do it.

We’ll show you how to take clients on a journey so they understand the value that your design service brings to the project.

It's not rocket science, we use research from a field of study called 'Behavioral Finance' so that you can communicate your design fees more effectively.

Learn more: https://lnkd.in/djyPQ7_k

Thank you for reading this far.

Warm regards,

Ian Motley

Co-Founder

Blue Turtle Consulting