People paid 63% more for a storage box they built themselves
Michael I. Norton, Daniel Mochon, Dan Ariely · Journal of Consumer Psychology, 2012
01The result
People built a simple IKEA storage box by themselves. Others looked at the same box, already built. The builders were willing to pay 63% more for it.
02Why it happens
Work makes us love what we make. In another test, people folded paper frogs and birds. They valued their messy work close to an expert's. Other people did not want to pay much for it.
03Only if you finish
The love faded when people did not finish the box. It also went away when they built something and then took it apart.
04What it means
A little work can make a cheap thing feel worth more. That may be why you keep the shelf you built, even if it leans.
05Limitations
The tests used cheap items and small amounts of money. They measured what people would pay, not how happy they were later.
Original paper
- Norton, Mochon & Ariely (2012), Journal of Consumer Psychology 22(3), 453–460
HOLT NEWS read the paper and public materials and explained them in plain words. Illustrations by HOLT NEWS.
