The IKEA Effect and Its Impact on the Meal Kit Users' Evaluation of the Final Product

Abstract

Why are people willing to pay to work? Meal kits are expensive and time-consuming, but this modern way of meal preparation is popular. Does the IKEA effect play a role? The IKEA effect is a cognitive bias that makes people involved in the co-creation process, assign a higher value to the final product. This study uses analysis of survey data to investigate the effect of mode of preparation as the independent variable, the perceived success of the task as moderator, and sense of competence as the mediator. The results indicate that the effect of mode of preparation and success of the process are not significant. However, the perceived involvement and the do-it yourself personality as the new independent variable and the moderator respectively, are significant. Looking at gender, the results are significant for men but non-significant for women. This study has implications for marketers in product design and innovation sector.