The Ikea Effect describes a cognitive bias where people tend to value things they’ve partially created more than things that come fully formed. It’s named after Ikea furniture, famous for its self-assembly kits. Studies have shown people are willing to pay more for furniture they’ve wrestled with tools to construct, even if the finished product isn’t award-winning craftsmanship.
While the Ikea Effect is typically applied to physical products, does it work with communication campaigns? There might be situations where some aspects translate, for example:
Increased Engagement: If a message requires some effort from the receiver to decipher, it can boost their engagement. Filling in the blanks or interpreting a metaphor can make the audience feel more involved in the communication.
Enhanced Recall: Putting some effort into constructing meaning can lead to better memory. Struggling a bit to understand a message can make it stand out from the constant barrage of information we receive.
Sense of Ownership: When a receiver actively participates in constructing meaning, they might feel a greater sense of ownership over the message and its conclusions. This can be helpful in persuasive communication, where you want the audience to feel invested in the idea.
I’d argue the engagement, recall and ownership benefits are useful in a pedagogic situation, but not in business communication. You’re asking for too much investment from the audience and the risk of misinterpretation is too high.
There’s a fine line between requiring some effort and just being confusing. A message with too much ambiguous stimuli that requires too much interpretation can lead to frustration, disengagement and a misconstructed message. Unlike a wonky bookshelf, you can’t see a misconstrued message – it sits in their minds, influencing their decisions.
As the Rorschach Test, developed by Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach in the 1920s demonstrated, people interpret what they see based on their personal experiences and biases.
In the test, subjects are presented with ten inkblots and asked, “What do you see?” The examiner records their responses to gain an understanding of their personality and psyche. Therapists believed the inkblots bypassed conscious defences, revealing a person’s inner world.
Although its validity and reliability remain heavily criticised, the Rorschach remains in use, primarily by some psychotherapists and forensic psychologists.
I’m an advocate of reduced ambiguity in communication. Be creative, engaging and specific, but not confusing or meaningless. It’s not the big, complicated words and concepts that cause problems, but ones whose meaning is not universally understood. Cost-effective, for example, means different things in different contexts.
But how can you use language to connect with specific market segments?
Understand them better. To misquote Dricus du Plessis: “Know what they know”. Through social listening or formal or informal research, find out what they know and use their language. When you listen to how they talk about the problem your company is solving, draw on what you’ve heard to reflect your message back.
Use language to stimulate trial and build loyalty – that’s what PR is all about. Give me a call to help you listen and speak in a way that delivers results.
