How Ikea tricks you into buying more stuff

In shopping mall design, the Gruen transfer (also known as the Gruen effect) is the moment when consumers enter a shopping mall or store and, surrounded by an intentionally confusing layout, lose track of their original intentions, making them more susceptible to making impulse buys. It is named after Austrian architect Victor Gruen, who disapproved of such manipulative techniques.[1][2][3]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gruen_tran...lse%20buys.

The home furnishings giant enlists a maze-like layout, cheap food, and crafty psychology to get you to fill up your cart.

Ikea has mastered the use of a psychological principle called the Gruen effect — when the layout of a store is so bewildering that it makes you forget the original reason you came there, leading to impulse buys.

Jeff Hardwick, who wrote a book on the Gruen effect, told The Hustle that the principle is at play all around you at Ikea.

“You get lost in that maze, and then you are surrounded by nothing but ever-changing fantasies of what your life could be like,” he said. “It’s like you can walk into a magazine advertisement and pick up the dishes, sit on the couch, try out the desk chair. It’s very tactile and participatory.”

Lost in this stupor, you might find it easy to fall victim to some of Ikea’s other tricks:

    Strategically placed mirrors: When you catch a glimpse of yourself in an Ikea room, you’re primed to believe you belong in it.
    Contextual positioning: Rooms are set up exactly as they would be in a natural setting. Familiarity encourages purchasing.
    “Bulla bulla” (dump bins): Ikea places overstuffed crates of dirt-cheap products (plush toys, slippers, pillows) along the route to reinforce the idea that its products are a good deal.

If you look closely, something else you’ll likely see at play in Ikea is decoy pricing: when a retailer throws a less appealing option into the mix to make other products seem like a better deal.

Let’s say there are 2 cabinets for sale: a $40 budget unit, and an $80 unit with more premium materials. Ikea might create a 3rd unit — one that offers neither the low price of the budget unit, nor the premium materials of the pricier unit — to make the others look better.

Studies have shown that the decoy effect can increase retail sales by as much as 14%.

https://thehustle.co/how-ikea-tricks-you...ore-stuff/

Plus they drive you nuts trying to build the "some assembly required" items. Or bend you over charging over $100 to have somebody do it for you. Ikea is for people who need to feel "special". The same designs can be found at a fraction of the cost in multiple places. But you don't get to feel special or warm and fuzzy inside.