The DIY con

My wife seems keen on self-painting the inner walls of our house. I suspect that the cost of Do-It-Yourself painting will be more than the cost of contracting the job to a professional painter. Take another example. Suppose you want to cook a meal. You can choose ready-to-eat food. Or you can prepare a meal in which only some ingredients are pre-cooked. Which would you prefer? The choice rests on the objective. If you are hungry and are watching a cricket match or a movie at home, your objective is to primarily quell your hunger. Ready-to-eat food will suffice. If you, however, have the time and the inclination, you may prefer to cook the meal yourself. And if you are an occasional visitor to the kitchen, it is highly likely that your food may not look healthy or inviting but may taste better than the ready-to-eat food.

You have “invested” time in preparing the food. Research has shown that we typically like products or services where we “invest” our own labour. Companies understand this behaviour; they typically charge more for Do-It-Yourself kits.

The IKEA Effect

Behavioural economists who studied this phenomenon call it the “IKEA Effect”- named after the Swedish global retailer, IKEA. This chain of stores offers Do-It-Yourself furniture- pre-shaped planks that you can assemble to make the desired furniture. Often, you end up paying more for the furniture compared to the price of similar quality ready-to-use product elsewhere. Yet, you feel happy assembling the product yourself and continue to patronise the store- even if at the end of the process, you have some unused screws lying on the floor.

You cherish the experience and are willing to pay for it. Besides, projects such as self-painting your house gives you a reason to throw a party and call your friends home. But this experience is worthwhile only if you successfully complete the project. Having several tubs of unused paint and walls that have different and uneven shades of the same colour might not always leave a good feeling.

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