The Ikea effect: If you make something yourself, you value it more
Next we heard from Harvard Business School professor Michael Norton, who discussed the 'Ikea effect'.
This, he explained, was a well-established phenomenon: "If you make something yourself, you tend to overvalue it."
Of course, 'make' is meant in the loosest sense of the term (you assembled a pre-fabricated piece of Ikea furniture, added an egg to a cake mix, or added a topping to a pre-prepared pizza base).
Indeed, just the act of breaking a chocolate bar in half, eating one half, and then unwrapping the other half and eating that, will make you value it more, he said.
And when it comes to food, anything that involves a ritual, or even a minimal level of engagement, will make you perceive the final product more favorably, he added. It will literally taste better.