Question

How can Ikea’s Concept be related to Symbolic consumption and personality (the anti brands revolutionary concept). 2. How does IKEA’s business idea democratic design influence sensory memory which could lead to short term memory or long term memory. 3. Based on IKEA’s diamond strategy, how does the approach fululconsumer motivational needs

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary.

(Answer) (1) The utility of the product and the personal and symbolic meaning that a product might have for them. For example, John Doe might buy an iPhone because he needs a phone for people to be able to get in touch with him and because an iPhone might prove that he has the financial resources to buy an expensive phone.

Ikea’s products generally symbolise efficiency, ingenuity, Swedish minimalist decor. Purchasing these products would ideally mean that the person appreciates innovative design, ergonomics, multipurpose and space saving furniture.

(2) The things we purchase, the objects we use, the beliefs we adhere to and our overall lifestyle not only show the things that we “buy into” but, also says a lot about our own ego identity. That is the significance of a person’s “ego project.” This ego identity is increasingly becoming complementary to the consumer culture. In other words, if John Doe was a great believer in quality technology, he would invest in Japanese tech equipment. This equipment becomes an indicator of his identity. This is known as symbolic consumption.

When a person looks at an Ikea advertisement, they might immediately be influenced by the reserves in their long-term memory of when they spent time building and assembling their last purchase. The memories that surround those moments and the everyday short-term memory of actually using those products would both be affected at the time of recall. This would mean that Ikea customers are generally buying into their fond memories of the times they spent building and using the products.

(3) Ikea’s diamond strategy consists of:

Arenas – These are the young and ingenious people and the global audience.

Vehicles – These are their wholly owned stores across the globe.

Staging – This is where they create a considerable image and then expand on it later.

Economic Logic – These are the economies of scale and replication efficiencies where the cost of production gradually decreases with time.

Differentiators – These are their lucrative, good quality, instant fulfilment and in-house designed products.

These strategies enable them to create the best designs, with good quality materials and at economical rates. These characteristics fulfil the consumer needs which motivate them to purchase these products.