Something tells me anyone who has ever visited an Ikea store could have told the professor this:

[sufrommich]

Ikea stores are designed as mazes so that customers end up buying more, a UK professor has determined.


"It is so well done and so cunningly done that I have little doubt that it is intentional," Professor Alan Penn of University College London told the UK's The Times on Saturday.

Ikea has denied the findings. Wandering through the store provides inspiration and there are shortcuts to all departments, Ikea Sweden's head of communications Ivana Flygare told Aftonbladet on Sunday.

Penn presented his findings at a lunch hour lecture on Tuesday after investigating an Ikea store in London, newspaper The Scotsman reported on Sunday.

He concluded that Ikea's success is due in part to the confusion customers experience in their stores, which are designed like mazes. According to the report, customers are forced to walk through the entire store before they can leave.

Penn noted that customers who followed the path guided by arrows on the ground quickly became disoriented and lost track of the direction of the exit, the report said.

http://www.thelocal.se/31590/20110123/

[ClassWarrior]

1. It's called "interference." U.S. department stores have been openly doing this for decades.

NGU.

[wtmusic]

2. Well at least attendees got lunch. nt

[sufrommich]

5. Meatballs and lingonberry sauce! nt

[Brilliantrocket]

7. YES

[ProdigalJunkMail]

3. Most stores are designed that way...

at least the 'buy more' part...if not the get you lost part. Casinos have perfected it...grocery stores are devilishly good at it...and this shit got a 'lecture'?!? This is what passes for academic discussion?


sP

[petronius]

10. To be fair to the prof, lunch-hour lectures often are a bit casual or even

tongue-in-cheek. I doubt he really thought this was an earth-shaking discovery; if anything, it was a hook to hang a more serious point...

[ProdigalJunkMail]

13. Well, if all done in fun then no harm, no foul

maybe he was going for the angle where human beings are nothing more than amusing experiments to our cash-and-carry overlords...

sP

[petronius]

4. What a shocking discovery! I wonder if similar conclusions could be drawn about the

design of malls, casinos, and other establishments? ;)

I assumed everyone realized this half-way through their first visit to an Ikea. Although the 'maze' is pretty fun in my opinion...

[sufrommich]

6. The arrows on the floor should have been his first clue. nt

[hunter]

8. Ever visit a grocery store?

If you only need to purchase three things, the are almost always as far apart as they can be.

[ret5hd]

9. why would liquor, condoms and a 10 pack of blank cd's be on the same aisle?

[sufrommich]

12. lol. nt

[hunter]

14. Don't forget the whipped cream and cherries.

:yoiks:

[formercia]

15. A freeper would complain there's no hand Lotion and Paper Towels.

IMHO

[TalkingDog]

21. or pictures of his momma..... (doin' th' dozens!) n/t

[hlthe2b]

11. Has he never wondered why one has to walk the entire mall

in many cases before one can find an escalator, elevator, or staircase to let you go to the other level(s)?

Geebus... Sometimes it is just common sense (and a reasonable amount of paranoia re: attempts to manipulate us)...

[progressoid]

16. duh

Brilliant deduction professor. :eyes:

[blondeatlast]

17. "Ikea has denied the findings." Or was it maybe that their spokesperson was laughing so hard

s/he couldn't repond?

I mean, DUH!

[Codeine]

18. Anybody with even a minimal sense of direction

can find their way around an Ikea without getting lost. I do it all the time.

[cherokeeprogressive]

22. I've been to the Ikea in Costa Mesa dozens of times without buying a single thing. n/t

[DCKit]

19. For me, the big-box stores are overwhelming and leave me somewhat panicky.

I just want to go in and out by the shortest possible route, with only what I came for.

Guess they didn't have any lab rats with that sort of mentality.

To clarify, I'm neither agoraphobic or overly claustrophobic. It's purely sensory overload.

[TalkingDog]

20. When people tell me they've never been to an Ikea

I always tell them it's a walk-through theme park.

We go about once a year for the fun of it. And we've never spent more than 20 dollars, which is usually spent on lunch.

[Codeine]

24. I love Ikea. The walk-through is part of the fun.

I've spent quite a bit more than that in the last couple years, however. ;) Flatpack Furniture uber alles!

[Iggo]

23. He should go to Vegas.

He'll be shocked!

[MineralMan]

25. When I go to Ikea, I know what I'm going to buy. I've looked

at the catalog. So, I go directly to the pickup area, grab the appropriate cart, load my stuff, and go to the checkout counter. I never walk in the display area at all. I shop at home, using their latest catalog. So, I'm never confused by their showroom. I never enter it at all.

But, then, I don't go to IKEA often, anyhow. Just when I want something they sell.

[Codeine]

27. That's the silliest part of the story;

there's never any need to walk through the store at all. Go to the stock area and buy what you want.

[MineralMan]

30. Yup. And, generally, the small, miscellaneous items that are

so damned useful at IKEA are on the same level as the stock area, so you can grab some glasses or plates or silverware while you're there, if you like. I went through the showroom the first time I went to IKEA, and have never been back to that part of the store. I have little patience for shopping, so I go to the products, load them, then leave.

[SheilaT]

26. I've never had the dubious joy of going

to an Ikea. Sigh.

[NickB79]

28. My wife and I routinely take a walk through the Mall of America and the Ikea across the street

We usually do it once a week, taking our infant daughter with us to get out of the house and people-watch, talk, spend some family time together. Usually we don't drop much more than $20-$30, and that's usually on lunch.

[Mz Pip]

29. I guess my response is

so what?

No one is forcing anyone into IKEA or any other large store or forcing them to buy stuff they don't want or need.

I shop at costco all the time and they are always rearranging their merchandise. Is it intentional? Maybe, but again, so what? I don't have to buy whatever I may have accidentally stumbled upon.

[Stevenmarc]

31. Well if you know how to navigate IKEA you know that there are shortcuts

that get you from point A to point B without dealing with the maze.

[xchrom]

32. i've stepped into an ikea 2 times.

my first and last -- all in the same trip.

blech.

[krispos42]

33. Yeah, those maps they give you and the signs that say "Shortcut to Kitchens"

Devilish, I say!

:eyes: