Arsène Wenger and the Ikea Effect

The ‘Ikea Effect’ is a theory put forward by Michael Norton, Daneil Mochon and Dan Ariely, in a Journal of Consumer Psychology paper entitled ‘The IKEA effect: When labor leads to love’. The authors postulate that people value things they build or assemble themselves more highly than premade goods. In other words, that bookshelf you put up three months ago that you think is awesome but in reality is a threat to small children and books everywhere, is a result of the Ikea effect. In their experiments, people saw their ‘amateurish creations as similar in value to experts creations, and expected others to share their opinions.' They write:

When instant cake mixes were introduced in the 1950s as part of a broader trend to simply the life of the American housewife by minimizing manual labor, housewives were initially resistant: the mixers made cooking too easy, making their labor and skill seem undervalued. As a result, manufacturers changed the recipe to require adding an egg; while there are likely several reasons why this change led to greater subsequent adoption, infusing the task with labor appear to be a crucial ingredient.

It seems possible, therefore, that Arsenal FC, run with near total control by Arsène Wenger, is suffering at the hands of the manager’s labour of love, which has led to the managed decline of a once great team. Wenger’s project of developing young, technically gifted and no-taller-than-five-foot-eight footballers through the youth academy has been terrifically successful, as long as you judge success by pre-tax profits. However, Arsenal have not won a trophy for seven years, a period, incidentally, in which the Chinese economy nearly doubled in size. Despite a wealth of evidence to the contrary, and barring a desperate, last-minute shopping spree following Arsenal's worst defeat in a century, Wenger has not changed his philosophy. Arsenal has been made to suffer for the affection of Arsène Wenger.

Eight years ago, Arsenal went an entire league season undefeated. In 2012, they might go eight minutes without an amusing defensive calamity. The Ikea effect can drive a man to believe that Miguel is superb defender, that Denilson is better than Xabi Alonso and that Walcott dropped a little bit physically in the second half but showed great mental strength. Right now, Arsenal could do with a left back, a central midfield and a striker. Failing that, ten eggs to support Robin van Persie.