Published: September 17, 2025
The IKEA Effect: How Co-Creation Can Boost Your Telco Sales Metrics
There’s something uniquely satisfying about assembling your own IKEA furniture. You wrestle with the tiny Allen key, puzzle over vague instructions, and at some point, wonder why you subjected yourself to this ordeal. But when you step back to admire your slightly uneven yet functional wardrobe, there’s a sense of pride and ownership. That’s the IKEA Effect in action: the psychological phenomenon where we place higher value on things we’ve had a hand in creating.
What does this have to do with telco sales? Everything.
In the world of telco digital sales, the IKEA Effect isn’t just a quirky psychology tidbit. It’s a powerful approach for improving conversion rates, reducing acquisition costs, and increasing retention. By embracing co-creation, telcos can transform their customer experience into a journey of empowerment, where customers feel like active participants, not passive buyers. This simple shift in mindset can unlock untapped commercial potential.
Why the IKEA Effect Matters for Telcos
Telcos face significant challenges in today’s hyper-competitive landscape. Most are fighting two ongoing battles:
- Conversion drag: Endless plan grids, overwhelming price tables, and complex product options lead to analysis paralysis, higher bounce rates, and slower funnel velocity. Customers often abandon the buying process before reaching a decision.
- Retention erosion: In a market with minimal switching costs, churn is always just a click away. Customers are quick to bail on plans that feel generic or not to their individual needs.
The IKEA Effect offers a solution to both challenges. By involving customers in the plan creation process, telcos can foster a deep sense of ownership and personal connection.
- Higher conversion rates: When customers invest mental and emotional energy into building their own plan, they’re far less likely to abandon their cart. The process creates a bond that keeps customers engaged through the funnel.
- Lower churn: A co-created plan is no longer "just what was sold to me" - it becomes "the plan I designed for myself." People are far less likely to abandon something they feel they’ve authored and tailored to their own needs.
The Science Behind Co-Creation
At its heart, the IKEA Effect is about effort and value. Research shows that when people contribute effort to a task, whether it’s assembling furniture or configuring a product, they perceive the end result as more valuable. This applies directly to telco sales. When customers actively shape their plan, they’re not just buying an offer; they’re investing in a personalised solution that reflects their priorities and preferences.
Traditional sales funnels often turn customers into passive recipients of pre-designed offers. But customers don’t want to simply be “sold to.” They want to be involved. Co-creation changes the dynamic by empowering customers to actively participate in shaping their outcomes, enhancing both their emotional attachment and satisfaction.
“Striking the right balance between empowering our users and easing the mental burden of researching and buying complex products has been our core focus from the start. We built Humara's sales framework to guide the sales conversation and give users confidence that our recommendations are based on a full consideration of their needs. We've also intentionally launched Humara as a text-only interface to allow users to truly personalise their answers, as well as ask their own questions at any point in the conversation.
Over time, we will identify conversation areas where a text-only experience might become overwhelming, and we'll adapt our user experience accordingly. Our goal is to let our users lead us to these points, rather than proactively restrict the conversation in a way that could limit genuine personalisation.”
- Cecilia Drevon-Barbecot, Product Manager at 15gifts.
How Telcos Can Apply the IKEA Effect
To harness the IKEA Effect, telcos need to rethink their sales journey. Here’s how to apply co-creation principles effectively:
- Make the journey light-touch, not zero-touch: Fully automated, passive processes miss the opportunity to engage customers. Instead, create a journey that requires just enough interaction to foster a sense of investment without overwhelming them. For example, allow them to select their data speed, prioritise pricing vs. features, or configure their own bundle.
- Emphasise their inputs: Reinforce the choices customers make throughout the process. For instance, summarise their decisions at the end of the journey: “You told us data speed was your top priority, so here’s the plan that matches your needs.”
- Personalise the outcome: Use visuals, dynamic confirmation screens, and summaries to remind customers their plan is unique to them. Messaging like “Here’s the plan YOU created” drives home the sense of ownership.
The Commercial Payoff of Co-Creation
The IKEA Effect isn’t just an interesting psychological insight, when used correctly it can be a revenue-generating strategy. Co-created plans offer several tangible commercial benefits:
1. Stronger loyalty: When customers feel ownership over their plan, it’s harder for competitors to lure them away.
2. Reduced buyer’s remorse: A personalised plan eliminates the feeling that the customer was simply “sold” something. Their involvement creates confidence in their choice and reduces churn rates.
3. Increased upsell opportunities: Customers who are invested in their plans are more open to upgrades and add-ons. They see these options as enhancements to something they already value.
From Passive Plans to Personal Plans
In a market where switching providers is easier than ever, loyalty won't come from offering the cheapest SIM card or the flashiest ad campaign.
Telcos live in a world of complex pricing models, intricate product sets, and fierce competition. But the path to differentiation isn’t through adding more options or cutting prices further, it’s through empowering customers to create something that feels uniquely theirs. By embracing the IKEA Effect, telcos can drive deeper engagement, stronger conversion, and lasting retention, all while delivering a customer experience that feels fresh, intuitive, and personal.
The next time you’re evaluating your sales strategy, think beyond the traditional funnel. Ask yourself: how can we turn passive customers into co-creators? The answer might just be the key to unlocking your strongest KPIs yet.
