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BUSINESS ENGLISH · BUSINESS ISSUES · UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)

A STROKE
OF GENIUS
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1 Warm-up

Watch the video and discuss:

1. What company is this commercial for? What kind of products do they sell?
2. What is the main message of this commercial?
3. Have you been to their shops?
4. What did you buy?
5. When you buy furniture from these shops, what do you usually have to do?

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2 Reading (introduction)

Read the title and introduction of the article on the next page, using the glossary to help.

• stationery = pens and papers; things used for writing, study or office work
• stockings = a type of clothing that women wore to cover their feet and legs before tights were
invented
• flat-pack furniture = furniture that you have to assemble, or build, yourself
• shop layout = the plan of a shop, the way things are organised and displayed

3 Before you read

Before you read the rest of the article, look at these phrases from the text. Predict which section of
the text they relate to, and write A (= flat-pack furniture) or B (= a shop layout that encourages people
to buy more products). Then read the text to check your ideas.

1. ... you want to pick it up ...

2. ... feel proud of their achievement ...
3. ... aspects of cost and the practicality of shipping.
4. The act of touching products ...
5. ... you often can’t see what is coming next ...
6. ... putting something together ...
7. ... thinking you were only buying a few items ...
8. ... you can’t see around the next corner ...

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UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)
A STROKE OF GENIUS
The Ikea effect
How Ingvar Kamprad’s company changed the way we shop
1.
On January 27 2018, Ingvar Kamprad, who started
Ikea as a teenager, died at the age of 91. Starting
with stationery and stockings, he had built one of the
world’s biggest furniture companies. And the way he
did it has revolutionised how retailers operate.
2.
There are two features of modern life that we have
Ikea to thank for: flat-pack furniture and a shop
layout that gets you buying more of its products than
you initially intended to. Both are principles that a
number of other companies have copied.
3.
Ikea first brought out its flat-pack furniture in the
1950s. Whether you love or loathe this concept,
it was a stroke of genius and an effective way
of making customers value the brand. There are
the obvious aspects of cost and the practicality
of shipping. But flat-pack furniture also has an
important subconscious influence on consumers.
4.
When Ikea stopped selling furniture that was already
assembled, it was probably unaware of how this
would influence its consumers. Scientists have since
managed to identify exactly why consumers simply
can’t get enough of building their own furniture.
The act of touching products while assembling the
furniture can increase your perceived value of the
product. In addition, the more effort a consumer has
to put into building something the more they like it –
a winning formula.
5.
Tests have shown that the actual act of putting
something together (so that it becomes a complete
object) generates a much more positive perception
of that object than purchasing it in a completed
form. This is known as the Ikea effect. Furthermore,
touch itself is associated with emotion. This means
that when we touch something, the emotive part
of our brain is activated and we experience a close
connection with the product. Touch creates feelings
of ownership and increases the perceived value of
items. We feel proud of our achievement and
experience feelings of being closely connected to the
assembled item.
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6.
Round and round in circles
The layout of the Ikea stores has also paved the
way for a more creative way of thinking about how
to guide shoppers. If you have ever visited one of
its huge warehouse stores, you may have gone in
thinking you were only buying a few items, to find
yourself coming out of the store with a trolley full of
things. This is because of its circular design and one
way system.
7.
This design means you often can’t see what is coming
next and fear you’ll miss something you need if you
don’t continue all the way along the path. There
are potential escape points throughout the store, but
that would mean that you will miss several sections.
Consumers are rarely prepared to take that risk.
8.
Because you know it may be tricky to go back for a
particular item later on, you want to pick it up when
you see it and put it in your big trolley. This ensures
that the customer touches the product, which in turn
again generates a psychological sense of ownership
and decreases the chance that it will be put down
before you get to the tills.
9.
The fact that you can’t see around the next corner
also creates a sense of mystery. Environments
perceived to be mysterious usually generate a
stronger liking and so encourage shoppers to keep
walking through the store. And the more you do
this, the more likely you are to buy something –
especially all the smaller items on display such as
candles, napkins and picture frames as they seem
cheap compared to the larger more expensive items.
10.
Ikea’s creative ability to influence the subconscious
of consumers is undoubtedly a big part of its success
– and also why it’s been copied by many other
companies. Even though Ingvar Kamprad is no longer
with us, Ikea has inherited from him a way of thinking
outside of the box to communicate with consumers.
It will be interesting to see what follows next.
Adapted from: The Conversation by Sascha Steinbach,
January 30, 2018
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A STROKE OF GENIUS

4 General vocabulary in the text

Read the text again to find the words in bold. Use the context of the article to guess what they mean.
Then check your ideas and the pronunciation in a dictionary.

1. loathe (verb)
2. subconscious (adj.)
3. ownership (noun)
4. warehouse (noun)
5. trolley (noun)
6. tricky (adj.)
7. tills (noun - plural)
8. mystery (noun)

5 Business vocabulary in the text

Match these phrases from the article to their meaning.

1. a stroke of genius a. a really intelligent idea

2. can’t get enough of b. how important we think something is

3. perceived value c. original and creative thoughts

4. thinking outside of the d. want to do something more and more

box

How could you translate these phrases into your language? Translate the idea, not each word.

6 Grammar: The more ... the more

Read the sentences below from the text. They follow the same pattern. What is the relationship
between Part 1 and Part 2 of the sentence? Choose the best explanation:

a. time sequence
b. cause and effect
c. contrasting points
d. additional points

Part 1 Part 2

The more effort a consumer has to put into the more they like it.
building something,

The more you walk through the store, the more likely you are to buy something.

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Notice the comparatives in both Part 1 and Part 2. We can also express the same ideas as a conditional
sentence, for example:

If/when a consumer has to put some effort into building something, they like it more.

If/when you walk through the store for a long time, you are more likely to buy something.

Complete these sentences with your own ideas, expressing cause and effect. Use comparative forms
(more/better/less/etc) in the second part, as in the model.

1. The more I study, ...

2. The more I exercise, ...
3. The more people recycle, ...
4. The more money you spend on food, ...
5. The more time you waste on, ...

7 Summary

This word cloud comes from the article. Using these words, or forms of these words, summarise the
main points.

Homework: write a 50-word summary of the text, using these words.

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TEACHER MATERIALS · UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)

A STROKE OF GENIUS

Key

1. Warm-up

Time 5 minutes. Set up the video on full screen so that students can’t read the title and show most of the ad
before eliciting that this is for IKEA. (Close down the video before the end so that students can’t see the company
name before they guess.) Watching the video can be done as pairwork - one student watches the ad and narrates
what’s happening to a partner, who has their back to the screen. They then watch the ad again together until the
end, when the company name is revealed, to confirm ideas and discuss the questions. Make sure students know
the word in bold in number 4.
1. Ikea, homewares
2. Ikea sells products for the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen and waking up in an IKEA furnished house is a
positive experience.
3. Student’s own answers
4. You usually have to assemble the furniture.

2. Reading (introduction)

Time: 5 minutes. You can do this as a Guided Reading activity - the teacher reads out loud at a gentle pace, and
the student listen and read at the same time. Then ask students to speculate about why other companies have
copied Ikea’s flat-pack furniture and shop layout.

3. Before you read

Time: 10 minutes. Go through all the options with the students in plenary and ask them to predict which section
of the text they are from. Then ask students to read the text to check their ideas. For this initial quick reading of
the text, you can display an enlarged copy split into two sections (A: flat-pack furniture and B: a shop layout that
encourages people to buy more products) on the wall and ask students to use these to work from - this encourages
collaboration. They can also be timed to encourage speedy reading - 3 minutes? Go over the answers with the
whole class.

4. General vocabulary in the text

Time: 20 minutes. This exercise can be done in pairs before checking answers as a class. It’s helpful to demonstrate
how to use the context to guess the meaning with the first one:
- Part of speech (provided)
- Positive or negative connotation?
- Collocation?
This could also be done in small groups, with each student taking responsibility for one or two words, which they
then teach the others in their group. Use dictionaries as a final stage of checking.

5. Business vocabulary in the text

1. a 2. d 3. b 4. c

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TEACHER MATERIALS · UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)

A STROKE OF GENIUS

When translating, make sure that students translate the idea, not each word. If your class is multilingual, perhaps
students could confer in pairs/groups of L1; otherwise they can make a guess about the translation before using
their bilingual dictionaries to check.

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TEACHER MATERIALS · UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)

A STROKE OF GENIUS

6. Grammar: The more ... the more

The best explanation is B) cause and effect.

Time: 15 minutes. Present the grammar to the whole class, and then ask them to complete the sentences with
their own ideas. They could work on their own, and then compare ideas with a partner, before checking some
answers with the whole class. If some students are finding this task difficult, use some key words from the sample
answers to prompt them
Possible answers:
1. The more I study, the more I learn./the less I understand.
2. The more I exercise, the fitter I get./the more tired I become.
3. The more people recycle, the less pollution we cause./the healthier the planet is.
4. The more money you spend on food, the better the quality./the less you have to spend on clothes.
5. The more time you waste on your phone, the less time you have for practising English!/the more addicted you
become.

7. Summary

Time: 5 minutes. One way to set this up is to have students working in pairs. They take turns to say one sentence
and cross off the words they have used. The writing is an optional homework task. When marking it, check that
students have covered the two main points and that they have used the key words correctly.
Sample answer:
Ikea’s winning formula appeals to the subconscious psychological needs of its customers. Assembling flat-pack
furniture makes people proud of their achievement and increases its perceived value. Walking with a trolley
through a mysterious store layout without escape leads to higher sales of small items like candles and napkins.
The company’s creative strategy has influenced other businesses. (56 words)

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