What’s the Egg in Your AgTech Product?
What agribusiness professionals can learn from ready-made cake efforts.
In 1929, a breakthrough came in the form of a powdered cake mix containing flour, dried molasses, dried eggs, and a few other ingredients. This mix, sold in a can, allowed home bakers to quickly make a cake just by adding water. The concept caught on slowly, with companies like General Mills launching their versions after World War II with more fierce competition in the space by the 1950s. However, despite initial interest, sales plateaued as many home bakers preferred baking from scratch.
One issue was that cake mixes needed to deliver perfect results because cakes were seen as a heartfelt gesture, and any imperfection was glaring. Another key issue was an emotional barrier; baking from a mix felt like cheating. Ernest Dichter, a psychologist and marketing consultant, suggested putting the eggs back into the hands of the baker to increase emotional investment. This adjustment was pivotal, marking an inflection point in the acceptance and success of ready-made cake mixes.
This has come to be known as a form of The IKEA effect. The cognitive bias named after the Swedish furniture giant, that describes how people tend to value an object more if they make it themselves. More broadly, the IKEA effect speaks to how we tend to like things more if we’ve extended effort to create them.
Application to Agriculture:
There are several considerations for agribusiness professionals.