Do-It-Yourself (DIY) can be seen as part of the co-production of service value. For instance, Ikea delivers flatpacks and the customer is expected to put the furniture together. This fits with Ikea's purpose of providing 'inexpensive design'; they can save costs on storage, transport, and assembly.
However, once the kit-set pack has left the facility, the satisfaction of the customer with the product is entirely down to the customer's ability to read and follow instructions (and the integrity of the pack). The customer may not have the skills to assemble the furniture, or the instructions may be unclear, or they may be too complex to follow. Negative experiences can then lead to dissatisfaction and complaints.
There is really no point in blaming the customer for incompetence. This just aggravates people and makes them angrier. The service provider should minimize the risk of mistakes in the self-assemblage process through good instructional practice. The service provider needs to understand their service extends outside the immediate environs of their own organization (premises, staff, and suppliers) and encompasses the consumer as a partial-employee, or a co-producer, of the firm.
However, once the kit-set pack has left the facility, the satisfaction of the customer with the product is entirely down to the customer's ability to read and follow instructions (and the integrity of the pack). The customer may not have the skills to assemble the furniture, or the instructions may be unclear, or they may be too complex to follow. Negative experiences can then lead to dissatisfaction and complaints.
There is really no point in blaming the customer for incompetence. This just aggravates people and makes them angrier. The service provider should minimize the risk of mistakes in the self-assemblage process through good instructional practice. The service provider needs to understand their service extends outside the immediate environs of their own organization (premises, staff, and suppliers) and encompasses the consumer as a partial-employee, or a co-producer, of the firm.
One solution is to offer instructions on how to build kit-set furniture online. Ikea has a Youtube channel in the USA 'How to build', which does just this.
Unfortunately, there are no dedicated Ikea stores in NZ yet, although I have bought Ikea online. I did have trouble putting it together. The following video is a parody of Ikea kit-set instructions. The quality of the video is deliberately bad, and it is quite good at demonstrating the service culture issues (i.e. top-down arrogant communication style) that lies beneath poor instructions.
Ikea Instructional Parody Video from Youtube
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