LIVE LAGOM Impact report 2015 - 2018 1
Contents Issue
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Ambition
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Approach
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About the project
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Impact
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Case studies
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Learnings
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Legacy
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Issue In 2015, IKEA had a vision to inspire millions of customers to live a more sustainable life at home. To bring this vision to life, IKEA and Hubbub developed the concept for Live Lagom: a growing movement of households supporting and inspiring each other to try new sustainable solutions, enabled by IKEA’s products and co-workers. With the benefit of a three-year commitment, we co-designed the project as a social experiment. Bringing in the University of Surrey as our academic partner, we aimed to learn, refine, and evolve the project, building on the lessons and experiences of each year. Now, at the end of the three years, Lagom is built into the way business is run at IKEA and thousands of lives have been transformed. Here’s our story. About “Lagom” The word “Lagom” comes from the Swedish phrase “Lagom är bäst” (the right amount is best), which we believe is the secret to sustainable living. Not denying yourself what you love, while not taking more than you need from the planet. We think this idea of balance has the power to change the way people feel about sustainability.
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Ambition
Approach
In 2015, only 25% of IKEA customers felt that sustainable living was easy, affordable and desirable. We wanted to change that.
We designed the project based on our experience and understanding of how to engage people on environmental issues and the latest thinking on behavioural psychology.
So we needed to understand the barriers to living more sustainably; and we wanted to explore how a retailer like IKEA could support this kind of lifestyle change with their customers.
The project aimed to:
Our key principles were: Gather insight into how people live and the barriers to adopting a more sustainable lifestyle. Target a new audience, many of whom would not think of themselves as ‘environmentalists’ at the outset.
Use a positive, non-judgmental tone in all language and communication. Position IKEA as a leader on sustainable living at home.
Explore a new way of engaging with customers.
Increase sales of IKEA’s ‘sustainable life at home’ products.
Create space for participants to find their own way of living “Lagom” by exploring different ideas over time with a supportive community, rather than have a checklist of actions. Evaluate the project rigorously and credibly with an independent academic partner.
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About the project Recruitment and set up For each year of the 3-year project we recruited a new cohort of around 120 participants. IKEA FAMILY members were invited to apply, and we selected a broad range of households close to each store in the UK and Ireland. The participants attended a welcome workshop, then had either a home visit or consultation in store to understand their current lifestyle. The consultations aimed to help them decide what they wanted to change and set goals for themselves, such as ‘cut food waste’ or ‘save energy and make my home warmer’. Each household had a personal shopping session at IKEA to choose products that would help them meet their goals.
Store support With goals set and products chosen, participants were invited back into store regularly over a 6 month period for a variety of workshops and events to give them new skills, ideas and inspiration as well as the chance to swap stories with fellow households and co-workers. Workshop topics included ‘cosy homes’, fermentation, reducing food waste, growing in small spaces, and more. We created a Live Lagom brochure to showcase products and stories from participants showing the changes they’d made and the benefits they’d seen. The IKEA Live Lagom store leaders were vital in building relationships with the participants face to face as well as in the Facebook group, running the workshops and events and keeping momentum and inspiration going.
experts on food, energy, waste and more, polls, competitions and challenges.
Measurement and evaluation The University of Surrey’s Centre of Environment and Sustainability was the academic partner, responsible for designing and implementing the measurement and evaluation. Participants were asked to complete ‘before’ and ‘after’ questionnaires as well as write blogs at the start, middle and end of their project year to help them reflect on their journey and share their stories with each other and the wider public. Some households also participated in interviews nine months after the end of their year, to see whether the participants had stuck with the changes they’d adopted during the project. The design of the project and 3 year commitment allowed us to refine and evolve the project each year, adapting the support based on the participants’ feedback and making the process more efficient and effective.
The Lagom community Participants and IKEA co-workers joined a closed Facebook group in which they shared their progress, concerns, questions, ideas, photos, and where they supported each other with advice and encouragement. We ran interactive Facebook Live sessions, with 8
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Impact Inspiring millions of people
Over 1,500 “Lagomers” took part over 3 years.
Influenced
6,480 people through store and online workshops.
Social media reach of over
21.5 million. (across Twitter, Instagram and Facebook)
“Thanks to IKEA we have reduced our water & energy consumption/bills, been more conscious of recycling, started growing our own food and reduced food waste. Live Lagom has shown me that small changes can have huge impacts on our lives and planet!” Cara, Cardiff Customer
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Impact Benefits to the environment and wallet People reduced their environmental impact and saved money. The programme not only helped them learn new skills, it also facilitated a permanent lifestyle change.
Our participants saved on average £1,440 per year per household.
Their average savings approximated to 317kg CO2 per year, the equivalent of planting 53 trees a year each.
92% of participants say that the programme taught them new life skills.
90% reduced their electricity bills, 60% their gas bills, and 60% spent less on food by wasting less. 78% reduced the amount of rubbish they created.
“We’re so happy to have been part of this project. We met such lovely people, got so much inspiration and have made changes we know we will be able to keep up for life. The impact of the project will stay with us forever... This may be the end of the Live Lagom project for us, but... Living Lagom will remain part of our lives forever.” Nicole, Participant
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Impact Transforming attitudes and mindsets There was a significant shift in perception that sustainable living is easier and more affordable. Participants’ blogs showed that, through the project, many felt a greater sense of wellbeing and more in control of their lives having made conscious choices about how they live. We saw a big ripple effect, where participants were so inspired and excited by their own achievements that they spread the word to their wider community such as school classes, Brownie Guiding groups, cooking classes, friends, family, neighbours, and through social media. Research by the University of Surrey (published in Frontiers in Psychology) indicates that the creation of a Lagom community inspired participants to try new behaviours that they hadn’t previously considered. At a time when the need to question current levels of consumption is so vital, this virtuous circle, or ‘spill-over effect’ and the wider mindset change experienced by so many participants, is particularly exciting.
“I must say we loved the ‘Lagom’ project. We all started living in a way which was more healthy sustainable and cost-conscious. It was a lot of fun and we’ll definitely keep doing it! It’s hard to say how much money we saved overall. Priceless is the time we saved to spend more time together!” Dublin Customer
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Long term impact One year after the end of the project, we asked participants how they were getting on, to see whether the changes had stuck, or even increased, or whether they’d gone back to the habits they’d had before taking part in the project:
100% of
95% of
respondents were still living a more sustainable life at home.
respondents said they had adopted new sustainable behaviours.
53% said
57% said the
participating in the project made them feel a lot happier about themselves.
project made them feel a lot more competent about achieving their goals.
“We’ve had an amazing experience, and are so grateful to IKEA for the products that have helped, but even more so for the knowledge we’ve gained, and the feeling of being part of a community of people trying to live more sustainably. Everyone – live Lagom!” Reading Customer
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Case studies: Luke Luke wanted to teach his son new habits that would help him for his future, and find ways to save energy, time and money. But they didn’t expect to make anywhere near the savings they achieved: “The Lagom project has brought our family closer together as we now have a common goal we all strive towards. By switching to LED and installing new blinds, we’ve reduced our energy bills by £30 a month.”
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Case studies: Anna Anna’s busy lifestyle led her to spend a lot on food, and she was throwing half of it away at the end of each week. By planning meals, batch cooking and savvy use of her freezer, she cut her food waste drastically and saved enough money to pay off her overdraft. “Live Lagom has completely changed my lifestyle, helping me be more productive, happier and healthier. I now shop confidently and always look for products I can reuse. I’m going to be living Lagom for the rest of my life.”
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Case studies: Tristan Belfast student Tristan discovered it’s possible to introduce sustainable design into a shared flat – all while sticking to a budget. He convinced his flatmates to convert their whole flat using ideas from the project. They invested in rugs and curtains to make the flat warmer, bigger pans so they could all cook together and pots to store all the leftovers. The results? They used the heating much less, saved money on food, and wasted less of it and they created a welcoming cosy home to share. “Now we have a great space where we all hang out. We’ve even been asked to use our apartment as the show flat for the block!”
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Case studies: Ana Ana and her partner had moved home so many times they’d forgotten all about recycling, wasting water, and living sustainably. When they decided to start a family they realised they needed to return to healthier lifestyles. Her first flat in Glasgow had no garden, so she didn’t think it would be possible to grow anything. “Live Lagom gave me the idea to start planting things in pots on the windowsill, so I grew tomatoes, cucumber, basil, thyme and chives.” Then, when they moved into a new home with a garden, Ana started growing all sorts of fruit and veg, and this was the key to healthier living for the whole family, and she’s inspiring others “Alexandra gets excited when her food comes from the garden – she goes out and picks her own salad leaves.”
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Learnings Throughout the three years of the project we reflected on what was working and what wasn’t. Here are some of our key learnings:
What’s in a name:
The name “Lagom” was crucial in making the project accessible and appealing to people who weren’t already committed environmentalists, as was the positive, jargon-free and nonjudgemental tone we used. By avoiding, for example anything with ‘eco’, ‘green’ or ‘sustainable’ in it we avoided preconceptions and people thinking ‘that’s not for me’. We found that participants used the word ‘Lagom’ as a verb, noun and adjective to help them talk about what sustainable living meant for them “that’s not very Lagom” or “I’ve just Lagomed my kitchen”.
Trust in the brand:
IKEA’s brand and genuine sustainability credentials were vital in establishing trust in the project, and creating a willingness to do more, as the Lagomers could see that everyone was playing their part. Seeing ‘behind the scenes’ in IKEA stores and getting to know the Lagom Store Leaders gave them confidence that IKEA was living up to its commitments and working towards the same goal.
Collaboration is key:
The partnership between IKEA, Hubbub and the University of Surrey through which we co-designed and co-delivered Live Lagom was a vital part of the success of the project, with each partner bringing different knowledge, skills and resources, as well as deepening credibility and trust with the participants.
Power of the community:
The relationships that Lagomers developed with each other and with the IKEA co-workers at their store was vital in making it fun, trusted, engaging, and was a huge part of what kept momentum high and built loyalty. People got involved in different ways, both on and offline, so having those options available was important. And we found that people adopted ideas from fellow Lagomers “people like me” far more than from experts, influencers or celebrities. Seeing lots of “people like me” adopting these behaviours made it seem like the normal thing to do. And showed that our individual actions together can add up to a significant impact.
We’re still locked in:
Whilst Lagomers agreed that the project helped them overcome barriers to living more sustainably in general, there were still some situations where they felt unable to do more because of infrastructure or the wider system (lack of recycling facilities, for example). However, some also felt that the project inspired them to find ways to tackle these systemic barriers (writing to their MP, or the council, for example). 26
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Legacy IKEA
The Lagom programme is now part of business as usual, with a new cohort of lagomers recruited each year. The Lagom Facebook group is growing all the time, with active conversations about every aspect of sustainable life at home. Lagom stories inspired IKEA ‘room sets’, and were used to create a Lagom catalogue to encourage others to get involved. IKEA is using the Lagom model and insight to inform its global sustainable life at home programme.
There have been clear business benefits as well: Co-workers: 90% of co-workers involved in delivering the project found that it led to personal and/or professional development opportunities, so that working on Lagom is now listed as one of IKEA’s ‘official’ professional development opportunities. During a series of Lagom workshops open to the public, sales of focussed products increased by
28%.
A marketing campaign featuring the Live Lagom concept increased sales by £236,000 over a 2 week period. Data shows that when IKEA Family members engage in Live LAGOM their visitation to stores almost doubles and their annual spend also doubles on purchasing products that help them live a more sustainable life at home. 28
Hubbub
We’ve used the insights gained from the project to inform the development of many other campaigns. We’ve continued to work with IKEA, for example on our Give It A Grow campaign. We’ll always be Lagom at heart.
University of Surrey
The University’s research on Lagom has contributed to the body of evidence on behavioural psychology, with a paper published in ‘Frontiers in Psychology’ focussing on ‘positive spill-over effects’ and the role that being part of a group can play in supporting pro environmental behaviour change.
“I want to let you in on a little secret, when hearing of this project I had to google sustainability. I haven’t been brought up in a family that recycles or is eco conscious. So when seeing this opportunity, I wanted to go for it, to show my children what we can do to help with the world.” Tracey, Co-worker, Milton Keynes
“Live Lagom is the most ambitious and exciting sustainable behaviour change project I’ve seen from a major business, delivered via a complex but highly rewarding partnership.” Ian Christie, Centre for Environment and Sustainability, at the University of Surrey.
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Thank you! Huge thanks to IKEA for their vision, courage and commitment to the project, to the core team for making it all happen (and for all the cake) and to all the ambassadors and other co-workers for their enthusiasm and dedication. Thanks to the University of Surrey’s Centre for Environment and Sustainability for their rigour of thinking and constructively challenging conversations. Finally, a huge thank you to all Lagomers past and present who have embraced the concept so willingly, and proven comprehensively that living more sustainably at home is affordable, easy and most of all fun!
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Inspired to Live Lagom? Visit the Live Lagom webpage to find out more.