I have to say that I love IKEA for what it is. Cheap, easy, convenient crap. It is the McDonalds equivalent to the furniture world. You aren't going to go to McDonalds expecting a gourmet flame grilled quality burger; same goes with IKEA. Although I have to say IKEA food is better quality than Mcdonalds. I digress.
Modern Society in general is based on superficial things as a whole. I am not saying that the entire society lives to buy things, but most of us do and continue to feed our consumerist need.
Individuals in our modern society feel the need to shop...period. At the same time we also feel the need to be an individual. Expressing our individuality is liberating and feeds us a high. Hence, shopping for things for yourself or in general gives you that bit of shopping adrenaline rush. It is your hard earned money (or in most cases money that you don't even have) being spent on things to make your life better! It is the typical consumerist frame of mind.
I agree that IKEA has 100,000's of products and a never ending list of new products constantly coming out. But how many times have you walked into someones home and said " I love your lamp, I have the same one!" Same goes with carpets, tables, kitchen supplies, artwork and of course the twisted bamboo shoots.
You are heading home from IKEA with a trunk load of crap. You feel liberated that you bought all this great stuff for your home and it was so affordable. When you get home you open all your great stuff, throw out the "extra" cardboard, styrofoam, and plastic. You think "thank goodness there is so much styrofoam to protect my great furniture". You open your last box and find out that your item is damaged. Shitty.
You give IKEA Customer Service a call and boom...great service, friendly staff, and boom you have a new item and a new product shipped to you. They apologize for the inconvenience and advise you to dispose of the damaged product.
...
Now multiply this scenario by 100,000's of orders monthly.
I find it interesting that IKEA is the worlds largest furniture company, the worlds 3rd largest consumer of wood, and one of the top grossing companies in the world. Also the CEO is the richest man in the world. I find it interesting that a society as a whole that bases a large part of their existence on feeling like an individual and leaving their "footprint" has succumbed to this. We find it incredibly easy to go to IKEA, buy crappy furniture, throw out all the packaging, and never bother to worry how/where the product is made and IKEA's general global impact. We know they are providing us with cheap furniture, but do we actual know how destructive they are to the environment? What measures do they take to reduce waste etc?. Nobody thinks/cares about that. We buy disposable furniture without thinking about other issues involved with it. We used to have to save money to buy quality furniture but nobody has time for that now a days. We live in the " I want it now, I want it whether I can afford it or not, and I want it cheap" age.
They are the worlds 3rd LARGEST consumer of wood. The next 2 companies are home building companies...! So the top 2 companies that use the most wood to build homes, and we use IKEA to fill the house.
The environmental impact that IKEA has contributed for the negative must be extraordinary. Goes along the same lines of getting a coffee from Starbucks and throwing out the paper cup. Speaking of, next time you get a Starbucks look at the labels on it...everything it is made of is 100% recyclable...including the lid and cardboard sleeve...but go ahead throw it in the trash. I digress.
Individuals in society want to feel like they are an individual. Even when we clearly are not (like shopping at IKEA together). But it boils down to money and how affordable it is. I guess that everything comes with a price (a cheap price for that matter) even when it comes to our individuality and environmental destruction.
