will be a challenging task to accomplish without applying significant changes to the overall approach IKEA has taken regarding the U.S. First, they need to perform market research regarding the purchasing trends of not only their current customer demographics, but more importantly, the demographics of the customers that they are not attracting. Secondly, they need to familiarize themselves with the distinct and separate styles to which Americans are attracted. The ability to transpose the traditional (American) way of thinking regarding interior design with a more European (Scandinavian) based fashion may not be advantageous for IKEA. Additionally, the products that IKEA offers are too limited in their usability in different regions of the country. Just as different parts of the world appreciate different styles, different regions of the U.S. do as well. The U.S. is unique that it encompasses all the different ethnicities of the world in a free market, the ability of IKEA to convince every separate ethnic group’s individual preferences may not be realistic either.

The capacity for adaptive change will be the key to IKEA’s continued existence and prosperity. It is a “win-win” for every party involved: If IKEA performs research to determine what they need to change to be successful in America they: a.) will continuously attract their loyal customers with newer design releases, b.) may capture new market segments of consumers that never considered IKEA an option (through advertising their upgraded and expanded product line) and c.) could recapture discouraged consumers that “tested” the products, but are no longer interested in the IKEA