Mindless eating solutions for everyday life

sophia_lopes
sophia_lopes Posts: 1
in Food and Nutrition
If you have ever ordered the wrong meal at a restaurant, do not blame yourself; blame the menu. What you order may have less to do with what you desire and more to do with a menu’s layout and descriptions.

After studying 217 menus and the selections of over 300 diners, the Cornell study published in the International Journal of Hospitality Management revealed that when it comes to what you order for dinner, two things matter most: what you see on the menu and how you think it will taste.

First, any food item that draws attention (with bold, hightlighted or colored font or set apart in a text box) makes us more likely to order that food item instead of the item listed next to it. “In most cases, these are the least healthy items on the menu,” said lead author, Brian Wansink, author of Slim by Design: Mindless Eating Solutions for Everyday Life.

Second, menu names with descriptive items sell much better and lead you to believe that they taste better. The researchers mention a study where they changed the names of restaurant menu items to make them more descriptive; the seafood filet became Succulent Italian Seafood Filet and red beans and rice became Cajun Red Beans and Rice.

Sales of these items increased by 28% and they were rated as tastier, despite the fact that the recipe was identical. Diners were also willing to pay about 12% more money for a menu item with a descriptive name.

The best strategy to healthier restaurant dining may be an easy one. “Just ask your server,” says Wansink, “Ask ‘What are your two or three lighter entrées that get the most compliments?’ or ‘What’s the best thing on the menu if a person wants a light dinner?’”

Notably, Wansink and co-author Katie Love highlight that restaurants can also use these two strategies – catching attention and priming imagination to guide diners to buy healthier high margin items. It is a good way menu design could help make diners slim by design.

Source: http://www.infspot.com/food/mindless-eating-solutions-everyday-life/

Replies

  • McCluskey1128
    McCluskey1128 Posts: 88 Member
    Very interesting post! I'll try to keep this in mind the next time I'm at a restaurant.
  • levitateme
    levitateme Posts: 999 Member
    A local sandwich shop faxes their daily specials menu to my job every morning. They use the same key words for a variety of items. Everything is always "cooked to perfection" and "smothered with X" (insert cheese, onions/peppers, chili)

    I'm on to their game.
  • Chezzie84
    Chezzie84 Posts: 873 Member
    Isn't this shifting blame? It's not my fault I over ate, it's the restaurants!! Or I didn't want to eat that dessert, the menu made me!!

    I agree that menus highlight the better more profitable items and to make them stand out and that these ain't always the healthy options but at the end of the day, what you order is up to you.
  • tulips_and_tea
    tulips_and_tea Posts: 5,744 Member
    Typical marketing scheme, basically the same way they set up grocery stores to get you to buy more expensive, less healthy foods.

    Personally, I don't get it. When I go out to eat I make my food selection based on what I feel like eating and how it nutritionally fits into my daily diet, certainly NOT because of the way it is advertised on a menu. It's kind of just another excuse to order the wrong thing: "The menu made me do it!"

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