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It’s food for thought.
Next time you look at a restaurant menu, you may notice several traits that make you more willing to spend extra money.
In a phenomenon that Delish calls “menu psychology,” eateries entice hungry customers into spending more on a meal through key traits.
“For most restaurants, the goal is to drive repeat business. That means the top goal of a restaurant is for customers to leave feeling satisfied,” USC lecturer Dr. Jason Buhle told the publication, adding that menus are “a form of advertising.”
“If a restaurant encourages a diner to purchase more than they want, they may overeat or feel bad about wasting food or money. If a bill is higher than a customer intended, they will surely factor that final impression in when choosing a restaurant next time.”
According to Delish, menus often obscure the prices, putting the number last or dropping the dollar sign so that it reads “9” instead of “$9.”
“The goal of restaurants is to put the food first and the price second in the customer’s mind,” Buhle explained. “One way they can do this is by literally listing the food first and the price second.”
Restaurants might also put the most expensive dishes in a separate section, like within a box or printing it in a different color font to bring attention to it.
They might also place these items at the top of the menu because of the “primacy effect,” meaning that customers will only read the first few things in a list and not the rest, per Delish.
But this could also be seen as a “decoy dish,” according to global restaurant consultant company Aaron Allen & Associates.
“Some restaurants try to deceive their diners by placing a slightly more expensive item at the top of the menu,” a blog post reads. “This makes all the other dishes appear to offer more bang for your buck. It also gives us the impression we’re getting a bargain, encouraging us to spend more.”
The company also said that “nostalgia is a powerful force,” encouraging eateries to lean into titling dishes with a twinge of sentimentality.
“A carefully worded description can load almost any dish with an emotional resonance that is hard to resist,” the blog post continued. “Diners beware – that tempting slice of ‘Grandma’s Apple Pie’ you’re about to order has probably been languishing in an industrial freezer for months.”
Photos, however, should be avoided at all costs, while illustrations are preferred.
“Poor photos may elicit disgust, photos of fake food may result in an unpleasant ‘uncanny valley’ reaction,” Buhle said. “And misleading photos may lead to a loss in consumer trust.”
However, past reports have found that a social media presence with drool-worthy snaps and a large following could entice customers into splurging on buzzy menu items.
According to Delish, offering less options not only emphasizes the restaurant’s quality, but also limits the stress of choosing from too many options. After all, previous studies have found that Gen Z has “menu anxiety.”
But these tricks aren’t foolproof — if someone doesn’t like a certain ingredient or food, a hidden price tag, colorful verbiage and enticing sketch won’t sway them.
“Menu design and placement of items on the menu can influence the customers’ decision,” Dave Pavesic, a Georgia State University professor of hospitality administration program, told Delish.
“It will not influence customers to purchase items they do not want.”
