Will you fall for them?
Or are you the one that has the ability to get away from the tricks mastered by so many restaurant owners in order to attract a high number of clients? Of course, before avoiding the problem you need to know its manifestations. In some cases the restaurants make use of subtle techniques that are meant to attract people to order their dishes.
Are you curious to discover some of the most common tricks implemented by restaurants with the help of their menu designers (yes, there are people who make a living out of designing menus for restaurants)? You won’t even believe some of them. Stay tuned!
5 Simple Tricks Restaurants Use
1. Expensive and cheap – one of the most common tricks is putting the most expensive dishes at the top of the menu list. This way you will rapidly move on to the other ones which will look mighty cheap compared to the first ones. And you will still order something because you will have the impression that you are the one who’s choosing.
2. No $ sign – it might sound silly but eliminating the dollar (or other similar currency) from the menu actually makes people spend more. Aaron Allen, restaurant consultant believes that the way to people’s wallets is through eliminating the dollar sign: „We get rid of dollar signs because that’s a pain point. They remind people they’re spending money.” And who wants to have that rubbed in their face?
3. Expensive = tastier – because the human mind is sometimes just that easy to play. According to a study published in Journal of Sensory Studies if you pay less for your food you tend to believe its taste and quality are not worth your time. During this study, 192 Italians were given the possibility to choose between a buffet that cost $4 and one that cost $8. Guess which one was considered to be tastier?
4. Going back to tradition – there are lots of places whose purpose is to bring that feeling of nostalgia and childhood memories back into your belly. Or at least make you believe that. Words like „grandma’s chicken soup,” „mom’s homemade kugel” or „the dessert of your childhood” will convince you to recapture the joy of your childhood by ordering one of these special foods.
5. Color my life – another trick highly utilized by many food companies and restaurants is using colors to influence the mood of the client. For instance, blue is the color that creates a calming effect, while red stimulates the appetite and yellow draws one’s attention. So pretty much it all goes down to this: when you’re calm and you have something to stimulate your appetite you find something to draw your attention. Perfect equation for food industries!
Have you ever felt manipulated by a dinning venue?
Dana