How restaurants ‘engineer’ menus to entice diners into ordering more expensive dishes using simple lay-out techniques
What you order in a restaurant depends on what you’re in the mood for, right? Apparently not; because menus are cleverly ‘designed’ to influence what we choose, according to a food-conscious broadcaster.
In a video on Instagram, Ruth Alexander, host of The Food Chain, explained how eateries use language, psychology and behavioral economics to optimize menus for profit.
“Everything about a menu is designed to make you spend more,” she shared on the social media platform.
The broadcaster talked about ‘menu engineering’, a method that uses sales data and food costs to set prices and determine which dishes to highlight.
There is now a whole industry around menu engineering; a report from the BBC World Service highlights some of the tricks of the trade that restauranteurs use to trick us into making food choices we might not have thought of – with boxes, special offers and placing more expensive items in the top right corner – where attention is drawn – between the techniques used
The presenter then revealed five surprising techniques these engineers use to maximize profits – including processing boxes, ‘specials’ and placing expensive dishes in the top right.
If you thought you chose a dish from a restaurant menu because you were hungry and craving one of your favorite meals, think again: there’s more to it.
Establishment owners use certain techniques to influence what you order, usually steering you toward the choices with the highest profit margins, according to BBC World Service.
Layouts and descriptions are all cleverly manipulated to tingle your taste buds and make you part with your hard-earned money.
The psychology between menu design and what we order is supported by science and research that examines areas of influence, such as how our emotions are affected by certain buzzwords.
Layouts and descriptions are all cleverly manipulated to tingle your taste buds and make you part with your hard-earned money.
5 Techniques to Optimize Menus for Profit
1. Install boxes
“If you put a dish in a box, sales increase by about 30 percent,” says the expert.
2. Well thought-out layout
‘People tend to order the first or last thing they see.
“Many people’s eyes initially go to the top right corner of a menu, so that’s where restaurants put their star dishes that are the most popular and profitable,” she explained.
3. Detailed descriptions
According to BBC World Service: ‘The longer the description, the more expensive the dish – we’re talking an extra 18 cense for every letter above average.’
4. Price consideration
“Pricing in whole dollars often suggests a place is exclusive or trendy, while using cents suggests value.”
5. Place expensive dishes at the top
“Putting an expensive dish at the top of the list makes subsequent dishes look more reasonably priced,” viewers heard.
The clip ended with Ms Alexander saying: ‘Next time you’re at a restaurant, see how many of these you can find on the menu.’