Changing order of menu ‘tricks customers into healthy choices’
Changing the position of items on the menu of fast food restaurants can “trick” consumers into choosing healthier options, a trial in Mcdonald’s has found.
Customers using touchscreen order kiosks were persuaded to choose less sugary options when researchers changed the order of the list of soft drinks.
The icon for Coke Zero, which contains no sugar, was moved to the first spot on the top left of the touch screens in 622 stores for 12 weeks in 2016.
Coca-cola was moved down the list to the lowest location on the screens.
Researchers from universities in Manchester and the University of Warwick found that sales of Coke Zero increased and sales of Cocacola decreased, both by more than 300 per store.
Purchases of Coca-cola fell by 34 per store (9 per cent) on average in the week following the change, while sales of Coke Zero increased by 19 (21 per cent).
Sales of Coca-cola fell by 345 per store (7 per cent) on average in the 12 weeks after the change, while sales of Coke Zero increased by 317 (30 per cent).
Customers expecting Cocacola to be in a certain place were prompted to consider the sugar-free option when the two were swapped.
The authors believe that, by disrupting the expectation of the consumer, they were given a chance to reconsider “their otherwise habitual menu choice”.
The swap was effective regardless of how deprived the area the restaurant was in, the study, published in the Psychology and Marketing journal, found.
Dr Ivo Vlaev, a behavioural scientist from Warwick Business School, who co-wrote the study, said he found it “shocking” that such a significant change had been observed, given that all of the options were still available.
He said: “You can call it a cognitive trick.
“It’s based on a bias, or a psychological blind spot we have when we are looking at the range of options in front of us or the world outside of us, because we focus our attention on things that are more salient, or are immediately in front of us – our eyes follow certain patterns when we are looking at the world, as when you’re reading a page in a magazine.”
The researchers
initially worked with Mcdonald’s, which funded the study, to make Coke Zero the “default” choice when ordering a meal.
But they were not able to do this because some people are allergic to the sweeteners used to replace sugar.
They also tried to get staff to prompt customers to choose healthier options but found that they did not always have time or remember, Dr Vlaev said.
“We focus our attention on things that are immediately infrontofus–oureyes follow certain patterns when we are looking at the world.”
DR IVO VLAEV