Restaurants are filled with booby-traps the cause us to overeat. These original findings show how glasses, plates, and menu descriptions can unknowingly cause us to eat too much.

Putting descriptive names (Black Forest Double-Chocolate Cake vs. Chocolate Cake) on menus made people rate the foods as tasting better and as being more caloric.

Abstract

How do descriptive menu labels influence customers? In a six-week field experiment involving 140 customers, descriptive menu labels (such as “Grandma’s zucchini cookies” or “succulent Italian seafood filet”) increased sales by 27% and improved attitudes towards the food, attitudes toward the restaurant, and intentions toward repatronage.

Such labels did not, however, directly increase the amount a person is willing to pay for the labeled item. If descriptive labels are used sparingly and appropriately, they can improve sales and post-consumption attitudes of the food and the restaurant.

Summary

The Secret of the Label: Descriptive Menu Labels "Taste Better"

Are you still dreaming about the Bloomin” Onion that you had the other night or the Jack Daniel”s Chicken that you ate two weeks ago?

A six-week controlled cafeteria study by the Food and Brand Lab found that descriptive menu-item labels increase food sales and improve the attitudes customers have towards of both the food and the restaurant.*

Over the course of six weeks, six food items were labeled with descriptive labels or standard plain labels; for example, “New York Style Cheesecake with Godiva Chocolate Sauce” vs. “Cheesecake.” Each week the labels were switched. Any person who chose a pre-selected item was asked to complete a survey.

Results showed that of the 150 diners surveyed, people chose the descriptive menu item 27% more than the normally labeled menu choice. In fact, diners who chose the descriptive menu item had better attitudes about the product and restaurant, including the willingness to go back. They even indicated that they would be willing to pay almost 10% more for each descriptive menu item.

The results of this study were published in the Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly. The study could make many diners think about what they choose from the menu and how they are influenced simply by labels.

“We now know that the cute names used by some restaurants for years really do increase food sales as well as how the restaurant is seen in the eyes of the customer,” said Dr. Brian Wansink, director of the Food and Brand Lab. “The key is for customers to realize they are influenced by what they see and choose accordingly.”

For more information see: Wansink, Brian, James M. Painter, and Koert van Ittersum, (2001) “Descriptive Menu Labels Effect on Sales,” Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administrative Quarterly, 42:6 (December), 68-72.

Contact:
Brian Wansink, PhD
Food and Brand Lab, Director
110 Warren Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
Email: foodandbrandlab@cornell.edu

*This study was conducted at the University of Illinois, former location of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab.

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