Business: Minds Matter

Reasoned use of consumer psychology can build foodservice sales.

By Derek Gale, Associate Editor -- Restaurants & Institutions, 5/15/2007

Lighting, color and multiple seating options—as at Wapango in Chesterfield, Mo.—influence guests’ stay and spending.

Sensory experiences trigger something in the human brain and prompt a response—the sight of a juicy burger in a television ad or the smell of fresh baked cookies can bring on hunger. But the connection isn’t always so straightforward. The aroma of lavender, for example, isn’t known to prompt hunger or thirst, but researchers find it to be a relaxing scent that can entice restaurant patrons to linger and, often, order additional beverages or desserts.

This is one example of how exploring consumer psychology and its insights can help foodservice operators build customer satisfaction and sales. And because dining involves many decisions from the moment a consumer begins thinking about food to the time he or she finishes a meal, operators can employ a variety of strategies to bolster bottom lines.

Brand Building

First, to build a brand and keep it front-of-mind for consumers, foodservice operators have to know their current and target customers, says Scott Montgomery, chief creative officer for Irvine, Calif.-based marketing agency HLF Brandtailers. "An In-N-Out hamburger person is different than a Burger King person or a McDonald’s person," he says. "It’s about figuring out which people you’re tapping into, which part of their brains you’re tapping into. You have to fit a niche for a piece of a person’s brain."

Montgomery points to Carpinteria, Calif.-based Carl’s Jr. as adept at understanding its consumers and its niche. "Their audience is 18- to 24- or possibly 18- to 35-year-old males," he says. "That’s why they’ve had Paris Hilton ads. Carl’s has not varied its formula for 10 to 12 years. It’s girls on buckin’ bronco machines and in soapy blouses washing cars. They fill that need in their guys’ psyche."

The chain knows it’s important for brands to establish bonds with customers. "You buy things from friends—you don’t reject friends," Montgomery says.

He also notes that the actor who does Carl’s Jr. voiceovers sounds like a regular guy at a sports bar. With that combination, Montgomery says, "they could sell a salad to a guy if they wanted to."

Environmental Impact

The look and feel of an eating establishment may be more than meets the eye. For example, the more subdued the lighting and colors of a restaurant, the more time customers are likely to spend inside, says Brian Wansink, director of Cornell University’s Food and Brand Lab and author of "Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think" (Bantam, 2006).

Many restaurants have an open, noisy atmosphere rather than a cozy feel, but Wansink says research suggests that quieter, more private dining may result in a dollar-per-person sales advantage.

At the same time, restaurant tables often perceived to be less-desirable or out of the way actually may not have negative sales impact. A study—"The Impact of Restaurant Table Characteristics on Meal Duration and Spending"—by Sheryl Kimes and Stephani Robson, faculty members at Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration, shows that customers seated at less-desirable tables do not stay as long as those seated at better tables but spend just as much money, resulting in higher spending-per-minute averages. The study also finds that customers seated in booths spend significantly more per person than those seated at other tables.

Wansink conducted a similar study that examines how the pace of music playing on the restaurant floor influences how much customers spend. He finds that when a restaurant plays slower-paced music, people stayed longer—in some cases about half an hour longer. And although the longer stay does not influence food purchases, it does raise the average drink order by about 40%.

In follow-up research, Wansink finds that the longer people stay at tables, regardless of how much they drink, the more likely they are to rate experiences as positive and the higher the percentage of guests who make a reservation to return within three months. "That’s a twist from the table-turning philosophy of most restaurants," he says.

Noses as well as eyes and taste buds influence customers’ behavior, according to research published last year in the International Journal of Hospitality Management. An experiment with various scents finds that a lavender aroma in a restaurant increased customers’ length of stay and amount of money spent, whereas a pervasive lemon scent did not. Lavender produces a relaxing effect, the note explained, and in that calm state, customers frequently ordered additional items, such as alcohol and coffee.

Read The Label

Earlier, when at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Wansink and colleagues James Painter and Koert Van Ittersum conducted an experiment involving 140 customers in the university’s faculty cafeteria. Their findings, reported in "Descriptive Menu Labels’ Effects on Sales" in the Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly (December, 2001), include the observation that the presence of descriptive menu labels—such as "succulent Italian seafood fillet"—increased sales of specific items by 27%. Additionally, such wording improved perceptions of quality and value, as well as customer attitudes toward the cafeteria and intentions toward return visits. Used appropriately, such labels can both improve sales and attitudes about food and a restaurant, Wansink concludes.

He notes, however, that descriptive labels may raise customer expectations regarding quality; the menu item will need to meet expectations to produce a positive experience for the customer and a positive outcome for the operator.

Wansink says servers who describe menu items verbally also can have positive effects on guests’ expectations of how food will taste. "It influences the likelihood of buying and raises the evaluation of the food afterward, even if people don’t like it as much as they thought they would," he says. "It is almost impossible for expectations to backfire."

Designs On Sales

Gregg Rapp, a Palm Springs, Calif.-based menu engineer, believes that everything from menu design and graphics to wording of item descriptions can affect what guests order and how much they spend.

He recommends that restaurants sell their most profitable items by giving these dishes the best real estate on the menu and by making them stand out. On a two-page menu, the entrée an operation most wants to sell should occupy the top of the upper-right-hand page. Even better: Put it in a box. "The eye is lazy—it goes to easiest thing to find on a page," Rapp says.

But operators need to be careful not to scare away guests or make wrong first impressions, he notes. For example, a high-price lobster in the top spot could jolt customers. It might do better as the menu’s last item: still good real estate, but not the first place the eye goes.

Menu items should be fairly and profitably priced, and Rapp counsels that it always is best to use actual prices—even if they fluctuate—on menus rather than hedging with "market price" or similar wording. Although the menu price may be high, he says restaurants sell more using the day’s price. Doing so also will help build the average check, he says, because although guests may not order the most expensive menu item, they frequently will order the second-most-expensive option.

To soften menu prices’ impact on guests, Rapp recommends putting prices immediately after dish descriptions rather than across the page. He also recommends eliminating dollar signs. "You really don’t need them," he says. "Plus, they just remind people it’s money."

We Eat With Our Eyes

In their research report, "Descriptive Menu Labels’ Effect on Sales," co-authors Brian Wansink, James Painter and Koert van Ittersum conclude that providing product brand names—promotional tie-ins with candy or spirits brands or names of farms or artisans—can improve diners’ taste expectations and mood. They also suggest three other menu tactics, which the menu at right from Ray’s Boathouse in Seattle already incorporates.

Geographic Labels: "Labels that claim to reproduce the same flavors that are specifically found in geographic areas have proven successful," the authors conclude. Other variations they suggest: Southwestern Tex-Mex Salad; "Real" Carolina Barbeque; or Country Peach Tart.

Affective Labels: "Alluding to emotions can trigger happy memories of family, tradition and nationalism." Other examples: Classic Old World Italian Pasta; Legendary Chocolate Mousse Pie; or Nana’s Favorite Chicken Soup.

Sensory Labels: "If labels accurately describe the taste, smell and mouthfeel of the menu item, customers will be more able to picture themselves buying it and enjoying it." Other examples: Hearty Wholesome Steaks; Snappy Seasonal Carrots; or Buttery Plump Pasta.