When you get to a restaurant, do you have trouble deciding what to get for dinner? According to experts, the design of the menu itself can affect what we're in the mood for.
"There's definitely a psychology of menus. We are not masters and commander of what we choose when we go to a restaurant," said Professor Brian Wansink, PhD, Food and Brand Lab Director with Cornell University.
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Wansink reviewed hundreds of menus and analyzed how they influence diners. His finding: the layout is critical.
"It determines what we look at first," he said. "It determines largely what we choose, but it also ends up determining how much we like the food."
So, if you see something sooner, research shows you're more likely to order it. And, the more descriptive the wording, the more you might be willing to shell out. Words like succulent or creamy actually have an impact on diners.
"They're willing to pay about 15% more for the item. They're 27% more likely to take the item and they also end up rating the item as actually being, tastier after they finish dinner," said Wansink.
It's something restaurant owner's keep in mind. San Francisco restaurant owner Mike O'Brien adjusts his menu three or four times a year to keep things fresh, but always follows a template designed to tempt.
"We put boxes around certain items that we want to highlight and that are our signature items or things that have a better gross profit," he said.
And profit and driving sales is the name of the game, says restaurant consultant Tucker "Bill" Main. He specializes in what he calls 'menu optimization' and designs them so customers will be drawn to the most profitable options.
"The menu is the purest expression of your marketing plan. The menu is the nexus of everything," he said.
When it comes to making healthy choices, Wansink says sometimes design can work against our waistline.
"If it's set up wrong and it pushes sort of the high calorie entrées and really sort of fat appetizers it can cause us to eat really poorly," he added.
So, how do you get past the marketing to get the best value and have a healthy meal? Wansink suggests asking for recommendations for lighter selections, and says diners should take a closer, more critical, look at the menu.
"Avoid looking at those items that are like in your face and kind of read between the lines and look at the ones that are in the, sort of the smaller font, maybe a little less obvious," he said.
Another tip to keep in mind is the way prices are presented on the menu. O'Brien tells us on his menu he avoids lining them up in one column. That's because he's found customers tend to shop by price. Of course, if they're not lined up it's not quite as easy to compare.