Understanding Menu Psychology: An Empirical Investigation of Menu Design and Consumer response

The article explored the topic, “Understanding Menu Psychology: An Empirical Investigation of Menu Design and Consumer response.” It was presented by Dennis Reynolds, Edward A. Merritt, and Sarah Pinckney who participated in the various areas of the research to ensure that sufficient data was collected and analyzed correctly. The researchers wanted to find out the effect of a particular menu design conventions on the response of consumers. Hence, the biographers conjectured that deemphasizing menu item rates would upsurge normal check totals, and boxing an item would increase a client’s tendency to choose a particular item. Therefore, this implies that the study was premeditated to assess buying choices ostensibly encompassing positioning of items, eye movement, and the appearance of merchandises.
Data Collection
Data collection was based on Rhapsody restaurant in Northeastern University. The target customers of the restaurant were students who had preferred taking dinner at that place. The experiment employed three menu designs under the following categories. The original menu that acted as a control experiment, and a second menu that deemphasized prices by positioning them next to the description of the item in the same size, and a particular type of font as the depiction. On the same note, a third menu in which prices were not changed, but comprised of two listed items with boxes around them. The selection of the two items was based on the box treatment on the contribution margin and the dominant position on the menu.

One piece was set on the left page under the middle of the page, and the other was positioned on the right page overhead the center. The study was done for eleven non-consecutive nights with days of the week designated indiscriminately without undertaking a replacement foundation. On the same note, the menus were randomly distributed to the tables while servers recorded into the computer system the type of menu placed on each table. 223 checks were recorded basing their analysis on average check per table and the probability per-person of the picked item by the table.
Variance analysis was applied to explore whether there were noteworthy alterations in average check grounded on menu usage. On the same note, regression analysis was used to determine probable interceding or controlling effects of party size on the postulated affiliation. Similarly, the practices were also used to establish whether menu usage affected the designated menu pieces. Equally, the Levene’s tests for homogeneity of variance were performed under the unequal cell sizes, and the researchers found no cause for concern.
Subjects
The research depicted four subjects who assisted the investigators to obtain data through the interpolation and collaboration and discernible secluded data without the concert of the targeted individuals. The management of the restaurant interacted with the investigators so as to assist them in the data gathering and manipulation process. On the same note, Students, staff, and non-university affiliated locals’ information on their behavior were collected without them expecting that an observation and recording of data was taking place.
Results
The initial hypothesis of the research paper was that deemphasizing items on the menu in a casual dining environment would result to an upsurge on the average check. The results depict that the initial expectations of the investigators never happened as there lacked a discernible statistical difference amid the three treatment clusters. In Table 2, it portrays that the effects of party size were tested so as to establish whether they had an explanatory value, but the results showed that there were no significance affiliation among the treatments. Similarly, the researchers found no statistical difference after investigating on whether the treatment influenced the probability of ordering either or both of the selected pieces. On the same note, the table size depicted no potential effects on the study that the investigators carried out. Therefore, the results showed that no support for the hypothesis was found from both scenarios.
My Thoughts on the Article and Lessons Learnt
The article indicates that menu design and psychology does not affect sales in a particular restaurant. Similarly, the research presented in the article depicted major limitations that may have influenced the final result of the study. The setting of the restaurant in which the study was carried out is a student-run establishment whose principal goal is to educate apprentices on restaurant management and not to earn a profit. Therefore, this shows that Rhapsody cannot be compared to other restaurants that offer similar services due to the difference in the set objectives. Similarly, this study failed to come up with certain claims on the significance of menu design despite the existence of a transparent contrast between the findings and the empirical research, and the availability of the subjective evidence. Therefore, the results in the article should be generalized to different restaurant segments so as to make the implications to be considerable.
After reading the article, I have learned that future research on the topic should be carried due to the limitations depicted in the current study in the piece. The future researchers should consider other variables that play significant roles in the response of customers towards different restaurants of their choice.
A Summary of Article 2
The article explored the topic, “The Effects of Restaurant Menu Item Descriptions on Perceptions of Quality, Price, and Purchase Intention.” The research was carried out by Michael McCall and Ann Lynn who participated in the various areas of the research to ensure that sufficient data was collected and analyzed correctly. The researchers depicted in the article wanted to establish on how features in menus generate acuity of quality, value, and suitable pricing. Many restaurant advisers have counseled their customers to construct menus that contain simple words while others have advocated for intricate descriptions so as to converse the distinctiveness of particular products. Therefore, the investigators aimed at establishing the significance of item wording on the responses of customers and target clients of a particular restaurant.
Data Collection
Data was collected from 160 college apprentices who were conscripted over a three-week retro to partake on an examination of food inclinations and restaurant comportment. The apprentices comprised of 112 ladies and the remaining percentage represented the men population. The design of the research was made up of a two complexity by a two price factorial under which complexity was dogged through pretesting. Menus from different restaurants were collected and studied to establish comparability. The sample generated three dishes that were set to contain the highest and lowest strengths of expressive convolution. On the same note, a sample of 25 college apprentices was requested to proportion the intricacy of depiction for every element on a gauge of 1(very simple) to 9 (very intricate). The results portrayed that each menu obtainable in Table 1 varied significantly. Similarly, half of the interviewees got a disclosure of the pricing data for each menu piece while the information was never disclosed to the other half of the population. The study aimed at establishing on whether customers may rely on prices to make judgments on the quality of products. The partakers appraised the descriptions of the items on the menu on three evaluative gauges that acted as the contingent actions.
Subjects
The subjects of the study were college students who comprised of 112 female students and 48 male students. The mentioned subjects assisted the researchers to obtain data through their intervention and interaction participation.
Results
The initial examination of the collected data from the 160 respondents exposed many projected correspondence rapport between insight of quality, expense, and the probability of buying a particular dish. A strong affiliation between charge and alleged eminence of a particular dish (r = 0.40, p < 0.01); and the quality and prospect of acquiring the piece (r = 0.40, p < 0.01) was established from the way the respondents considered the filet. On the same note, similar patterns were observed when the respondents were asked about the chicken dish (i.e., price quality, r = 0.47, p < 0.01; quality -buying intent, r = 0.41, p < 0.01). Equally, a price-quality liaison was observed in the pasta dish and depicted the following (r = 0.49,/7< 0.01).
A multivariate examination of discrepancy was carried out and concurrently observed the intricacy of the element portrayal, and the existence or nonexistence of pricing data across the nine element questions on the menu. The analysis exposed an inclusive influence of descriptive convolution Wilks’ lambda F (9, 148) = 14.10,/? < 0.0001), and an effect on the pricing information Wilks’ lambda F (9, 148) = 2.12, p = 0.03). Therefore, from the tables, it can be noticed that descriptive convolution inclined seven of the nine questions that were presented. The results showed that items categorized under more complex terms amplified acuities of quality, a prospect of purchase, and the projected price. Remarkably, the research depicted a broad inclination for pricing figures aimed at enhancing discernments of quality, the possibility of buying, and the expectations on prices. Price prospects for the filet and the pasta dishes are the only menu pieces that touched predictable levels of statistical connotation, despite the rest of the pieces being rated satisfactorily when a price tag was incorporated in the description.
My Thoughts on the Article and Lessons Learnt
The research presented in the article depict an insinuation that descriptive intricacy and pricing information impact acuities of eminence, price anticipations, and buying intents. The report showed that application of very complex terminologies led to an increase in perceptions of quality, probable choice, and pricing anticipations. Similarly, the article depicts price as a prominent piece of any consumptive decision made by buyers. Therefore, this implies that despite the price being speculative; it may be playing an acquiescent role to evaluations of quality and buying intent. On the same note, pricing information can only participate in the selection process after the initial decisions have been met.
The article has thought me critical lessons on dining and the perceptions that consumers hold on food quality. The teachings will influence the way I shall handle myself on future dining choices and the different opinions that may be created on food quality. On the same note, I feel like an additional study on the topic is required so as to magnify the collection of verdicts that were described in the article and inspect other cronies of restaurant diners.