North Dakotans—When Eating Out DON’T Fall For These Tricks!!!

We’ve all done it….we walk into a restaurant with the best intentions to order a salad to stick to our healthy diets…and….we fall into temptation and order that nice juicy burger.  Then after we’re done, we wonder WHY we did that.  Well, fast food companies know this, and they use some crafty tricks to get us to order more food and keep spending more money than we originally intended.  To help you combat this, here are a few psychological tricks to watch out for….don’t fall for them!

Trick #1: Painting The Place in Warm Colors – Theories that “warm” colors like red, orange, yellow, and pink act as an appetite stimulant have held up in various studies.  Red, the most popular color for food packaging, raises blood pressure, heart rate, and, often, people’s desire to eat everything in sight….this is why when you walk into many restaurants, they use red tablecloths and décor.  Examples: McDonald’s and In-N-Out Burger

Trick #2: Smell Good, Eat More – As taste and smell are two very interrelated senses, aroma has a strong influence of what and when we eat.  Food courts in the mall rely on scent to lure customers over for a snack while they’re passing by to their favorite store.  Example: Cinnabon (mmmm!)

Trick #3: Food Pictures – You know the saying..a picture is worth a thousand words, and showing a burger, ice cream treat, or other indulgence does more than just show it on a menu….it tempts you into ordering that exact item, even though the one you receive doesn’t look nearly as rich and as fresh as the one in the picture.  Example: Burger King’s Whopper or Dairy Queen’s Blizzard shown on their menu board

Trick #4: Offering Meal Deals: If a combo meal of a burger, fries, and a soda costs less than those three items ordered separately, yet the restaurant gets more money than if the customer ordered a burger alone, the restaurant wins by selling more, and the customer thinks they are getting a lot of food for a discount price.  Example: McDonald’s Extra Value Meal

So, if you are watching your waistline this summer, be aware of these tricks that restaurants use to get you to order more and outsmart them…before you are lured in to ordering more than you really want!

Source: Business Insider