Whether we're aware of it or not when we eat out, we are all drawn to well designed menus, but there's more to this than meets the eye. A good restaurant menu should have lovely pictures or descriptions of food that really whet the appetite. Yet a 'great' menu does more than that - sometimes, it actively encourages you to buy more food than you might want.
Research has shown that a great menu will make you hungry, satisfying your psychological craving for food, and convincing you that you're in for a memorable dining experience. Think you're too savvy to fall for a really slick menu? Think again.
This great little infographic from Aaron Allen explains the psychology of menu design. Give it a read and you may well discover that previous meal choices were not truly made of your own accord. In fact, you might realise they were heavily influenced by the menu design and how it affects the mind.
For example, menus that omit currency symbols take the emphasis away from the cost of the food, and can encourage us to order more expensive dishes. Similar, the colour palette of a menu can impact how we view it, with green apparently implying freshness, and orange stimulating the appetite.
Even seasoned diners have probably been caught out by a trick or two in their day, so give the graphic below a read so you can make more informed decisions in the future.
[via Aaron Allen]
Image by Robert Young
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