Another proof that people eat with their eyes first. Business Research magazine is about to publish the results of a new, rather unusual study conducted by scientists at Ohio State University. It turns out that visitors are more likely to order food in a restaurant where the menu font is similar to handwritten, because they perceive it as a signal that the food will be better for them.
Scientific experiment
Researchers interviewed 185 participants aged 20 to 84 years, dividing them into four different experimental conditions. In one of them, subjects were asked to imagine what they were eating in a fictitious restaurant called Rilo's Kitchen, which presented on the menu dishes grown locally and not containing antibiotics, such as Thai shrimp salad and grilled cedar salmon. Half of the band members received a menu with a font that seemed to be handwritten, and the other half received a menu printed in the standard Helvetica font.
Then the participants answered a series of questions about how they perceive the restaurant, simply by looking at the menu, and how likely it is that they will share information about it on social networks. People who read the handwritten menu believed that the food was healthier than those who read the other version, and were more likely to post information about it on social networks.
The next group was sent to a regular cafe, where the menu was nothing useful. Half of the participants received handwritten menus, while the other half received regular printed menus. The result was different from the previous one. Participants reacted negatively to the handwritten menu and were much less willing to publish it on social networks such as Instagram or Facebook.
Perception features
Thus, one of the authors of the study, Stephanie Liu, came to the conclusion that the handwritten menu had an advantage only in a healthy restaurant. This is due to a higher level of expectation. This signals a greater effort, and people felt that it was more attractive. They feel like the restaurant takes care of them.
Liu explained that in order for the handwritten menu effect to work, the restaurant must be health oriented. So, for example, if you look at the handwritten menu item “hamburger” in a gastropub or “chicken nuggets” from McDonald's MCD, this will not give the same effect.
Experiment Results
The results are the latest example of how restaurants use design elements to influence consumers. Fast food restaurants are known to showcase photos of salads and bottled water on their menus. This creates the so-called “halo of health” and leads customers to believe that all the dishes on the menu, including hamburgers and french fries, are healthier than they really are. Wall color, lighting, and music choices can also influence how much customers eat.
Careful font selection
In some seasonal eateries, chefs and restaurateurs pay as much attention to the font and description of their menu as they do to the dishes. Take Halifax's farm-to-table restaurant in Hoboken, New Jersey, which boasts local specialties like salmon, rainbow trout and Atlantic blue cod. Chef Nedon Shoose wants customers to feel the simplicity of his ingredients before tasting the dish.
He believes that a clean font helps people think that food is cleaner than if it were written in italics.To achieve the desired effect, he selects a neat font called Futura TOT.
Famous chef David Burke of David Burke Tavern, an American Manhattan seafood and steakhouse diner, has a similar mindset when it comes to his menu.
He believes that the font used in the menu should be straight, like the font san serif, and not with serifs or italics. To highlight healthier dishes, he uses a thinner font. One important point: it avoids overly artsy fonts because they can be uncomfortable for customers. And visitors will skip the dish if they cannot read it.