6 Sneaky Ways Restaurants Trick You Into Spending More Money
A restaurant's job is to sell food and drink (you didn't need me to tell you that). But what you might not know is all the sneaky ways they trick patrons into spending more money than they would otherwise. That free bread basket at your table? The way the menu is designed? The music they play? They could all be there to get you to buy more food and drinks. Here are six tactics restaurants use to entice you to keep ordering food.
The free bread basket and chips.
In a TikTok posted earlier this week, user Cowgirl.Crystal claimed that the reason restaurants fill you up on so much free bread and chips is because "you will spend more money."
"When you’re looking at that menu, you’re eating the bread or the chips," she continued in the now-viral video. "Biologically what happens when you eat that bread or those chips, your glucose spikes, so you get really hungry. So you order the food, then they bring you more bread and more chips. And then they bring you the dessert menu."
Is there actually truth to this claim? According to registered dietician at MyFitnessPal Joanna Gregg, eating these kind of refined carbs can, in fact, spike your blood sugar—though she claims there is no official research to support how it affects hunger.
However, Stephanie Schiff, registered dietician at Northwell Health Huntington Hospital, argued that there is evidence that starting a meal with bread or tortilla chips can cause you to "eat almost mindlessly."
Simple carbs are often digested and broken down into sugar quickly, which is then dumped into your blood stream and causes a "sharp, quick spike in blood sugar," Schiff told People Magazine.
"You also get a surge of insulin, the hormone that helps control your blood sugar," Schiff added. "Insulin can increase your hunger and you may find yourself increasing your food intake. Often, we keep reaching for carby or sugary food because it releases happy hormones such as seratonin and dopamine. And that makes us feel better—at least for the short term."
All those salty snacks make you order more drinks.
While you might love freebie peanuts and popcorn and bread baskets, there's another sneaky reason why restaurants are supplying all those salty snacks: so you order more drinks.
According to Tasting Table, establishments purposefully supply bowls and bowls so that you'll consume more alcohol and boost sales. Think about it. You're thirsty from the chips and salsa, and suddenly you're on your third marg. The trickery!
That big dinner you weren't planning? Blame upselling.
According to a former restaurant employee, one of the best-kept restaurant industry secrets to upping sales? Upselling.
"Working in restaurants and bars, I have devised and implemented strategies to get my sales up. The higher my sales, the happier my employer is with me, and (because of societies standards) the higher my tip," the user wrote. "Suggestive upselling is my number one trick to get someone to buy more or at least spend more than they really need to. "
They continued to explain that suggesting specific menu items is an easy way to inspire customers to actually order them.
"Someone sits down I suggest specific menus items to start with. I try to be as genuine as possible because people are not stupid and know when they are being cheesy-ly sold," they continued. "'Can I get you started with some mozzarella sticks, calamari or our famous Irish nachos?' (Now, I want mozzarella sticks)."
Digital kiosks make it easy to spend more at fast food restaurants.
Shake Shack CEO Randy Garutti told investors earlier this year that digital kiosks—you know the ones at your fave fast food chains—actually inspire customers to spend nearly 10% more on average than when placing an order with cashiers.
The New York Post argues that they encourage patrons to order to add drinks, order a side, try out customizations at an added cost, and even switch to a larger meal.
Digital order kiosks would “100% of the time try to upsell you to a larger item or ask you if you want to add on french fries or chips and guacamole," analyst at Jefferies Andy Barish told Business Insider.
The menu is designed to make you spend more.
Even a classic print menu can be blamed for your ordering habits. Some restaurants hire specialty consultants to format these menus in a way that will encourage you to spend more, like placing special menu items in boxes, front and center, or in larger fonts.
"For most restaurants, the goal is to drive repeat business. That means the top goal of a restaurant is for customers to leave feeling satisfied," Dr. Jason Buhle, who lectures in the master's program of applied psychology at USC, told Delish. "If a restaurant encourages a diner to purchase more than they want, they may overeat or feel bad about wasting food or money. If a bill is higher than a customer intended, they will surely factor that final impression in when choosing a restaurant next time."
You'll probably order more if they're playing music you like.
A recent study published by Broadcast Music, Inc. and National Research Group found that music drives more traffic and increases revenue. According to the research, 80% of participants said they would stay longer if music was playing while 60% said they would order more food and drinks if they liked what they heard—for millennials that's even higher at 70%.
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