The 10 psychological tricks restaurants use to charge you more

Learn a total of ten tricks restaurants use to increase your menu bill.

It's always tricky to figure out how much your restaurant bill will go up to.. When we ask the waiter for the bill we always realize that the expected amount we had calculated is quite short.

The second bottle of wine recommended by the waiter, the succulent dessert you ordered without consulting the price or the tax surcharge are not the only factors that affect the high bill. there is a whole series of psychological tricks designed to make us pay more than we had anticipated..

Supermarket tricks to make you spend more money

If in an article published a few weeks ago we revealed why you should never choose the second cheapest wine on the menu, today we set out to elucidate some other strategies designed to raise your bill. These are discrete techniques that are difficult to notice from the consumer's point of view, which is why they are used on a recurring basis.

The discipline of marketing and the consumer psychology have thoroughly researched this set of practices that help to increase turnover in the hospitality industry. The restaurant menu is specially designed for this purpose, both in its measurements, its format, the shapes and colors used, the location of the dishes, the comments on each one of them, the way of placing or writing the prices... all of these are elements that have been studied in depth.

Restaurant owners and trade and marketing experts are fully aware that a successful design of each part of the menu will have a positive influence on the margin of the restaurant. will positively influence the profit margin of the business.o.

Here are the most commonly used techniques for this purpose.

1. Not accompanying the price figure with the currency symbol (14.60 instead of 14.60 €).

A study conducted by the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University found that diners who chose dishes using cards that omitted the currency symbol tended to spend more money than those who chose using cards that did include the symbol. It seems that the currency symbol alerts us to the specificity of prices and is linked to a propensity to save.

Thus, one way to avoid this feeling of guilt in the the diner's feeling of guilt about the expenditure he is about to make is to omit the symbol and write the is to omit the symbol and write the price figure in a slightly smaller font size than the description of the dish.

2. Choose an exhaustive description of the dishes instead of just the name.

"Veal burger with chip onions, Mediterranean goose pate, organic cherry tomatoes, sheep cheese slices, caramelized onion and ginger and fresh peppers.". This description corresponds to the dish "Complete hamburger".but the description makes it much more attractive and justifies its high price. In fact, a study by Illinois University indicated that the length of the description of each dish correlates positively with diners' willingness to pay more..

Menus that detail each dish with lengthy commentary bill 27% more than those restaurants that only list the name of the dish. Also, restaurant customers tend to be more satisfied with the quality of the dishes because they start from a better predisposition to enjoy them, thanks to the suggestion the descriptions arouse.

3. Indicate the prices of the menu in multiples of 5.

Experts in menu design point out that prices ending in 9, such as the typical 9.99, are unconsciously associated with products or services of questionable quality.

However, prices ending in multiples of five, however, are perceived more positively, research by Food and BeverageA research study by Cornell University's Food and Brand Lab revealed that prices ending in multiples of five are perceived more positively.

4. Give dishes proper names

Diners prefer dish names that refer to the home and family environment. Names such as "Grandma's Cannelloni," "Caramelized Apples the old-fashioned way," or "Caramelized Apples the old-fashioned way," or "Grandma's Cannelloni. o "Aunt Isabel's sea bass with vegetables" generate great confidence. generate a great deal of confidence and makes us more likely to choose them over others without that connotation.

Awakening and manipulating emotions, as well as provoking associations in the memory of certain dishes with memories of happiness eating at the home of a loved one, is one of the most recurrent and effective strategies in the hospitality industry.

5. Associating with authenticity by linking dishes to the geographical area

Indicating the origin of the ingredients in the name of the dish is one of the most common techniques to highlight the quality of the product and, consequently, increase sales and the price of sales. Geographical annotations or the denomination of origin The restaurant owner benefits from the free advertising (although the price he pays for the product may already include a mark-up).

A classic way to increase the attractiveness of a dish is to promote its the dish is of a superior quality. superior quality.

6. Show a photograph of the star dishes on the menu.

Make a good visual impression of the restaurant's best dishes, often the most expensive ones, the customer's sense that the dish has special characteristics, as noted in research by the Association for Consumer Research.This marketing technique is not valid for the most expensive dishes, as pointed out by a research carried out by the Association for Consumer Research.

This marketing technique is not valid for all types of restaurants, because, for example, in restaurants with a certain prestige, this marketing technique is not valid for all types of restaurants, in restaurants with a certain prestige, this way of highlighting certain dishes on the menu is often perceived as inappropriate by diners. among diners.

7. Offer contrasts using seafood

Including dishes on the menu with very high prices, for example triple or quadruple the menu average, has the function of a lure, as it It suggests price comparisons, and diners are left with the perception that the dishes are cheaper than they really are. than they really are.

Although these exorbitantly priced dishes may rarely be served, they are used to make the customer perceive the average price of the rest of the offer as acceptable.

8. Place the most profitable dishes at the top of the odd page.

Research on customer patterns of menu reading in the hospitality industry is many and varied. These studies indicate that diners focus their attention on the top right-hand side of the menu.This phenomenon is taken advantage of by restaurateurs to place the most profitable dishes, those that generate the most profit, in this area.

This shows why diners remember better the dishes located in this position, because they dedicate more attention and time to them.

9. Provide the choice of dish with tasting menus.

This practice relieves customers of the responsibility of choosing the dish.. Although tasting menus usually contain acceptable amounts of food, they are also a very profitable option for the owner of the establishment.

10. Set the ambience with soft music, preferably classical.

Research by the University of Leicester revealed that restaurants that set the place with music bring in more revenue, as long as they have good taste in the choice.

Restaurants set to classical music are the most profitable, because they generate a sensation in the diner.The restaurants with classical music are the most profitable, because they generate a feeling of greater purchasing power in the diner and a certain obligation to spend more to suit the context. However, restaurants set to pop music can see sales drop by up to 10%.