Effects of Restaurant Menu Design on Food Ordering Outcomes

The University of Alabama at Birmingham

Status: Completed

Conditions: Food Preferences

Treatments: Behavioral: Menu design

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03337633

X140313004

Details and patient eligibility

About

High cognitive load activities can influence energy intake from food. It is unknown how restaurant menu designs may affect patrons in terms of cognitive demand and subsequent ordering of food.Objective: Our objective was to develop and experimentally test menu designs that differ in cognitive load to test the subjective and objective stress measures on food ordering.

Full description

For the first experiment, a parallel randomized trial of healthy young adults (n= 30) was conducted to compare ordering from one of two menu designs (easy - E, hard - H) developed in a prior pilot study. In the second experiment, restrained eaters were specifically recruited and asked to fast before the experiment to determine the influence of cognitive load of menus on energy ordered (n=31). Galvanic skin response was used as an objective proxy for relative cognitive load, and questionnaires were used to assess perceptions of the menus. The main outcomes were the number of items ordered and total energy of the items ordered (in kilocalories).

Enrollment: 61 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 19 to 35 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Experiment 1

Inclusion Criteria:

• Normal vision or corrective lenses
• Normal hearing or a hearing aid
• A moderate level of English proficiency or greater
• Free from current food restrictions

Exclusion Criteria:

• Unwilling/uninterested in participation
• Currently taking any β-blocker medications
• Any serious skin conditions on the hands (because of galvanic skin sensors worn for the protocol)

Experiment 2

Inclusion Criteria:

• Normal vision or corrective lenses
• Normal hearing or a hearing aid
• A moderate level of English proficiency or greater
• Free from current food restrictions
• Qualifying as a restrained eater by the Cognitive Restraint scale on the Eating Inventory (score of 6 for men and 10 for women)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Unwilling/uninterested in participation
• Currently taking any β-blocker medications
• Any serious skin conditions on the hands (because of galvanic skin sensors worn for the protocol)

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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61 participants in 4 patient groups

Experiment 1 Easy

Active Comparator group

Description:

For the first experiment, subjects in this arm received the "easy" menu during the protocol.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Menu design

Experiment 1 Hard

Active Comparator group

Description:

For the first experiment, subjects in this arm received the "hard" menu during the protocol.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Menu design

Experiment 2 Easy

Active Comparator group

Description:

For the second experiment, subjects in this arm, who qualified as restrained eaters and were asked to fast for 8 hours overnight, received the "easy" menu during the protocol.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Menu design

Experiment 2 Hard

Active Comparator group

Description:

For the second experiment, subjects in this arm, who qualified as restrained eaters and were asked to fast for 8 hours overnight, received the "hard" menu during the protocol.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Menu design