Effects of Restaurant Menu Design on Food Ordering Outcomes
- Conditions
- Food Preferences
- Interventions
- Behavioral: Menu design
- Registration Number
- NCT03337633
- Lead Sponsor
- University of Alabama at Birmingham
- Brief Summary
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.
- Detailed 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).
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- COMPLETED
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 61
- Normal vision or corrective lenses
- Normal hearing or a hearing aid
- A moderate level of English proficiency or greater
- Free from current food restrictions
- 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)
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- PARALLEL
- Arm && Interventions
Group Intervention Description Experiment 1 Hard Menu design For the first experiment, subjects in this arm received the "hard" menu during the protocol. Experiment 2 Easy Menu design 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. Experiment 2 Hard Menu design 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. Experiment 1 Easy Menu design For the first experiment, subjects in this arm received the "easy" menu during the protocol.
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Total Energy of Items ordered During the 5-minute menu ordering task Total Energy (kcals) of items ordered off assigned menu
Total Number of Items Ordered During the 5-minute menu ordering task Total number of items ordered off assigned menu
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Subjective ratings of difficulty of using assigned menu to order a meal Immediately (1 minute) following the 5-minute menu ordering period Assessed by NASA Task Load Index questionnaire
Galvanic Skin Response During the 5-minute menu ordering task An objective proxy for relative cognitive load; this measure has been shown to be positively correlated with psychological stress or cognitive challenge as mediated by sympathetic nervous system activity