Around 2011, food establishments started looking at the use of iPads – and tablets in general – to replace the traditional print menu. This option offered a lot of possibilities – from a more pleasant user experience to better stock management on the restaurant’s end.
Recently, another effect of the use of an iPad menu in restaurants was revealed by a study conducted by Anne-Kathrin Klesse, Assistant Professor of Marketing at Tilburg University, Jonathan Levav (Stanford University), and Caroline Goukens (Maastricht University).
Titled “The Effect of Preference Expression Modality on Self-Control”, the study took a look at how people express their preferences using different modes – orally, written, or clicking/pressing a button.
The participants of the study were asked to order food from restaurants using those modes.
Long story short: when people ordered using a tablet or by writing the order down, they opted for the healthier choice. When they ordered verbally, they opted for the higher-calorie (presumably less healthy) item.
Lesson of the story (study?): if you want to eat lower calorie food, find a restaurant nearby that uses an iPad Menu. Android tablets will do, too.
P.S. Now that I think about it…for Christmas lunch last December, I ended up tapping on a vegetable dish instead of a nice deep-fried hunk of meat.
