Noticed fewer dollar signs on menus lately? Studies show that consumers tend to order more without them. People are more attracted to dishes on the center of the menu’s inside right page, so look for the dishes the restaurant wants to push there. Another trick? The use of pictures, colors, and different fonts to highlight specific items. A post about menu manipulation in The Baltimore Sun’s Consuming Interests blog made us wonder which Boston restaurants are trying to brainwash us.
Check out Bina Osteria’s menu: not only are all the menu items in the center of the page, but there are no dollar signs. KO Prime also forsakes the dollar sign and puts a box around the a la carte steak options, which sit smack in the middle of the page. Oceanaire, however, takes the cake. Tons of pictures, and lobsters – the restaurant’s most luxurious option – are right there in the middle of the second page.
Retail Psychology of Menus: The Best Advertising Ever [Consuming Interests/Baltimore Sun via The Big Money]
Bina Osteria [Official Site]
KO Prime [Official Site]
The Oceanaire [Official Site]
