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How brands use words to change our taste | Nudge Newsletter

Published about 2 months ago • 1 min read

Framing Your Food

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Which of these would you rather eat:

One Shepherd's Pie is described as:

Beef shepherd's pie, tomato and pesto sauce

The other is described as:

Beef subtly seasoned with Espelette pepper under a rich velvety potato puree, topped with crisp parmesan cheese crumbs

Two researchers ran a small study at a French cafeteria to test if these descriptions changed the perception of the food.¹

Diners were invited to eat a prix fixe lunch.

Participants were allowed to choose their own portion sizes for each course.

However, there was a twist.

In the control condition, diners received a simple menu, which described the main course as beef shepherd's pie with tomato and pesto sauce.

While the other diners received an "epicurean" menu that provided more sensual descriptions of the same dishes.

The results are fairly eye-opening.

Those who received the epicurean menu with the vivid descriptions were willing to pay more for their food.

Interestingly, they also chose smaller portions.

And they expected to enjoy the meal more.

Turns out, diners who read the vivid descriptions also spent more time savouring the food. They measured this by reviewing the hidden camera footage of the diners eating.

It's proof that flavour is subjective and our enjoyment is shaped by our perception.

It explains the importance of marketing.

And has taught me to describe my cheesy pasta as carefully whipped feta pasta with nutty butter.

There are 575+ more like this in the Nudge Vaults.

Subscribers can access VaultsGPT to ask for advice. For example, I asked VaultsGPT for tips to improve a food menu.

Of the five tips, my favourite was

Call out provenance on the menu — "Scottish salmon," "Tuscan olive oil," "locally sourced" — to leverage quality associations.

Get access to the Vaults right now →​

Or you can preview your first 50 insights for free →

Cheers,

​Phill​

¹Chandon, P., & Cornil, Y. (2022). "More value from less food? Effects of epicurean labeling on moderate eating in the United States and in France." Appetite, 178, 106262.

As a behavioural science practitioner, I believe in the peak-end rule.

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Nudge Newsletter

Phill Agnew

I spend 18 hours each week turning marketing psychology into readable newsletters.

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