Honestly speaking that’s how every business works. And restaurants with their fancy, extravagant gestures tempt you to pay more than what you actually had. So today let’s decode some of the tricks they play on the customers.
1. The garnished adjectives.
Just go through the name of their mocktails or cocktails or ice creams and you would know what I mean. Like, one restaurant named their ice cream as “No Tell Ah!”, now, how am I going to understand which flavour is this? Then out of curiosity, we order that, even being charged freakishly high.
2. The dramatic menu.
You must have seen in high-end restaurants, those huge decorative menu cards. They are so appealing to the eyes. But that’s not it, they use other tricks too with the menu card. They never keep two comparable dishes on the same side of the card.
3. The sizes of meal are illogical.
Do you ever see on the menu how much or how many they are going to provide you? This is like the best of tricks they can apply. Because the amount they provide are never going to satisfy your appetite. And naturally you have to pay more.
4. The tempting decoration of restaurants.
I think the restaurants pay much more on the decorations than the food. As that’s the first thing which customers check out while choosing.
5. The unique ideas of serving.
The serving itself should be so appealing that it tricks you into appreciating even the not-so-good food.
6. The “First In Show” technique.
It’s a psychology thing which tricks you into ordering the first things you see. So restaurants organise their menus accordingly to make you pay more.
7. They don’t put dollar signs before their prices.
Because that dollar sign strikes your eye before anything else and you think about money. And they don’t want you to save, they want you to pay them all.
8. Using the typical ethical terms on the menu.
Trust me those dishes with ethical names have nothing new in them. They are made with the same recipe but it just makes the customers feel authentic about their dishes. Like an Italian spaghetti will be called as “Shrimp scampi tagliatelle”.
9. They associate with other brand names.
Like T.G.I. Friday’s uses Jack Daniels’ bbq sauce. Anyone familiar with whiskey would recognise this name.
10. The ‘special’ boards outside restaurants.
Honestly they just highlight the most expensive dishes in the restaurant. As they know customers will be more than willing to pay for the highlighted ones.
11. Tips.
Do you face the same confusion as I do? Whether to pay the tips or not, and if we are paying then what should be the amount?
12. The names of some dishes manipulate with our emotions.
Like “Grandma’s fresh homemade chocolate cookies”, wouldn’t that just emotionally attract you to that dish?