Buffet-Line Biases Predict Food Selection

As many people around the world often pick the all-you-can-eat buffet style when dining out at a restaurant, what most are unaware of is that the foods they chose while waiting in line to fill their plate are subconsciously influenced by what the person in front of them picks.

According to lead study authors Brian Wansink and Andrew Hanks, they found that two-thirds of an individual's plate is filled with the first items they encounter as well as less healthy foods served first, making 31 percent more of the total food items.

The researchers conducted their study via a conference in which attendees were served a seven-item breakfast buffet. In the dining area, the food items were served on two separate tables that were just over 50 feet apart.

However, unbeknownst to the attendees, foods were arranged in opposite order on the two lines, with one line containing cheesy eggs, fried potatoes, bacon, cinnamon rolls, low-fat granola, low-fat yogurt, and fruit were served in that exact order. On the other line, the order was reversed such that fruit was served first, followed by low-fat yogurt, low-fat granola, etc.

As participants entered the dining area, 124 were randomly assigned to choose breakfast from one of the two tables including 59 who served themselves from the fruit-first line and 65 that served themselves from the cheesy-eggs first line. They were told they could only make one trip to the buffet.

Results conclude with the following, courtesy of a press release: "Results from this experiment showed that, the foods presented first biased which foods were selected by the attendees. Specifically, 86.4% of diners took fruit when it was offered first while 54.8% took fruit when it was offered last. In the same vein, 75.4% took cheesy eggs when presented first while 28.8% took cheesy eggs when they were offered last. Of a person's plate, 65.7% was filled with at least one of the first three foods in the line. There was also an interesting correlation between the first food offered and subsequent selections.  In the cheesy eggs first line, selecting cheesy eggs was strongly correlated with taking potatoes and bacon.  Yet, when fruit was offered first there was no evidence that taking fruit was correlated with the selection of any other item.  This highlights the cultural association of eggs with bacon and/or potatoes, where fruit is not generally associated with any specific food.

"Like other behavioral biases, the influence of food order can be leveraged to encourage selection and intake of healthier foods.  At your next dinner party or holiday event if you want your guests to make healthier choices, put the healthier foods first to help them be slim by design."

More information regarding the study can be found via the Public Library of Science One.