Menu positions influence soft drink selection at touchscreen kiosks

Abstract

The current study investigates whether companies can influence which soft drink consumers select on touchscreen kiosks. Soft drink options presented on touchscreen kiosks are multi-dimensional stimuli represented by icons and locations. Over time the pairing of icon and location forms an expectation that certain icons will be in certain locations. As a result of these location expectations, changing the order of soft drinks may help consumers consider more healthful items. In the current study, the Coca-Cola icon was moved from the first to last location and the Coke Zero icon from the third to first. The intervention decreased the number of times Coca-Cola was sold and increased the number of times Coke Zero was sold. The discussion explores the rationale for the intervention and the importance of fitting interventions into existing choice environments to modify real-world behavior.

Mapping the digital food environment: A systematic scoping review

“…For example, restaurants use digital ordering kiosks and touchscreen menus for food ordering. 49 Supermarkets have self-checkout, digital displays used to share information and promotional content, electronic shelf labels, and some employ Internet of Things technology to provide location-based discounts and offers or product quality information (such as expiry date, origin, and labeling information). [50][51][52] The process of digitalization has also contributed to the emergence of physical spaces such as internet cafés 53 and, more recently, innovations such as just-in-time restaurants, in the form of food trucks or other mobile food services that take food vending to different locations based on an online dialogue with consumers to identify where the demand is at that moment in time.…”

An online randomized trial of healthy default beverages and unhealthy beverage restrictions on children’s menus

“…It is possible these differences are due to different beverage offerings at the two restaurants (e.g., Chili’s has a greater number of unhealthy beverage options), or the position of menu items (e.g., first, last, etc. ), which has been shown to influence beverage choice in previous research ( Schmidtke et al, 2019 ). Future studies should test beverage default and restriction policies using a range of restaurants.…”

A gentle nudge: Can choice architecture play a role in retailers’ efforts to promote healthier choices?

“…When other drinks were taken into account, the intervention led to a minimal change in the total number of cans of drink sold. The trend towards higher zero‐sugar drinks could still be observed 12 weeks after the intervention began (Schmidtke et al 2019…”