Digital ordering and free healthy samples can lead to unhealthy food purchases, studies flag

12 Sep 2024 --- Researchers reveal that the food environment, specifically digital food ordering in restaurants and free food samples in retail stores, significantly impacts the healthiness of people’s food choices. Ordering food through an app or tablet at a restaurant leads to unhealthier choices and higher spending. At the same time, another study finds that taking a nutritious food sample may lead consumers to buy less healthy foods. 

The research teams highlight that consumers have many options in the food marketplace, including what they can buy and how they choose. 

Digital ordering is becoming more widespread in restaurants, but using this technology activates a more automatic decision-making process with lower cognitive involvement, which can lead consumers to make more indulgent choices. 

“With devices, it’s about instant gratification,” says Annika Abell from the University of Tennessee, US, co-author in both studies. “People quickly focus on the option they really want, which is more likely to be the burger than the salad for the average person. When people order face-to-face or from a paper menu, they take a little longer to think it through and are more likely to switch to a healthier option.”

Meanwhile, food sampling is also becoming more common in retail stores and restaurants. In this practice, the team highlights that the impact on consumer food choices depends on the healthiness of the sample and its similarities with consumer purchases. Sampling a healthy food that is very different from what a consumer sets out to buy can lead to purchasing unhealthier foods.

Digital food ordering

Because digital ordering is becoming more prevalent, Abell cautions consumers and policymakers to be mindful of how those innovations can affect decision-making. 

“We adopt these things very quickly,” she says. “It’s very easy to fall into this convenience, but we need awareness that we may make different choices when we consistently use these devices.”

The research published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science concludes that “restaurant managers with the goal of selling healthier options would benefit from having non-digital ordering modes, while managers desiring more indulgent purchases would benefit from having digital ordering modes available.” 

If available options are similar to the nutritious food sampled, consumers are more likely to continue choosing healthy foods.In addition, Abell highlights that the effect of digital ordering on indulgent food choices is more pronounced with younger, “more tech-savvy consumers.” Moreover, the time of the day also affects digital ordering.

“People seem to be in a little bit healthier mindset for lunch than for dinner,” she explains. “They’re more cognitively depleted at the end of the day and more likely to choose unhealthy options.” 

Meanwhile, researchers also found that spending time in nature or looking at green spaces outside helps people make healthier food choices than consumers in a less natural, urban environment. 

Healthy food samples

Food samples vary considerably in nutritional value, depending on the store or restaurant and their marketing goals. In a study also published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, the researchers expand on a paradox known as the licensing effect by examining the similarities between the sampled item and food purchases. 

The licensing effect shows that sampling a relatively nutritious item tends to lead to more significant purchases of less nutritious foods as people feel they have “permission” to make indulgent choices as a reward for choosing something healthy. 

Through a series of experiments, the new research adds that consumers are more likely to “fall into the licensing effect pattern” if they feel that subsequent options differ significantly from the sample. At the same time, if available options are similar to the nutritious food sampled, consumers are more likely to continue choosing healthy foods. 

Abell details: “If I sample a piece of chocolate at Costco and then I go into the frozen food aisle and see completely dissimilar things, versus walking straight to the candy aisle where it’s relatively similar, the small sample can influence the type of purchases I make, depending on what I see next.”

The researchers found the same effect in nutritious and less nutritious initial samples. “Whether we give people a little piece of chocolate or a freeze-dried strawberry, if they can choose to have more of the same item, they want more of the same,” highlights Abell.