The lighting of the rooms where you take your meals would have an impact on food choices, according to an American study.
Lighting should soon become an essential criterion in the choice of restaurants. In fact, eating in places with great light would promote the choice of healthier dishes, according to the works researchers from the University of Southern California.
The brighter the room, the more reason is. To reach these conclusions, the California researchers invited 160 participants to eat at four different restaurant chains. The establishments were more or less lighted. The researchers then analyzed the orders placed by the participants. They also reproduced the experiment in the laboratory, with 700 students, repeating the previous method.
Up to 24% chance of eating better
The researchers’ findings are surprising. In well-lit restaurants, customers are more likely to eat a low-calorie dish. Fish, white meats, fruits and vegetables are more attractive to participants. For Dipayan Biswas, lead author of the study and professor of marketing at the University of Southern California, “We are more vigilant in brighter rooms and therefore we tend to anticipate and make healthier and responsible decisions.” .
Conversely, poor lighting encourages less healthy choices. Almost 40% of customers invited to dine in a restaurant with low ambient lighting are more likely to order a high-calorie dish. Their second work only confirmed the first results. By questioning the 700 students recruited, the researchers observed that the intensity of the light influenced their attention and impaired their ability to make rational decisions.
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