Health & Medicine - Posted by Susan Lang-Cornell on Tuesday, September 4, 2012 15:17 - 2 Comments 
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Eating in a restaurant with soft lighting might sound more indulgent, but a new study shows that a more relaxed environment decreases the number of calories a diner consumes. (Credit: Sang Valte/Flickr)
CORNELL / GEORGIA TECH (US) — A restaurant’s choice of music and lighting can lead to more satisfaction with the food and less calorie intake, a new study shows.
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The text of this article by Futurity is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License.
“When we did a makeover of a fast-food restaurant, we found that softer music and lighting led diners to eat 175 fewer calories and enjoy it more,” says lead author Brian Wansink, professor of marketing and director of the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University.
Wansink and co-author, Koert van Ittersum of Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), found that softening the lighting and music in fast-food restaurants didn’t change what people ordered, but it caused them to eat 18 percent less of what they ordered—775 calories instead of 949. They also rated the food as more enjoyable.
Published in the journal Psychological Reports, the study counters the popular notion that people who dine in a relaxed environment, with soft lighting and mellow music, will order more food and eat more than those in a more typical dining environment.
“These results suggest that a more relaxed environment increases satisfaction and decreases consumption,” Wansink says. “This is important information for fast-food restaurants, which are often accused of contributing to obesity.
“Making simple changes away from brighter lights and sound-reflecting surfaces can go a long way toward reducing overeating—and increase their customers’ satisfaction at the same time.”
Source: Cornell University
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2 Comments
A more relaxed atmosphere might encourage people to linger while eating, thus allowing food to move out of the stomach and signal “I’m full” to help reduce the amount of food ingested. If this is the mechanism, a fast food restaurant would need plenty of seating to accommodate the longer dining period for each customer.
Interesting point of view. Also music and light will affect how fast people eat.