DR. MELISSA HUGHES
Neuroscience Secrets that Influence the Dining Experience by DR. MELISSA HUGHES
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n exceptional guest experience is no longer the “4Ps” paradigm — price, product, promotion and place. Today’s guests expect more. In every dining experience, the brain assimilates sensory information beyond taste to form an opinion about that meal. From the hostess greeting, to the font used on the menu, to the interaction with the server and the visual presentation of the food, taste is by far the most impressionable of our senses. Why do we like what we like? There is an odd science behind preferences. The way we evaluate a dining experience isn’t as straightforward as one might think. One test that has demonstrated how we experience food goes far beyond taste was conducted by the culinary firm, CatchOn. Researchers compared the reactions of diners to two dishes. One group of diners 18 FALL
2021
read the list of ingredients on a card placed on the table. The other group was greeted by the chef, who introduced the dish and the ingredients as he shared a childhood story that inspired the dish. The group that received the story prior to eating the dish rated the meal and overall dining experience significantly higher — despite eating the exact same dish as the group who merely read the ingredients. There are some powerful subconscious forces at work that influence what we like and what we don’t like. The good news is that you don’t have to have a PhD in neuroscience or a staff of 50 marketers to apply the brain-based research to enhance the guest experience. Here are a few neuroscience secrets that every hotelier and restaurateur should know and share with their staffs.
Priming Imagine you’re at a restaurant trying to decide what to order. You debate about whether to go with the chicken or the lobster. The chicken dish sounds delicious. You love lobster, but it is a bit more expensive than you were prepared for. As you’re musing your decision aloud, the server asks if he can help. He says, “The lobster is good … no doubt about that, but the chicken is amazing … one of our signature dishes. It’s one of my favorites.” Ordering a less expensive menu item will impact his tip. But in that very brief exchange, he stepped out of his role of taking your order and connected with you on a personal level — like he’s telling you a secret. From a neurological perspective, he gained your trust and primed your brain to love your meal. You’ve formed an opinion of that dish before FLORIDA RESTAUR ANT & LOD GING A S SO CIATION
