The impact of menu size on calorie estimation

초록

Consumers seeking to maintain a healthy diet commonly estimate their daily caloric intake. Despite the importance of accurate calorie estimation, contextual and situational factors significantly influence consumers' calorie estimations. The current research investigates how the number of items listed on a menu systematically influences consumers' calorie estimations. Four experiments show that consumers estimate an item's caloric content as greater (less) in a menu listing more (fewer) items. The results indicate that consumers are more likely to form a wider (vs. narrower) range of calorie estimates for a larger (vs. smaller) menu, leading them to estimate a target item's caloric content as greater in a larger menu. We suggest that the number of menu items can prime a sense of magnitude, which in turn affects one's calorie estimation process.

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