A recent New York Times article had an interesting story about how most American consumers are choosing high calorie indulgences when they visit fast food restaurants even though there are healthier options available. Now, that may not sound so interesting, but the group of people the article focused on were the health-conscious eaters. These are the people who have been saying they wish there were healthier fast food options and they are the ones who are actually most likely to pick the unhealthy items.
There has been a push for healthier menu items in our fast food restaurants and those restaurants have responded by rolling out items such as salads, wraps, parfaits, oatmeal, egg white sandwiches, etc. In fact, much of the marketing budget is used to promote these items, yet they are the make up the smallest portion of sales.
Why aren’t the people who say they want the salads ordering them? Gavan J. Fitzsimmons, a professor of consumer psychology, says that he believes it has something to do with vicarious goal fulfillment. Just having the salad on the menu allows the consumer to fulfill their goal to be healthy. The consumer then feels like they can order something not usually on their diet.
Other people believe that we are all walking around with 2 conflicting agendas. For someone who is a health conscious eater, there is always that voice wanting to choose the salad, but there is usually another voice who wants the bacon stuffed tater-tots and the milkshake to go with it. They are in a constant battle for control.
Consumers see fast food as a place of high calorie indulgence. So if the bacon tater-tot voice is going to win, it’s probably going to be at the fast food establishment.
In order to avoid this pitfall, you need to go into the situation being prepared. We all know what is on fast food menus, choose what you’re going to have before you stop. Don’t even read the full menu so that you aren’t tempted.
This post comes to us from our friends at Optimal Body Balance.
