AN ANALYSIS OF THE INFLUENCE OF NUTRITION INFORMATION ON CONSUMERS’ RESTAURANT MENU CHOICES

Obesity has risen drastically in the past few decades. Some experts contribute this to an increased prevalence of eating food away from home and consuming large portion sizes. A popular discussion in policy and legislation arenas has been mandatory implementation of nutrition information on restaurant chain menus. Menu labeling in restaurants that have 20 or more locations nationally was first implemented by New York City in an effort to increase consumer awareness of the calorie content of menu entrees. Since New York City’s implementation of restaurant menu labeling in 2008, there have been conflicting studies on whether nutrition menu labeling improves consumers’ selection of healthier menu items. Conducted on consumers in Lexington, Kentucky, this study focuses on factors influencing nutrition information on restaurant menus. This experimental research design included one menu with calorie information next to the menu items while the other menu did not provide calorie information. Also, this study compares the level of hunger of participants to their restaurant menu selection and participant’s BMI status to their restaurant menu selection. This study shows that when calorie information is provided, it does not influence the participants purchasing behavior.