Diners perceive expensive food to be tastier than the same meal offered at a lower price.
Ithaca, N.Y./Cornell University -- Diners perceive expensive food to be tastier than the same meal offered at a lower price, according to a Cornell University study. Researchers said that taste perception and feelings of overeating and guilt can be manipulated by price alone.
"We were fascinated to find that pricing has little impact on how much one eats, but a huge impact on how you interpret the experience," Brian Wansink, Ph.D., a professor at the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, said in a press release. "Simply cutting the price of food at a restaurant dramatically affects how customers evaluate and appreciate the food."