yeah you have your own mcdonald's no way not bad wow when you walk into a mcdonald's you
expect delicious french fries not slight of hand trickery so pay attention because here
are 10 mcdonald's tricks you fall for every single time image placement what are these
besides that oh so mouth-watering smell of french fries the first thing you might notice when you
walk into a mcdonald's is all of the images and signage they have everywhere touting everything
from on sale items to new happy meal toys but what you might not have paid attention to is where
those images are located did you know that when people eat at a buffet they are more likely to
pile their plates with the first three items they see well mcdonald's definitely knows that sand has
used that little nugget of human behavior to their advantage by placing images of the items they
are trying to promote the most right at the entrance making these items the first things
you see increases the odds of you ordering them it might be a new product or a signature sandwich but
whatever it is it's probably on the more expensive side which is the direction they are trying to
nudge you as you walk up to the counter to order maybe you walked in ready to order your usual
value menu meal just give me my damn burger right but now thanks to some sneaky decision anchoring
trickery that image of the brand new more expensive burger you saw right when you walked in
the door is stuck in your head and you simply have to try it and while you might sink you made that
decision all on your own chances are you probably didn't what are you really doing online the kiosks
my technology could change the world for a new generation of mcdonald's customers they will
never know a time when the restaurant didn't have self-ordering kiosks a time when you had
to go up to the counter stare at that big menu board and tell the employee at the cash register
what you wanted what you got in there is good to eat did you want me to go through the whole list
while hungry and impatient customers stood over your shoulder giving you the stink eye if you
took an extra second to make your decision what are you waiting for huh well not anymore in an
attempt to make the whole process more customer friendly mcdonald's installed self-order kiosks
in many of their restaurants and while you might think it's good for you let us assure you that
it's good for mcdonald's as well providing a safe space for people to order makes them feel
more comfortable and that positive feeling brings them into the restaurant more often
not only that but giving customers the ability to take their time means they do more browsing
of the menu and feel less pressure and less guilt about what they are ordering with no
one standing behind them or judging them this in turn means that folks end up spending more
money per order on average than people who order at the counter it's like killing two birds with
one stone you feel less pressured and they get more of your money it's a win-win or is it
keep us moving i like to move it move it who likes waiting in line except for that one guy who raised
his hand the rest of us would rather do pretty much anything else besides wait in line especially
for fast food which has the word fast right there in its name so in order to fight the natural human
impatience of waiting mcdonald's has a few tricks up their sleeves and while it doesn't always mean
you will be waiting for less time at least you will be doing it in different places all right
i'm just waiting in line the human brain sure is fascinating and one fun fact about how it works
is that if you have to wait in two different lines for five minutes each you'll actually be
less annoyed than if you have to wait in one line for 10 minutes so how have the golden arches used
this tidbit of human psychology to its advantage they move us around first there is the ordering
line or the kiosks if you prefer and then once you order you move to the pickup line
and many mcdonald's restaurants now provide you with an order number which removes the second
line entirely and lets you just hang around the pickup area which feels even less stressful you
can also often see a monitor displaying the order numbers being served and the ones being prepared
because knowing how long you have to wait makes you even more patient about the waiting you're
number 36 on the list who cares at least you know when you're not getting your food
the mobile app i downloaded an app that might be helpful in this situation the introduction of
the mcdonald's mobile application was one of the biggest successes the company has had in recent
years for many reasons just like the in restaurant ordering kiosks allowed people to take their time
ordering and avoid as much in-person interaction as possible the app does the same but takes it
even one step further with the app you don't even have to enter the restaurant if you don't want to
many locations offer curbside pickup as well as drive through where you just have to speak your
order code into the drive-through speaker and your food will be ready for you at the window
the goal of technology is to make our lives easier and this app is a perfect example of that
and in locations where mcdonald's offers delivery it's all made that much easier
now you don't even have to leave your house just order via the app sit back and wait for someone
to bring your big mac and fries right to your door and with the ease and convenience of it
all it means more people are making mcdonald's a go-to meal more often than they used to yes
yes which is good for the golden arches corporation of course the menu board
nothing distract us there is so much going on with the mcdonald's menu board so many little
psychological tricks both subtle and not so subtle all playing with your mind and
stomach in an attempt to get you to spend as much money as possible you got changed some are pretty
obvious while others are things you've probably never even thought about but mcdonald's sure did
one of the most interesting things to notice about the menu board at mcdonald's isn't what is on it
but rather what isn't unlike a regular restaurant where the menu lists every food choice they offer
the menu board at most fast food joints offer a curated list often leaving off some
of the cheapest and least profitable options instead they provide lots of menu board real
estate to new and more expensive items often these also get mouth-watering photos as well
it's probably better to think of the menu board as an advertising billboard rather than an actual
menu and mcdonald's is using that billboard in an attempt to push you towards certain items and away
from the standard value meal choices many people usually make many people have very ingrained
ordering habits at places like mcdonald's and if they can snap you out of those lower profit habits
and get you exploring the more profitable side of the menu then their job here has been done that's
true no prices how much excuse me have you ever noticed that there's often no price information
on mcdonald's promo materials this isn't an accident or a mistake made by the printer guy
it's done very much on purpose and is meant to focus your attention on the food you will
be getting and not the money you'll be losing you see as human beings we tend to focus on the
money spent rather than the product we got in return even when it is something we really want
so to fight this part of our psychology mcdonald's keeps prices off of their advertising pamphlets
etc with certain exceptions just tell me the truth while they try to avoid mentioning prices
for higher cost menu items they will put prices front and center when they are low and or involve
significant savings a perfect example of this is their ever popular dollar menu we've all seen
dollar menu advertising featuring one dollar two dollar and three dollar graphics in bold hyping
these actual prices makes sense because it is focused on low prices and savings which speaks to
value and the idea that what you are getting for your money is worth more than what you're spending
it certainly doesn't take a genius to see the psychological and behavioral value in that
animation the tricks mcdonald's plays on us are basically to accomplish one of two things if not
both they are designed to get more people eating mcdonald's and to get those eating mcdonald's to
spend more money by buying more and or ordering the more expensive items using subtle animations
is designed for the latter status quo bias is a real thing and in the case of mcdonald's customers
it refers to the fact that many people tend to have a usual order that they stick with we humans
love a good routine and are much more likely to stick with what we know we like rather than give
something new a try do not know that for a mere 25 cents more you could purchase a large beverage
and when that status quo is the less expensive menu items it obviously isn't as good for the
golden arches so how can they break us out of that routine one way is by using animation
on their displays and menu boards next time you go into a mcdonald's pay attention to the screens
and you will see things sometimes very small and subtle such as the quick highlight of a certain
menu item or images flashing for a second these small but important movements are meant to catch
our eye and focus our attention on what they want us to pay attention to as opposed to these same
old value menu items we are used to ordering we are like cats and the menu board movements are
like mcdonald's waving a red laser pointer around showing all of the stuff they want us to buy
as we swat at it subconsciously you're right price anchoring we know that mcdonald's wants us to
spend more money in their restaurants however the general assumption that most of us make is that
they are trying to get us to purchase the more expensive items you have money right and while
that is definitely something the chain wants they are also very happy if we just purchase
more of the less expensive items in the end it still works out nicely for them so while
those higher priced signature burgers and meals provide a bigger bang for the buck for mickey d's
they also act as a sneaky trick to make other items seem like more of a deal than they actually
are it's something called price anchoring and it works like this mcdonald's will go ahead and
scale back its dollar menu putting many of the basic menu items back to their regular prices
then they will put them on the menu next to big showy higher priced signature sandwiches and the
like what this does is make those other items look like a deal in the mind of the customer
nobody's getting hurt and who doesn't love a good deal taking that into account we are now
also more likely to spend even more like adding an order of mcnuggets or a milkshake to our meal
and why not we're getting such a good deal we can allow ourselves to splurge a little
it's actually pretty brilliant don't you think nicer restaurants i don't get it doc i mean how
can all this be happening you may have noticed that many mcdonald's locations have gotten a nice
design overhaul over the last few years there was a time when the chain didn't want the restaurants
to be too nice because they were all about customer turnover and didn't want people hanging
around for too long they wanted you to come in eat and get out so there was room for the next people
to come in eat and get out but those times are in the past these days with all the competition
for your food dollars both fast food and otherwise mcdonald's now has the goal of providing the most
pleasant experience possible if you feel good in a mcdonald's you are more likely to come back again
and again this covers everything from the different ordering options either counter
kiosk or app as well as fancier decor nice tables chairs and so on and keeping the locations clean
although we all have been to a mcdonald's where they have definitely dropped the ball on that part
but overall the chain understands that they can't just rely on quick service and low prices anymore
we want more and we want to feel good about our choice so they are trying to prove that
good feeling from the moment we walk in to the moment we walk out no rush health halo
who goes to mcdonald's and orders a salad this one is really interesting and probably the one that
highlights the biggest trick the concept of the health halo is the idea that displaying healthier
options on the menu makes everything else on the menu seem healthier as well crazy right hi
but it's true we all know that mcdonald's has tried to add more healthy items to their menu
to bring in more health-conscious customers but as it turns out these healthy options also help
sales of the more unhealthy and more delicious choices and all it takes is a few photographs
putting images of salads and bottled water on that big menu board radiates healthy feelings to
the images right next to it of burgers and fries and in doing so makes people feel less guilty and
more comfortable making the less healthy choice we all know that those greasy and salt-covered fries
aren't any better for us than they were before we walked in the door and yet when we see them within
the halo of those bright images and healthy salads our minds associate the healthiness of the salad
with the fries and let's face it we all go into mcdonald's wanting to order fries and burgers
so if we can even subconsciously convince ourselves that they are healthier then this
is a trick we are more than ready to fall for mcdonald's knows this and implements the health
halo to nudge you towards where you really want to be anyway give me give me give me
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