Pizzeria Menu Design

[Bill/SFNM]

A few years ago I helped a friend who was planning to open a pizza joint create his menu. I was truly surprised to learn how much the layout of the menu can influence the items ordered by patrons, especially how the layout can increase orders of higher margin items. We were planning to print 2 different menus, both with the same content, but with different layouts emphasizing different items to see if we could measure a significant difference. Alas, the shop never opened (although it may eventually), but the project left me with a serious interest in the psychology of ordering pizza.

For those of you members who operate or work in pizza shops, would you be interested in posting your menus or links to them? Other members, primarily patrons like me, might enjoy seeing them and perhaps providing valuable feedback.

Bill/SFNM

[David]

Food Psychology has often been in my thoughts Bill,though I know nothing about it really and would be interested in any good Books/Articles on this subject?Colors (Combinations),Packaging,typeface,pricing,wording and many subliminal messages (persuasive children !) play a huge part in our decisions and overall perceptions of products and environments.Particularly when I travel Overseas I know personally that I return to certain Cafes for example,due mainly to the ambiance created,even though the product is not necessarily the best.A classic example of food packaging/psychology was pointed out to me as the McDonald's Yellow/White striped interior of the Fries Carton (creating an illusion that there are more fries in there).A great thread Bill.......
                                                                                                                         David

[Christopher]

Hey, Guys,
I cant directly comment on the the menu listings, but as an artist and pre-press operator for a major flexible packaging corp. i can tell you the amount of work and design that goes into packaging is huge! we work with some major companies and they spend millions on designs and redesigns. it is nothing for them to spend a ton of cash to have a concept brought forward, get it ready for press, print some samples, then go back to the drawing board. until i started working where i do now i never imagined the amount of work and money spent to appeal to customers and get them to buy something that ultimately will be thrown in the trash. but when you think of it, a package is all we really have to lead us into desiring a product, then the flavor determines whether we stay with it or not.
you've also got your prime realestate space on shelves such as eye-level, and thos sudden impulse purchases at the register where they line up all those luscious candy bars we've all been guilty of that.
i cant imagine menus being that far off when the right people are designing it. i hadnt thought about menus at all and i'm glad you brought it up, Bill. i would also be curious to see how much effort goes into a menu.
Christopher

[Pete-zza]

Bill,

You may find this article on menu design, by Gregg Rapp, of interest: http://www.pmq.com/winter-97-98_menu_power.shtml. The author’s home page is at http://www.menutechnologies.net/.

Another interesting article on menus is this one: http://www.pmq.com/mag/2005november-december/printing101.php.

Not surprisingly, there are a lot of companies out there that help pizza operators with menu design and many other related aspects, including box toppers, coupons, magnets, door hangers, postcards, etc. See, for example, CFM Concepts, at http://cfmconcepts.com/cfm_design.asp., Adapmark at http://www.adapmark.com/ and The Menu Maker at http://www.themenumaker.com/ . 

There are also companies that specialize in printing menus, such as Takeout Printing (the source of the printing article linked above), at http://www.takeoutprinting.com/default.asp? (see “10 ways to market your takeout menu”, which is also reproduced at http://www.pmq.com/mag/2005may-june/menumarketing.php) . There are even companies that offer stock photos that can be used in connection with menu design, such as Fotosearch, at  http://www.fotosearch.com/photos-images/pizza.html.

Many POS (point of sale) companies are also getting into menu design. This makes sense since the POS systems act as the data collection and management center for almost everything that goes on in a pizzeria. It would seem to make sense to have a good menu before integrating it into a POS system. An example of this aspect of POS-related menu design is this one: http://www.pointofsuccess.com/trainingcd.htm.

Peter

[Bill/SFNM]

Thanks for those links, Peter. Rapp was the first one to get me thinking about menus being more than just a list of options. Until then, I had simply assumed the purpose of the menu was to help the patron understand the available options rather than trying to influence the customer on what to order. I now see menus through completely different eyes.

Bill/SFNM

[gottabedapan]

Check out Reading Between the Lines: The Psychology of Menu Design .

[Bill/SFNM]

Really interesting article, gottabedapan. It really makes me wonder when I order, how much of my decision is being influenced by these kinds of factors. I think the more I concentrate on which of all the offerings will result in the most enjoyable meal based on my personal preferences and my confidence that this establishment has the capability to prepare it to my liking, the greater the probability of a successful meal.

As an aside, my most enjoyable meals have dispensed entirely with the menu. I go to a place that knows me very well and ask the chef to decide for me. The chef invariably relishes the challenge and tries hard to please and often succeeds spectacularly.

Bill/SFNM

[varasano]

>  http://www.fotosearch.com/photos-images/pizza.html
On the bottom of page 33 (Hey, I'm procrastinating) there's a picture of Jose at Patsy's.

Most of these pies look pretty bad if you ask me.  Ahh... the state of American Pizza....

[onthego]

I know this topic's been dead for uh, 5 years almost but I was reading about this same thing recently. Anyway, here's a good  2009 article by Sarah Kershaw on the NYT about menu psychology (Using Menu Psychology to Entice Diners). I can't post hyperlinks at the moment but it's pretty easy to find.

It's actually all pretty interesting. I'm actually quite surprised how "deep" menu design was. I used to think it was just a regular list of dishes.