TY - JOUR
T1 - Understanding price incentives to upsize combination meals at large US fast-food restaurants
AU - Vercammen, Kelsey A.
AU - Frelier, Johannah M.
AU - Moran, Alyssa J.
AU - Dunn, Caroline G.
AU - Musicus, Aviva A.
AU - Wolfson, Julia
AU - Ullah, Omar S.
AU - Bleich, Sara N.
N1 - Funding Information:
Financial support: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors. During his work on this project, O.S.U. was supported by a grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (award number 5TL4GM118977-04). This content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Conflict of interest: None. Authorship: K.A.V. developed the research question, conducted the statistical analysis, interpreted the data and drafted the manuscript. J.M.F. collected the data, developed the research question, interpreted the data, provided critical manuscript revisions and approved the final version of the manuscript. A.J.M., A.A.M., C.G.D. and J.W. provided critical manuscript revisions and approved the final version of the manuscript. O.S.U. collected the data and approved the final version of the manuscript. S.N.B. developed the research question, interpreted the data, provided critical manuscript revisions and approved the final version of the manuscript. Ethics of human subject participation: Not applicable.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 The Authors.
PY - 2020/2/1
Y1 - 2020/2/1
N2 - Objective: To understand price incentives to upsize combination meals at fast-food restaurants by comparing the calories (i.e. kilocalories; 1 kcal = 4·184 kJ) per dollar of default combination meals (as advertised on the menu) with a higher-calorie version (created using realistic consumer additions and portion-size changes).Design: Combination meals (lunch/dinner: n 258, breakfast: n 68, children's: n 34) and their prices were identified from online menus; corresponding nutrition information for each menu item was obtained from a restaurant nutrition database (MenuStat). Linear models were used to examine the difference in total calories per dollar between default and higher-calorie combination meals, overall and by restaurant.Setting: Ten large fast-food chain restaurants located in the fifteen most populous US cities in 2017-2018.Participants: None.Results: There were significantly more calories per dollar in higher-calorie v. default combination meals for lunch/dinner (default: 577 kJ (138 kcal)/dollar, higher-calorie: 707 kJ (169 kcal)/dollar, difference: 130 kJ (31 kcal)/dollar, P < 0·001) and breakfast (default: 536 kJ (128 kcal)/dollar, higher-calorie: 607 kJ (145 kcal)/dollar, difference: 71 kJ (17 kcal)/dollar, P = 0·009). Results for children's meals were in the same direction but were not statistically significant (default: 536 kJ (128 kcal)/dollar, higher-calorie: 741 kJ (177 kcal)/dollar, difference: 205 kJ (49 kcal)/dollar, P = 0·053). Across restaurants, the percentage change in calories per dollar for higher-calorie v. default combination meals ranged from 0·1 % (Dunkin' Donuts) to 55·0 % (Subway).Conclusions: Higher-calorie combination meals in fast-food restaurants offer significantly more calories per dollar compared with default combination meals, suggesting there is a strong financial incentive for consumers to 'upsize' their orders. Future research should test price incentives for lower-calorie options to promote healthier restaurant choices.
AB - Objective: To understand price incentives to upsize combination meals at fast-food restaurants by comparing the calories (i.e. kilocalories; 1 kcal = 4·184 kJ) per dollar of default combination meals (as advertised on the menu) with a higher-calorie version (created using realistic consumer additions and portion-size changes).Design: Combination meals (lunch/dinner: n 258, breakfast: n 68, children's: n 34) and their prices were identified from online menus; corresponding nutrition information for each menu item was obtained from a restaurant nutrition database (MenuStat). Linear models were used to examine the difference in total calories per dollar between default and higher-calorie combination meals, overall and by restaurant.Setting: Ten large fast-food chain restaurants located in the fifteen most populous US cities in 2017-2018.Participants: None.Results: There were significantly more calories per dollar in higher-calorie v. default combination meals for lunch/dinner (default: 577 kJ (138 kcal)/dollar, higher-calorie: 707 kJ (169 kcal)/dollar, difference: 130 kJ (31 kcal)/dollar, P < 0·001) and breakfast (default: 536 kJ (128 kcal)/dollar, higher-calorie: 607 kJ (145 kcal)/dollar, difference: 71 kJ (17 kcal)/dollar, P = 0·009). Results for children's meals were in the same direction but were not statistically significant (default: 536 kJ (128 kcal)/dollar, higher-calorie: 741 kJ (177 kcal)/dollar, difference: 205 kJ (49 kcal)/dollar, P = 0·053). Across restaurants, the percentage change in calories per dollar for higher-calorie v. default combination meals ranged from 0·1 % (Dunkin' Donuts) to 55·0 % (Subway).Conclusions: Higher-calorie combination meals in fast-food restaurants offer significantly more calories per dollar compared with default combination meals, suggesting there is a strong financial incentive for consumers to 'upsize' their orders. Future research should test price incentives for lower-calorie options to promote healthier restaurant choices.
KW - Combination meals
KW - Fast-food restaurants
KW - Price incentives
KW - Value pricing
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U2 - 10.1017/S1368980019003410
DO - 10.1017/S1368980019003410
M3 - Article
C2 - 31796142
AN - SCOPUS:85076201398
SN - 1368-9800
VL - 23
SP - 348
EP - 355
JO - Public health nutrition
JF - Public health nutrition
IS - 2
ER -