How first food in buffet lines biases further item selection

A new study has revealed that the first food in a buffet line is taken the most and biases what else is taken.

Drs. Brian Wansink and Andrew Hanks found that this influence is so strong that two-thirds of an individual's plate is filled with the first items they encounter. Plus, when less healthy foods are served first, individuals take 31 percent more total food items.

Wansink and Hanks conducted their study at a conference where attendees were served a seven-item breakfast buffet. In the dining area, the food items were served on two separate tables just over 50 feet apart.

Unbeknownst to the attendees, foods were arranged in opposite order on the two lines. On one line, cheesy eggs, fried potatoes, bacon, cinnamon rolls, low-fat granola, low-fat yogurt, and fruit were served in that exact order. On the other line, the order was reversed such that fruit was served first, followed by low-fat yogurt, low-fat granola, etc.

As they entered the dining area, the 124 attendees were randomly assigned to choose their breakfast from one of the two tables such that 59 served themselves from the fruit-first line and 65 served themselves from the cheesy-eggs first line.

It was found that the foods presented first biased which foods were selected by the attendees. Specifically, 86.4 percent of diners took fruit when it was offered first while 54.8 percent took fruit when it was offered last.

In the same vein, 75.4 percent took cheesy eggs when presented first while 28.8 percent took cheesy eggs when they were offered last. Of a person's plate, 65.7 percent was filled with at least one of the first three foods in the line.

The study is published in Public Library of Science One.