Importantly, Klesse and Garbinsky showed that the presence of food decreases enjoyment of an experience when: They say this happens because the food’s presence prompts mental imagery of consuming that food, which decreases engagement with the target experience. The researchers consistently found that the presence of delicious food decreases the enjoyment of positive, ongoing experiences. Afterwards, they indicated their level of enjoyment of that experience. Participants were students, gallery visitors or concert attendees their experiences were either in the presence or absence of tempting food – for example cookies or desserts. Klesse and Garbinsky conducted their 10 studies using a variety of target experiences, such as listening to music, evaluating pictures, and colouring-in. In many cases, the presence of food decreases customers’ enjoyment of ongoing experiences rather than increasing it. Klesse and Garbinsky’s results, however, indicate that this strategy may actually backfire. This made the researchers curious to test whether this strategy is effective, and whether or not it does indeed improve customer experiences.

Amusement parks, movie theatres, and concert venues offer food accompaniments to boost customers’ enjoyment of these experiences. For instance, restaurants frequently make tempting desserts visible to diners while they eat their main course. News & Calendar Open submenu News & Calendarĭr Anne-Kathrin Klesse from Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) and Dr Emily Garbinsky from Cornell SC Johnson College of Business conducted several studies in the laboratory and in the field that document a negative effect of the presence of food on the enjoyment of enjoyable activities and also highlight in which instances the presence of food could be beneficial.Ĭompanies intentionally use food to create enjoyable customer experiences.

Movie and popcorn