The effect of 99-ending calories and anticipated guilt on restaurant menu development strategy

This study focused on the “just below calorie labeling (e.g., 199 vs. 200)” effect on consumers’ responses to purchasing indulgent foods. Based on the price context (e.g., $10.00 vs. $9.99), this study conducted a scenario-based online survey and found the interaction effect between anticipated guilt and the left-digit calorie effect to predict restaurant consumers’ choice of indulgent foods (i.e., hamburger advertisement with its calorie information, such as 399 vs. 400). The empirical findings showed that the calorie amount manipulation led to different levels of anticipated guilt for ordering the food and beliefs in the food’s calorie information (i.e., 399 < 400 calories) regardless of consumers’ level of health-related personal value.