TU marketing professors investigate the value of fast food combo meals

By Laura Braddick on January 23, 2017

“Would you like to make that a combo?”

Anyone who’s ever tried to order just a burger at a fast food restaurant has likely heard this refrain, and consumers are more likely to take up a deal if it’s offered. But what are the larger consequences of this ubiquitous offer?  

In a recent study, College of Business and Economics marketing professors Veronica Thomas and Judy Harris found consumers order more calories when a bundle promotion is advertised on a menu in a fast food setting than when it is not.

They also demonstrated that the underlying mechanism for this effect was a change in perceptions of consumer norms. In other words, the presence of a combo meal on the menu may not only change what consumers actually order but also what consumers believe they should order. The offer of a combo meal suggests all of the items should be purchased together, thus the combo meal is the appropriate choice to make.

In the study, a group of 191 consumers from across the country completed a survey online that examined participants' frequency of visits to fast food restaurants as well as fast food menu option preferences. About half of the participants saw a menu board featuring regular menu items in addition to combo meals, while the other half saw a menu without any bundle promotions. 

Participants who were offered bundled meals ordered more calories than those who were not. They were also more likely to believe that the amount of food in the bundle was the normal amount to consume. Moreover, this was especially true for consumers with less knowledge about nutrition.

But the study posed by Harris and Thomas challenges some of the current strategies proposed by public health advocates to fight the rise of obesity in the United States.

“Our research calls into question the efficacy of focusing on item size as a way to promote smart food choices,” Harris and Thomas write in their paper. “Banning supersized options or the sale of large sugary beverages may remove the option for consumers to purchase a particular item but may do little to decrease overconsumption given the ubiquity of the combo meal.”

Moreover, displaying calorie information on menus might not be enough to offset the environmental cue that bundles present to consumers, the professors suggest, underscoring the importance of educating the public about healthy eating habits and appropriate caloric intake.

“While consumers who have low caloric knowledge are most likely to be affected by the promotion of a bundle, increased educational efforts can help to reverse this effect.”

Harris’ and Thomas’ paper was published in The Journal of Consumer Affairs in summer 2016.