Mcdonalds Psychology Cheat Sheet

McDonald’s Bonus Cheat Sheet
👁 5 Bonus psychology principles McDonald’s uses

1. Nearby Billboards (Priming)
🧠
Around every McDonald’s store, you’ll find a billboard advertising a burger, coffee, or the
brand. McDonald’s does this to take advantage of Priming — which works by activating an
association in people’s short-term memory just before another stimulus or task is
introduced.
In this case, seeing a billboard with a big burger primes people by activating thoughts related
to their cravings associated with McDonald’s. By having the billboard so close to the store,
people can immediately take action (visit the store) on the back of having had that external
mental trigger (seeing the billboard).
https://growth.design/case-studies Page 1 of 12
In a video McDonald’s put out, they crafted special billboards that featured no imagery but
produced the smell of McDonald’s fries instead. This is noteworthy because in this video —
they quite literally mention that they make sure to “strategically place these billboards near
(our) restaurants”.
2. Eat in or take away (Prospection + Endowment Effect)

Asking customers to specify where they would like to eat right at the beginning, of course,
🧠
provides some practical utility for those preparing the order - but by presenting the options
with visual cues, McDonald’s leverages Prospection - which involves the mental
simulation of future events.
With this, McDonald’s customers can envision the outcome before they even begin making
their orders. With this kind of forward mental projection, a user will be more motivated to
complete their order - having a sense of what that will look like.
The impact of this decision also leverages the 🧠 Endowment Effect - where users value
something more if they feel it's theirs. Throughout the kiosk, the takeaway bag visual is used
throughout the experience, even in an animation that is triggered by an item being added to a
person’s order. This further motivates customers to complete their order, having felt that
their order is already in their mental projection of what is ‘theirs’.
3. Menu item order (Price Anchoring)
When you enter a menu area like ‘Burgers’ you’re presented with an array of items - however,
the order in which the items are presented is not random.
🧠
McDonald’s displays the most expensive items first, followed by the comparatively cheaper
items. This intentional ordering is a tactic that leverages Price Anchoring.
Anchoring occurs when an initial piece of information sets a mental reference point that
influences subsequent judgments.
By showcasing these premium burgers first, McDonald's establishes a high anchor, making
other, less expensive burgers seem more affordable by comparison.
The top 2/3rds of the kiosks are also at eye level for most people - meaning that a lot of
people won’t even see the cheaper items due to the effort required to scroll down and see
them.
4. Make it a meal? (Available Heuristic + Default Bias)

Over the years, we’ve all been so exposed to McDonald’s imagery of the burger, fries, and a
🧠
drink that a subconscious association has been made in our collective consciousness as
consumers. This implies a kind of Default bias that kicks in as you go to make your
choice about your meal.
Firstly, when choosing between a burger alone or a meal (a choice that’s presented every
time you select a burger) the idea of a burger alone seems like a choice counter to the
default one.
Then, when a user lands on the screen to choose their side option, 🧠 Availability Heuristic
kicks in. Users tend to favor recent and available information over past information, so by
just seeing the visual of a meal comprised of fries and a drink — people will be more likely to
choose the fries over the salad or cucumber (which has an obvious impact on the
customer’s health).
5. Final app download push (Assumptive Language + Loss Aversion)

As our case study revealed, McDonald’s nudges customers to download their mobile app
throughout the kiosk's entire experience. This also includes the checkout screen.
🧠
The module at the top of the screen prompts users to log in with their app but when doing
so, McDonald’s uses Assumptive Language. By saying “You almost missed 1246 points
on this order”, McDonald’s implies that you intend to download the app, and log in before
completing your order at the kiosk.
🧠
This is instead of simply stating that “by downloading the app, you could avoid losing 1246
points”. McDonald’s taps into the principle of Commitment and Consistency, part of
Cialdini's principles of persuasion. By suggesting the user is about to do an action, it nudges
them to complete it to stay consistent with their assumed behavior.
🧠
The module’s text also leverages Loss Aversion by making people feel like they are
missing out on something valuable (the points) that they have already accrued by making
their order - which is much more effective compared to telling someone they’re about to lose
something they have to stake in. That’s because Loss Aversion is a psychological principle
that recognizes that people are more motivated to avoid losses than to acquire equivalent
gains.
🧠 6 Insights from the case study
💡 Want to use psychology to build better products?
If you're looking for more ways to sharpen your product skills using psychology, check these out:
Product Psychology Course.

If you want to learn how to use psychology to create better
experiences for your customers, check out our course:
https://growth.design/course
Cognitive Biases Cheatsheet.

100+ cognitive biases and design principles that affect
your product experiences. Tons of product examples, tips,
and checklists to improve your user experience:
https://growth.design/psychology
—Dan Benoni & Louis-Xavier Lavallée

Mcdonalds Psychology Cheat Sheet

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Mcdonalds Psychology Cheat Sheet

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Mcdonalds Psychology Cheat Sheet

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

McDonald’s Bonus Cheat Sheet

👁 5 Bonus psychology principles McDonald’s uses

2. Eat in or take away (Prospection + Endowment Effect)

4. Make it a meal? (Available Heuristic + Default Bias)

5. Final app download push (Assumptive Language + Loss Aversion)

Product Psychology Course.

Cognitive Biases Cheatsheet.

You might also like