Study Finds Fast-Food Logos Make You Impatient
A study conducted by the University of Toronto has found that exposure to fast-food logos can cause people to feel impatient and make them more likely to buy things. Subjects in the study were exposed to nearly imperceptible flashes of images (for 12 to 80 milliseconds) which included fast-food logos for some. The subjects were then asked to read about and choose between two different kinds of skin-care treatments, one of which was a three-in-one. Those who had the logos flashed before them read "significantly faster" and chose the more time-saving skin product. From the article: "The researchers concluded 'fast food, originally designed to save time, can have the unexpected consequence of inducing haste and impatience' and 'preference for time-saving products when there are potentially other important aspects upon which to choose a product.' So, basically, driving past a McDonald's on the highway has the potential to not only make you drive faster, it will make you more likely to buy two-for-one Pantene Pro-V Shampoo and Conditioner the next time you go to Duane Reade. One, it seems, is considerably less ominous than the other." I guess this explains why my nephews will chew on their seat belts and try to get out the windows just to be first into the McDonald's Playland.
tl;dr
make you patient?
needfoodnow needburgerchickentacospizzanow needbuynow needfoodnownowNOWNOOOWWW!!!!1111!!!111!!!!!1111elevenone1!!!!!!111
This needs more cowbell!!!
NEXT STORY!!!
Actually those logos tend to have an arrow-like shape. Reckon how that plays into things. What if they were more octagonal?
2^3 * 31 * 647
Reading this upset my stomach.
Most people have a learned association, i.e. the logos make them think of eating particular favorite food -- and many people are impatient and eager to get around obstacles when their appetite is stimulated. I doubt the logos themselves have any intrinsic power. :)
Caveat Utilitor
I'm impatient with this story already!
I've worked for two different fast food chains as a customer service person and there is huge pressure on the staff to keep things moving fast (seconds count, statistics are everything). Most staff in these places are too young or too lazy to hide the fact that they are under huge pressure. Those vibes are going to rub off on the customer and the whole place. Frankly, if you don't make up your mind fast, you're going to really piss the staff off.
Fast food companies spend hundred of millions to market products. People are conditioned to see the logos and buy the products. The conditioning kicks in whenever the logos are displayed. I posit that it's not the fast food logos, it's any well marketed logos - Nike, etc. probably work equally well.
It's not like they force you to buy anything.
P.S: Adblock plus FTW!
Love many, trust a few, do harm to none.
That they're effective?
There were too many fast food logos in the summary picture and I was too impatient to read the rest of the article, in fact I don't think I can complete this sentenc...
"This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
don't forget the comments about correlation doesn't mean causation followed by feeble attempts to explain statistics.
every anarchist is a baffled dictator. Benito_Mussolini
...it's just that having your concentration disrupted, even on a subliminal level, is irritating, which in turn quite typically makes people impatient, and more liable to just do whatever the hell is in front of them rather than giving it thought first.
~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
I don't know what the article is about. All I see are those logos and the title that says that those logos make me impatience.
(attempt at humour here for those who think I'm being serious)
Didn't read
cue the comments overintellectualizing and deducing vague ominous things from this pointless bit of fluff
That was already happening in the summary:
So, basically, driving past a McDonald's on the highway has the potential to not only make you drive faster...
So any comments of the kind you're describing should be moderated redundant.
[b.belong('us') for b in bases if b.owner() == 'you']
Red and yellow. Don't those make us more impatience?
imperceptible flashes of anything makes one impatient and anxiety ridden you fucking ninnies
Excuse me but, what were they trying to achieve by subliminally showing food logos to people and then putting shampoo in front of them?
I think someone was going for a much more spectacular result.
Personally, I think it's because the only time you really ever SEE those signs in your daily life is on you way to work or just driving. I'm always impatient when driving and always in a rush somewhere. That's how I see the association.
For the most part, those logos make me nauseous, not impatient!
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
Here's a follow-up on one of the subjects.
C'mon, this is old news! We reported on this a week ago...
http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2010/04/13/fast-food-induces-haste-impatience/
FTA:
exposure to fast-food symbols -- including the logos of McDonald's, KFC, Subway and Taco Bell -- make people both less likely to save money and more likely to feel like they're running out of time.
Funny, eating McDonald's, KFC, Subway and Taco Bell makes me feel like I'm running out of time. Time left to live that is.
Just saying. They sell napkins out there, too.
... and wanted to go someplace else and eat.
What if they had shown pictures of food instead?
Could it be, that simply flashing anything colorful — be it a McDonald's logo, or Obama's "Hope" poster — will make a person impatient?
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
Is it possible that the people become impatient because of a previous experience at a fast food restraunt where it was a choice to get fast food to save time origonally but they fucked up the order, so you ended up spending twice as much time to fix the problem because some r-tard couldn't get a cheese burger done correctly so now you mind set is to make up for lost time.
A week later some one flashes that sign in front of you, and you remember that incident, become agitated or "impatient" and are now back in that frame of mind.
Much like not going to the grocery store when you hungry.
this has to be nonsense. Just because you see, oh look McDonalds,
Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.
Obviously if you make someone think of food, they have a better chance of becoming hungry AND yes, that will make them impatient. Flash some images of food and I bet you'll end up with similar outcomes.
To me, the most disturbing thing that this research seems to suggest is that subliminal frames actually work.
Since this stuff was dissed as ineffective by a whole lot of sources I'd read in the past, I now wonder if there is some kind of conspiracy going on: false news on the ineffectiveness of subliminal messages being spread by the very people who seek to manipulate the general public through the media.
I think if I had fast food logos flashed in front of me I would be hungry or more likely to buy fast food. I don't think it would have any influence on any other type of product I would buy. Could it be that the test subjects were more likely to buy the 3-in-1 skin treatment because that image was flashed in front of them or maybe because it was a more convenient purchase. Maybe it was the skin treatment they already bought.
Yeah, right. I have a logo that will subconsciously make your customers cough up their entire bank account on what ever kind of crap you want to sell them. We've been working on this at McMahon and Tate for 50 years. We've almost got it perfected. And it can be yours if the price is right.
I would never imagine that was the reason fast-food chains tend to be featured in movies like falling down
Build your own energy sources from scratch. http://otherpower.com/
God I hate marketing.
As much as I enjoy the usual /. digressions, I'd love to get an analysis from anyone who designs logos for a living. I'm not a designer, but I do notice few things that the logos have in common: Most of them have either text or design elements that rise to the upper-right of the logo. Most have some sort of pointer, either arrows (Subway), a slashing underline (Pizza Hut), meteor (Burger King), italics(KFC, Pizza Hut, Subway). Most use primary colors exclusively. Are these elements standard idioms in logo design? Are they universal, or are they specific to North American branding?
To err is human. To arr is pirate.
Scientist who do good pier reviewed studies
If a scientist gets a bad pier review, will the university (or other employer) have his pay docked?
I'm here all week. Try the instant veal burger ;-)
The only ones who know the menu are the fat ones. The slim ones go there occasionally. Memorizing the menu is not possible.
I know plenty of Jews and Muslims that eat McDonalds, Burger King, KFC and so forth. The first thing I saw after clearing Customs in Malaysia was a McD's, only the double bacon cheeseburger is not Halal hence it's not served there.
OK, most things at McD's aren't Kosher, mixing meat and dairy but in Australia I'm yet to meet a Jew who is that dedicated, most refuse to eat at McD's because it's too expensive.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
I thought it was the fucker who won't hurry up and gimme my sammich that made me impatient.
Wow, way to be a xenophobic wanker over a perfectly good joke.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
I didn't have the patience to read it.