A new study has revealed that customers prefer going to restaurants that provide healthy foods and nutritional information.
The researchers at Penn State and the University of Tennessee said that the customers perceive restaurants to be socially responsible when they are provided with nutrition facts and healthful options and, therefore, are more likely to patronize those restaurants.
It was found that when the participants of the study were presented with a scenario in which a restaurant presented nutrition information and served healthful food options, they were significantly more likely to perceive that the restaurant was socially responsible.
According to the study, participants who were highly health-conscious were more likely than low health-conscious people to think that the restaurant was socially responsible when it provided healthful food options.
However, the study also revealed that when exposed to nutrition information, participants perceived the restaurant to be socially responsible, regardless of their level of health-consciousness.
The study was published in the February 2014 issue of the International Journal of Hospitality Management.