This article explores an alternative strategy to subtly nudge decisions in preference for healthy menu items – managing calorie presentation to create a Numerical Stroop Effect drawing upon the numerical magnitude representation theory. Across two experiments, the research finds that incongruent (vs. congruent) numerical magnitude representation of food calories (e.g., small 7 and large 5) increases consumers' preference to order healthy items. The study reveals the effect’s underlying mechanism through perceived healthiness along with the boundary factors of consumers’ health consciousness and time pressure. Specifically, low health-conscious consumers show a preference to order healthy items when exposed to incongruent magnitude representation of food calories, particularly when they experience high time pressure. The research contributes to the hospitality literature with an in-depth understanding of the less explored effect of numerical magnitude representation. This research also provides an easily implementable menu strategy to influence consumers’ dining preferences for healthier alternatives.

本文探讨了一种替代策略，以巧妙地推动对健康菜单项的偏好决策——管理卡路里表示以根据数值幅度表示理论创建数值斯特鲁普效应。在两个实验中，研究发现食物卡路里的不一致（与一致）数值表示（例如，小 7 和大 5）增加了消费者订购健康食品的偏好。该研究通过感知健康以及消费者健康意识和时间压力的边界因素揭示了影响的潜在机制。具体而言，健康意识低下的消费者在接触到食物卡路里的不一致量级表示时会表现出订购健康食品的偏好，尤其是当他们经历高时间压力时。该研究对酒店业文献做出了贡献，深入了解了较少探索的数值幅度表示的影响。这项研究还提供了一种易于实施的菜单策略，以影响消费者对更健康替代品的用餐偏好。