Avatars as digital nudges: persuading restaurant diners toward healthier choices

Unhealthy eating habits are a public health concern, and restaurants sit at the centre of how people decide what to eat. This study asks whether digital avatars, deployed in restaurant settings, can effectively nudge customers toward healthier food choices, and whether doing so improves the business as well as the customer.

How the research was done

The research recruited 672 participants in the United States. Each viewed a short video featuring an avatar that informed them about the available healthy food options, simulating a real restaurant ordering scenario. Participants then completed comprehensive online surveys. The data was analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling, integrating the theory of planned behavior with nudge theory.

What the research found

Health consciousness, environmental awareness, social norms, and perceived behavioral control all significantly influenced dietary habits. Restaurant health initiatives and avatar persuasiveness encouraged healthier food choices, and these in turn improved customer satisfaction, loyalty, and electronic word-of-mouth. The study confirmed that avatars equipped with four particular attributes (competence, warmth, trustworthiness, and credibility) function as effective digital nudges. Importantly, avatars enhance satisfaction not by direct interaction but by helping customers make choices that align with their own health values.

Insights for the industry

Restaurant managers can integrate avatar technology as a software-as-a-service solution, with realistic deployment costs around $20,000 initial investment and a few hundred dollars per month in subscriptions, including maintenance. The technology helps with labour shortages and is particularly attractive to younger, health-conscious customers. Menu redesigns toward healthier options, plant-based alternatives, and locally sourced ingredients pair well with avatar persuasion to amplify the effect. AI developers should design avatars with the four key persuasion attributes in mind: competence, warmth, trustworthiness, and credibility. Public health officials and F&B marketers can leverage these findings in campaigns and product strategy to push the wider industry toward healthier offerings, with avatars serving as scalable digital nudges at the point of decision.