What’s in the box? Preference for leftward plating of food in bentos

Abstract

IntroductionOptimizing the aesthetics of plating and understanding where certain elements of the dish should be placed within a bento box will aid chefs and advertisers in learning what side of dishware plating creates the most appetizing appearance to the average diner. Previous literature led us to predict that there would be a leftward bias of plating the largest, most caloric heavy component of the meal on the dish. MethodsCanadian participants (n = 204 and n = 279) were presented photographs of single-tiered bento boxes and their mirror image together to elicit and record preferences. Sixty image pairs were presented simultaneously (with one of the images located directly above the other) in random order, and decisions between leftward and rightward biased choices were collected and analysed. The majority of participants were right-handed and had a native reading direction of left-to-right. ResultsParticipants in both experiments preferred asymmetrical bentos where the majority of the food was plated on the left side of the box, gravitating to a leftward bias. Age and native reading direction were additionally analysed, where regardless of either demographic, left side plating was preferred. ConclusionLearning how we can optimize plating aesthetics can benefit people in a variety of vocations (e.g. chefs, advertisers, photographers, etc.). It appears that regardless of age or native reading direction, a leftward plating bias is evident when it comes to arranging a bento in the most aesthetic fashion.