Sneaky Ways Fast Food Chains Trick You Into Spending Money

It's no secret that Americans enjoy fast food. Drive down any main road in the United States — whether in a bustling city or a tiny town — and you're bound to see a lineup of various fast food joints. In total, Americans spent a whopping $350 billion on fast food in 2024, according to Statista, and that trend is only rising. That works out to around $1,200 annually per person. For perspective, homeowners spend around $21,400 yearly on their homes. With the majority of people visiting a fast food restaurant one to three times per week, its easy to see how the spending can add up.

These figures might seem unrealistic, especially given the assumed affordability of quick-service chains. However, the good ol' days of dirt-cheap fast food are over. Fast food restaurants have been hiking their menu prices to keep up with inflation. However, that's not the only reason you're spending more than you realize. Many chains employ behind-the-scenes strategies to get customers to buy more. These tactics seem to be working even as costs skyrocket. Keeping an eye out for these sneaky ways fast food chains trick you into spending money can help you rein in your food budget.

Have you ever noticed a fast food menu without dollar signs? That wasn't a mistake. It's a subtle technique to keep customers from focusing too much on prices. A Cornell study discovered that diners are inclined to spend more when menus don't include dollar signs. Researchers placed three different menus in front of over 200 participants. One menu included the "$" symbol, another spelled out "dollars" after the number, and the third included the price's numerical digits. Patrons with no dollar signs on the menu spent around 8% more than the others, indicating a significant difference.

While that might not seem egregious for a single outing, those more-than-anticipated costs can add up over time. Researchers attributed the decrease in spending to the negative association people have with the dollar sign. People often connect these symbols with the toll of giving away hard-earned dollars. If you're trying to tackle impulse spending effectively, keep this study in the back of your mind. Realize that those numbers you see on the menu translate to actual dollars you'll lose in exchange for food. With that perspective, you may find that the hamburger combo doesn't look quite as appetizing.

Fast food restaurants aren't using random text on their menus. There's an entire science behind how restaurants convey food items to customers, especially since juicer descriptions can literally lead to more spending. Research has demonstrated that foods with a description sell better than those without, but the connection doesn't stop there. A study published in Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly found that certain words or phrases can directly influence how much consumers spend. More specifically, the investigation uncovered that descriptive labels can increase sales by a whopping 27%, but the positive repercussions didn't stop there.

These detailed descriptions were proven to entice customers to try new food options for the first time by generating interest in a novel item. However, the research also showed how captivating descriptions led to repeat sales. Cornell researchers reported that participants were more likely to judge the foods with detailed descriptions as having a higher value, and better quality, than competing options. Put another way, they were more likely to overspend on items with interesting descriptions than those with lackluster or nonexistent ones. It could be worth keeping this effect in mind the next time you read a menu.

If you've ever purchased a combo meal and assumed you're getting more bang for your buck, you've fallen victim to another sneaky fast food trick. Mathematically, you will most likely spend less overall on combo offers than paying for each item individually since chains commonly discount sides, such as fries or a drink when purchased alongside an entrée. However, the trick is that bundle itself often increases how much consumers spend overall. According to a 2025 Intouch Insight survey, 87% of customers reported ordering a combo meal at a fast food restaurant over the three-months prior.

Consumers may only get a small discount on their total meal, but the appeal of the combo by itself is often enough to trigger a purchase. A study by Coca-Cola, per Harvard Business Review, found that nearly half of people would still order a combo even if they knew there were no discounts attached. Researchers point to the natural connection people make between fast food entrees and sides when explaining this behavior.

Nostalgia can be a powerful force in human actions, even impacting how much money people spend on fast food. Fast food restaurants cash in on consumer emotions by eliciting feelings of nostalgia through clever marketing, targeted language, restaurant layouts, color schemes, and various other visual and auditory choices. These companies pay professional marketers to ensure customers associate their food with home-cooked meals, outings with friends, family get-togethers, and familiar social experiences in general. Some common terms that are often used to elicit nostalgia and familiarity include: traditional, Grandma's, and home-cooked.

In 2019, Pizza Hut reintroduced its retro logo for a limited period. Taco Bell recently reintroduced five old-school 2000s favorites from the past in a revamped "Decades Y2K Menu." Other chains, like Cracker Barrel, for example, lean heavily on nostalgia more generally, seeking to create a specific sense of nostalgia in the overall atmosphere of its locations.

McDonald's coined the concept of supersizing in the 1980s in a series of advertisements encouraging customers to order a larger portion of fries and a drink. While the fast food icon may have coined the phrase, the practice has been in use for a long time. All fast food chains practice this sneaky strategy to get customers to spend more in one form or another. Generally speaking, this sales technique is known as decoy pricing. 

Fast food chains will often make the price differences between their two smallest options negligibly less than their largest size, encouraging people to opt for their most expensive choice. That 50-cent difference might be a wash for you, but the profits add up over time, considering the number of customers fast food chains attract annually. Research published in the Journal of Marketing found that the average person consumes 35% more when doubling their portion size, leading to more profits for fast food chains. This supersizing technique does have some limitations, however. Studies indicate that the larger the jump in portion size, the less likely customers are to make the jump.

Another sneaky way fast food chains trick you into spending more money is by tapping into the "cashless effect." Research has found that this psychological phenomenon can cause people to overspend when using virtual forms of payment, as opposed to cash. Whether using a credit card or a mobile app, people tend to exercise less financial discretion when using fully digital payment systems. When you use cash, you're physically parting with your hard-earned money whereas using a plastic credit card or tapping a few buttons on your phone feels less tangible. Fast food chains have taken full advantage of that financial hastiness by expanding their digital footprint with apps, and by accepting more forms of digital payments.

In fact, most fast food restaurants have mobile apps where you can complete an entire order without taking out your wallet. Even places without a dedicated app are available on food delivery services, which can further erode conscious spending habits. Some chains even have self-service digital check out screens in restaurants. Essentially, these chains want to make it as convenient and seamless as possible for customers to spend money. At this point in the digital era, one of the top strategies for tackling impulse spending effectively is to pay with cash, in person, whenever possible.

The old adage about nothing truly being free rings true for fast food. Many chains dangle the promise of something "free" for customers that reach an arbitrary spending threshold, or buy a certain number of items. For example, a special where customers can get their 10th burger for "free." Studies have shown that these bonus offers increase how frequently customers spend money, a phenomenon known as purchase acceleration.

Research from the Columbia Business School found that people will visit a restaurant more often given the allure of a "free" reward. Furthermore, they'll increase the frequency of their visits the closer they get to achieving this goal. This transforms the experience of a typical fast food visit to a gamified challenge complete with levels and a final prize. Instead of losing interest after getting the "free" perk, customers were shown to pursue the goal again. Keep this in mind next time you're handed a card with punchholes and the promise of a free item.

The popular myth of hidden menus at fast food restaurants has some basis in reality. The fast food chains with the best value meals often don't advertise their cheapest choices. Practically speaking, chains often omit some food choices to prevent their menus from looking cluttered — usually prioritizing best-selling candidates. However, there's also a profit motive involved. Many restaurants will purposefully hide their more affordable food choices, while placing more expensive items in a prominent position. Sometimes, more economical options will be hidden in smaller print in the corner of a menu, or they'll be completely left off altogether.

Taking your time to peruse an entire menu before ordering can help save you significantly when the cashier rings up your total. If you're unable to find anything resembling an affordable meal on the board, ask for a complete menu. Often, fast food chains have complete menus printed out when everything can't reasonably fit on a screen. Although some chains, such as McDonald's and Burger King, are unable to maintain their highly popular dollar menus, many still offer items for only a few dollars. You just have to be willing to take a few minutes to pinpoint these hidden deals to keep yourself, and your wallet, full.

You know creators are making money on social media platforms, but you might be surprised to hear the most popular fast food brands are doing the same. Social media isn't usually the first type of outreach consumers think about when considering fast food. However, presence on these platforms has become essential to success in the 21st century. A 2022 study from The Journal of Informatics found that 81% of fast food consumers followed chains on networking platforms such as Instagram, X, and Facebook.

Research has even established direct link between this virtual engagement and physically visiting a location. Experts indicate that around 41% of people often patronize a fast food restaurant after seeing a brand's post on social media. Meanwhile, around a quarter of the population reported always visiting following this interaction. Research has further indicated that fast food brands that opt out of social media usage are falling behind the competition.

Ever wonder why fast food restaurants don't keep deals permanently, instead allowing them to expire after a fixed period? The answer is, unsurprisingly, to encourage you to spend more money. Limited-time offers can create a sense of urgency, pushing consumers to buy a particular product quickly. Whether it's a day, week, month, or entire season, the timelines are generally arbitrary. They're mainly set up to give people a fear of missing out. These special deals also provide patrons with a feeling of status or even accomplishment. The mere fact that not everyone will be able to take advantage of the offer elicits a perception of value. 

Restaurants that utilize a limited-time deal experience a notable surge in patrons, and revenue, meaning that these special offers successfully attract more people and increase spending. One Kerry research report found that 62% of consumers agreed that limited time offers encouraged them to visit a specific restaurant. Plus, for many fast food chains, the payoff from these special offers can extend beyond the limited time period if the consumer liked what they experienced.

According to Owner, loyalty programs are most profitable for restaurants when they attract repeat customers, accommodate virtual orders, and experience a high volume of traffic. Fast food chains fit this description perfectly, making them a perfect and profitable fit for rewards programs. Deliverect claims that loyalty programs can boost consumer spending by 24%. When operated successfully, these programs can generate overall sales, creating a dependable and self-sustaining income for chains. For example, per Pymnts, Starbucks claimed that 57% of its revenue was generated from rewards members in Q2 of 2023.

As their name suggests, these loyalty programs excel in driving repeat purchases by focusing on rewarding routine visits. It creates a win-win situation where customers unlock rewards in the form of discounts, while a fast food chain takes advantage of repeat visits. While patrons are getting tangible discounts, the offered perks are often simply a way for fast food chains to trick consumers into spending more. Looking to join your favorite restaurant's loyalty program? Check to see if it has a dedicated app, a link on a fast food receipt, or menu QR codes.

Many fast food chains are beloved for their signature sauces. Whether you're partial to Taco Bell's hot sauces, Chick-fil-A's honey mustard, or Burger King's zesty sauce, it's undeniable that the popularity of these add-ons rivals that of name-brand items. However, nowadays, customers are likely to only find a few sauce packets in their order — and risk racking up extra charges if they request more. It might seem random and even petty, but there are several reasons why restaurants are charging money for extra condiments lately.

Primarily, fast food chains are looking to increase their profit margins by cutting back on losses associated with customers abusing free sauce packets. This might seem unreasonable when looking at costs on a per-packet basis, but restaurants are ordering their sauces in massive quantities — and it adds up. Cutting this expense down, even moderately, can help improve a chain's profit-loss margins. While the majority of customers will likely overlook a 25-cent sauce charge, that spending adds up over time for fast food companies when considering the sheer number of patrons. Another reason these brand names are charging for sauces is to cut down on food waste, for which the fast food industry has received criticism over the years.