It is said that there’s no such thing as a free lunch, but even if you manage to bag a bargain meal, it will not taste as good as a more expensive option, according to scientists。

俗話說(shuō)天底下沒(méi)有免費(fèi)的午餐，但科學(xué)家表示，即使你享用了便宜飯菜，它的味道嘗起來(lái)也沒(méi)有昂貴飯菜好哦。

A new study has found that restaurant goers who pay more for their meals think the food is tastier than if it is offered for a smaller price。

一項(xiàng)新的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，用餐者認(rèn)為花費(fèi)更多的食物比便宜食物的味道好。

The experts think that people tend to associate cost with quality and this changes their perception of how food tastes。

專家們認(rèn)為這是因?yàn)槿藗儗⒒ㄙM(fèi)與食品質(zhì)量聯(lián)系起來(lái)，從而改變了他們對(duì)食物口味的認(rèn)知。

Scientists at Cornell University in New York studied the eating habits of 139 people enjoying an Italian buffet in an upstate restaurant。

紐約康奈爾大學(xué)的科學(xué)家研究了在州北部餐館享受意式自助餐的139位顧客的食用習(xí)慣。

The price of the food was set by the researchers at either $4 (￡2.40) or $8 (￡4.70) for the all-you-can-eat meal。

研究者們對(duì)管飽自助餐定價(jià)為4美元或8美元。

Customers were asked to rate how good the food tasted, the quality of the restaurant and to leave their names。

用餐者們被要求評(píng)價(jià)食物口味和餐廳檔次，然后留下個(gè)人姓名。

The experiment revealed that the people who paid $8 (￡4.70) for the food enjoyed their meal 11 per cent more than those who ate the ‘cheaper’ buffet。

實(shí)驗(yàn)顯示，支付8美元的人們對(duì)食物的好評(píng)度比支付較少價(jià)格的人們高11%。

Interestingly those that paid for the $4 (￡2.40) buffet said they felt guiltier about loading up their plates and felt that they over ate。

有趣的是，那些支付4美元的人們說(shuō)對(duì)于在盤(pán)子裝滿食物感到罪惡，他們覺(jué)得自己吃太多了。

However, the scientists said that both groups ate around the same quantity of food in total, according to the study presented at the Experimental Biology 2014 meeting this week。

然而，根據(jù)這周發(fā)表在2014年《實(shí)驗(yàn)生物學(xué)》會(huì)議上的研究結(jié)果，科學(xué)家們表示兩組人群食用的食物總量大致是一樣的。

Brian Wansink, a professor of consumer behaviour at the university, said: ‘We were fascinated to find that pricing has little impact on how much one eats, but a huge impact on how you interpret the experience.’

該大學(xué)的消費(fèi)行為研究教授Brian Wansink說(shuō)：“我們很不可思議地發(fā)現(xiàn)價(jià)格對(duì)于人們進(jìn)食的分量沒(méi)什么影響，但對(duì)于人們?nèi)绾卧u(píng)價(jià)食物卻有很大影響。”

He thinks that people enjoyed their food more as they associated cost with quality and that small alterations to a restaurant can change how tasty people find their meals。

他認(rèn)為當(dāng)人們把食物價(jià)格與品質(zhì)等同時(shí)會(huì)更享受自己的食物。餐館對(duì)價(jià)格的微調(diào)會(huì)改變?nèi)藗儗?duì)飯菜的看法。

In a previous study, researchers from the university showed that people who eat in dim lighting consume 175 less calories than people who eat in brightly lit areas。

在先前的一項(xiàng)研究中，該大學(xué)研究者發(fā)現(xiàn)人們?cè)诨璋禑艄庀卤让髁镰h(huán)境下攝入的食物熱量少175卡路里。