Is a major restaurant chain subtly ‘tricking’ customers into leaving early?

Ever feel like some of your favourite restaurants can't wait for you to get in and out? Well, more of them than we think could be using secretive hacks to encourage us to eat our food and leave quicker - and you'll start noticing them every time you go.

TikTok's business guru, Simon Squibb, has surprised followers by sharing some of the techniques Nando's allegedly uses to encourage a higher customer turnover, particularly as it's one of those chains that is constantly busy.

Sharing a video on social media, which has since gone viral, titled 'You are being manipulated!', Squibb sits in a bustling restaurant that's seemingly so loud you can hardly hear him - but that could be part of a tactical move from the brand.

"You'll realise next time you go how loud the music is...loud music doesn't make sense, so why do they do it?", he tells followers.

"They want you out", he continues. "They want the conversation between you and the person you're with to be difficult so you don't stay for long."

But that's not all.

Squibb adds: "Listen to the speed of the music. It's eat, eat, eat, get out the door. They want to make this table have four different sittings in the dinner just to make a profit."

It's an interesting concept, and one fans of the brand have never noticed previously.

"Went once, never been again because of that reason so didn't really work did it", one person commented.

"The trick is I don't want to go in as it's too loud so only ever been twice", another added.

However, others added that Squibb could never make them hate a good old Nando's.

But there could be some truth to the suggestion.

Several studies have shown that faster music tempo makes customers shop faster, while slower music tempo makes them shop slower. This is because music tempo can create a sense of urgency.

"If you use music to make people more aroused they’ll act more quickly, they’ll eat more quickly. Other research shows that they’ll drink more quickly or walk around a shop more quickly whereas slow music will have the opposite effect", says Professor Adrian North, head of the school of psychology and speech pathology at Curtin University in Australia, who has researched the relationship between music and behaviour.

Indy100 has reached out to Nando's to find out the truth behind the matter - but we're yet to hear back.

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