It appears Starbucks customers in New York are able to make intelligent decisions when provided with the information about the calorie content of food on the menu.

A new study by Stanford released Jan. 6 examined consumer behavior before and after calorie counts were posted, and determined that when restaurants post calories on menu boards, there is a reduction in calories per transaction.  Based on transaction data provided by Starbucks, researchers from the Stanford Graduate School of Business found that calorie-posting in New York City in 2008 led to a 6%  reduction in calories per transaction.

I suspect this surprises few of us.  Yet, opponents of posting this information claim it is available elsewhere and therefore not needed in the cafe.

Studies continue to reveal this is just not the case.  Information available in real time makes a difference in our buying decisions.  The same is true for energy conservation efforts.  Just presenting people with details about the energy they are using while they are using it, changes behaviors that on average reduce energy consumption by 3-5%.  Give folks simple ideas to reduce consumption further and the vast majority of us will do so.  That’s why we are working with companies to make energy usage information (and comparisons across companies, departments and work areas) available to employees.