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。

俗话说天底下没有免费的午餐，但科学家表示，即使你享用了便宜饭菜，它的味道尝起来也没有昂贵饭菜好哦。

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。

一项新的研究发现，用餐者认为花费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。

专家们认为这是因为人们将花费与食品质量联系起来，从而改变了他们对食物口味的认知。

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

纽约康奈尔大学的科学家研究了在州北部餐馆享受意式自助餐的139位顾客的食用习惯。

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。

研究者们对管饱自助餐定价为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。

用餐者们被要求评价食物口味和餐厅档次，然后留下个人姓名。

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。

实验显示，支付8美元的人们对食物的好评度比支付较少价格的人们高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美元的人们说对于在盘子装满食物感到罪恶，他们觉得自己吃太多了。

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，根据这周发表在2014年《实验生物学》会议上的研究结果，科学家们表示两组人群食用的食物总量大致是一样的。

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.’

该大学的消费行为研究教授Brian Wansink说：“我们很不可思议地发现价格对于人们进食的分量没什么影响，但对于人们如何评价食物却有很大影响。”

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。

他认为当人们把食物价格与品质等同时会更享受自己的食物。餐馆对价格的微调会改变人们对饭菜的看法。

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。

在先前的一项研究中，该大学研究者发现人们在昏暗灯光下比明亮环境下摄入的食物热量少175卡路里。