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Effect on Restaurant Tipping of Male and Female Servers Drawing a Happy, Smiling Face on the Backs of Customers' Checks
Journal of Applied Social Psychology
Abstract
Research has shown that a server's smiling can increase restaurant tips and that a server's writing “thank you” on the backs of checks can also increase tips. In the current study, these two approaches were combined. An experiment was conducted in which a male or female server drew a happy, smiling face on the backs of checks before delivering them to customers, or simply delivered checks with nothing drawn on the back. It was predicted that this tactic would increase tips for the female server because of an increased perception of friendliness, but would not increase tips for the male server because such behavior would be perceived as gender-inappropriate. Results were consistent with predictions.
... Marketing techniques can be found throughout SE stories, although primarily seen as non-malicious. A study of Rind and Bordia [RB96] showed that the amount of tipping when drawing a smiley on the bill in an upscale restaurant in Philadelphia was around 29% higher for waitresses than waiters (193 customers; mean of 2.17 customers per party). Vice-versa, the gender of a targeted person may influence the susceptibility for specific SE attempts. ...
... As Akerlof and Shiller [AS15] put it: advertisers are hired to enhance the sales, systematically use trial and error techniques to understand how to trigger customers to buy their products -even against the well-being of the customers. Section 4. 3.2 showed research about tipping behaviour when a waitress draws a smiley on the bill [RB96]. Cialdini [Cia07] developed the psychology of persuasion originally for understanding the effectiveness of marketing and sales campaigns with its underlying human factors. ...
... The majority of researchers has easy access to and therefore studies WEIRD subjects, e.g., experiments in academic environments with undergraduates solely. The earlier mentioned tipping behaviour of diners parties in an upscale restaurant in Philadelphia happened in a restaurant located on the campus of Temple University where University members like to eat [RB96]. The conclusions drawn must reflect such limitations. ...
When technical protection mechanisms are too inflexible and security decisions are passed to users, users become part of the attack surface of a socio-technical system. This thesis contributes to the science of security regarding Social Engineering (SE), where users are the core enabler of successful attacks. Various sources were consulted to identify, analyse, and understand SE, enabling the development of a multidisciplinary knowledge base and appropriate safeguards. A suitable definition comprising five SE indicators was developed to examine anecdotes whether they express SE. Court documents (phishing), Lego modelling (cloud), and a novel SE poetry slam concept served as sources for in-depth analyses.
... Studies suggest that the service provider can increase tip amounts by utilizing subtle interpersonal interaction techniques, such that tips are markedly higher when the provider: touches or compliments the patron (Crusco & Wetzel, 1984;Seiter, 2007;Seiter & Dutson, 2007), introduces themselves (Garrity & Degelman, 1990), returns excess change to the patron (Azar, Yosef, & Bar-Eli, 2015), or includes a candy or "thank you" with the bill (Rind & Bordia, 1995, 1996Strohmetz, Rind, Fisher, & Lynn, 2002). Lynn, Jabbour, and Kim (2012) found that tips were higher with more time spent in the restaurant, but only when the bill was relatively small. ...
... As such, the hailed taxi driver who chooses to stop may be perceived as more helpful which thus renders a larger gratuity. Rind and colleagues (Rind & Bordia, 1995, 1996Rind & Strohmetz, 1999;Strohmetz et al., 2002) showed that including a candy or "thank you" increased tip amount by upwards of 17%, and attributed this phenomenon to customers' perceptions of server kindness. That kindness, much like a driver's choice to intercept the pedestrian, would thus compel offering a greater gratuity. ...
... While the present study is unable to pinpoint the precise mechanism within reciprocity theory that yields greater tipping due to a lack of qualitative data, both needs for equity and altruistic intentions remain relevant. Based on prior research (Aydin & Acun, 2019;Azar et al., 2015;Garrity & Degelman, 1990;Rind & Bordia, 1995, 1996Strohmetz et al., 2002) that found that tips increased in imbalanced (inequitable) situations that included an introduction, excess change, or a candy or "thank you" on the bill, we hypothesized that after accounting for number of passengers and both day and month travelled, patrons who hail their taxi will tip by a greater percentage than patrons who dispatch taxis by prior arrangement. We refer to our study as exploratory to stress its generation of testable hypotheses using a secondary data source. ...
The present study evaluated the extent to which reciprocity (equity) theory could explain differential levels of tipping in New York taxi fares. From 2014 to 2017, the database recorded 73 million cab fares; however, only credit transactions (i.e., recording patrons’ tips) were included (28 million fares). Based on a reciprocity hypothesis, patrons in cabs hailed randomly off the street were expected to tip more compared to patrons who arranged travel at a dispatch centre. An analysis of covariance for each of the four years supported this, wherein patrons in hailed cabs tipped twice the percentage (14%) than patrons in dispatched cabs (7%); these results were confirmed using equivalent procedures that assumed neither normality nor variance homogeneity. Several limitations are discussed, as are directions for future research. Keywords: reciprocity, tipping, equity, genuine intention, taxi
... Tipping behavior is not only influenced from various factors such as restaurant's environment, weather condition, type of payment, type of music played at the restaurant, but also from the customers' traits and genders (Seiter & Gass, 2005). Moreover, it is observed that there are a wide range of effective factors such as the amount of invoice (Rind & Strohmetz, 2001), amiability of employees (Lynn, Zinkhan, & Harris, 1993), service quality (Fernandez, 2004;Miller, 2010), gender of customers (Parrett, 2006), frequency of the service taken (Bodvarsson & Gibson, 1997), payment type (Parret, 2006), number of people at the meal (Rind & Bordia, 1996), ethnic origins (McCall & Lynn, 2009, communication skills of workers (Kinard & Kinard, 2013;Seiter & Weger, 2013), religious believes (Lynn & Katz, 2013), and alcohol consumption (Bodvarsson & Gibson, 1997). ...
... Among these methods is the personalization of the bill (invoice). There are findings that among these personalization methods, drawing a smiling face or writing a thank you note (Kinard & Kinard, 2013;Rind & Bordia, 1996;Rind & Strohmetz, 1999) on the bill might influence the billing behavior in a positive or negative manner. This case evokes that the tip amount left might differ depending on the personalization of invoice; and thus, the following hypothesis can be written. ...
... Attitudes of employees towards customers can influence the amount of tips. It is known that the way of communication with customers (Garrity & Degelman, 1990;Seiter & Weger, 2013), particularly personalized mode of communication -a thank you note on the bill or a smiling face- (Kinard & Kinard, 2013;Rind & Bordia, 1996;Rind & Strohmetz, 1999) can influence the tipping behavior. Considering that each generation was brought up in different economic conditions and that their behaviors can differ accordingly (Aka, 2017;Chen, 2010), the amounts of tips left by the generations might differ based on the personalization of the bill; hereupon, the following hypothesis can be written. ...
Tip is the monetary amount that consumers voluntarily leave for the quality of the service they get. Whether a tip is left or not, and the amount of the tip left may result from different demographic and characteristic features of consumers. This study was conducted to determine the amount of tip left by the generations based on the personalized bills. Based on three different personalized bill types for a dinner for two people at a mid-quality restaurant, it was attempted to determine whether the costumers left tips or not, and if they did, how much was the amount. The data were gathered based on the quota sampling method in January and February 2018. The total number of the participants – selected from each gender and generation except for the Z generation in equal numbers - reached 414. The data were evaluated by descriptive statistics, chi-square analysis, one and two-way ANOVA. The findings indicated that the amounts of tips were significantly different depending on the generations and the personalized bills.
... Several empirical studies have instead identified several drivers of tipping behavior that are extraneous to the specific service or meal quality. For example, prior research has documented the relationships between tip amount and weather conditions or even specific characteristics of the servers (such as servers' gender, body shape, hair color, amount of cosmetics, and customer touching behavior) (Guéguen 2012;Jacob et al. 2010;May 1980;Rind and Bordia 1996;Stephen and Zweigenhaft 1986). Although color has not gained much attention as a research topic in this literature stream, a few recent works have tested color as a manipulation stimulus that improves servers' physical attractiveness (e.g., lipstick, clothing, or hair color) (Guéguen 2012;Guéguen andJacob 2012, 2014;Lynn et al. 2016). ...
... Third, we contribute to tipping literature by identifying a new predictor of tipping, namely, the status perception induced by color. Extant tipping literature has identified the predictors of tipping from the service encounter perspective (server gender, server looks, server behavior, or service quality) (Hubbard et al. 2003;Lynn and McCall 2000;May 1980;Rind and Bordia 1996; Stephen and Zweigenhaft 1986) or in relation to the factors that affect individual customers' emotional states, and weather conditions (Cunningham 1979;Rind and Bordia 1996;Seiter 2007). Although a few studies have proposed that tipping can be related to individuals' motivation for status display (Lynn 1997;Shamir 1984), no study had tested the status perception induced by color as a construct that relates to tipping. ...
... Third, we contribute to tipping literature by identifying a new predictor of tipping, namely, the status perception induced by color. Extant tipping literature has identified the predictors of tipping from the service encounter perspective (server gender, server looks, server behavior, or service quality) (Hubbard et al. 2003;Lynn and McCall 2000;May 1980;Rind and Bordia 1996; Stephen and Zweigenhaft 1986) or in relation to the factors that affect individual customers' emotional states, and weather conditions (Cunningham 1979;Rind and Bordia 1996;Seiter 2007). Although a few studies have proposed that tipping can be related to individuals' motivation for status display (Lynn 1997;Shamir 1984), no study had tested the status perception induced by color as a construct that relates to tipping. ...
This research examines how gold-related color in atmospherics might influence customer tipping behavior at restaurants. A series of five studies shows that the color gold (as opposed to other colors) in a service atmosphere positively influences consumer tipping. First, a field experiment (Study 1) demonstrates that customers presented with a gold-colored (vs. black-colored) service prop (i.e., bill folder) leave larger tips. Study 2 further confirms this effect of the color gold by validating the findings of Study 1 with a different service prop (i.e., tablecloth). Process evidence demonstrates the underlying mechanism of this effect, whereby a gold-colored service prop increases tipping by influencing status perceptions about the restaurant and the self (Study 3). Additional studies further confirm this by ruling out novelty of the color in this mechanism (Study 4) and by highlighting the effect of status on tipping through status priming (Study 5). The findings of this research have implications for strategic use of color in servicescape design and atmospherics in general.
... For example, in a restaurant study Hall (1993) found that in mismatched cases good customer service was often associated with some degree of flirtation, where good service is rewarded with a tip and/or customer loyalty. This positively reinforces and leads to a repeat of such gender role behavior (Rind & Bordia, 1996). Moreover, according to Mills and Moshavi (1999) and Moshavi (2004), interacting with the opposite gender can create an increased psychological attachment caused by a positive sentiment exercised by service providers in an attempt to provide a warm and comfortable environment to boost customers' self-esteem. ...
... For example, in a restaurant setting, Hall (1993) found that in mismatched-gender dyads-female server/male customer(s) or male server/female customer(s)-good customer service was often associated with some degree of flirtation. Since good service is often rewarded monetarily (in the form of a tip in restaurants), such gender role behavior is positively reinforced and repeated (Rind & Bordia, 1996). ...
Do men and women have a preference to be waited on by either a male or a female service provider? Do these gender preferences change from industry to industry and from culture to culture? This paper investigates whether customers perceive better service from same-gender service providers-similarity attraction theory-or from opposite-gender service providers-flirting theory. It also analyzes how occupational stereotyping and differing cultural values impact the gender effect and influence perceived quality of service. Based on 497 respondents from ten service industries in Turkey and the U.S., this exploratory study found that gender differences between customers and service providers had no significant impact on perceived service quality. The results, however, did show that both occupational stereotyping and cultural differences significantly affected perceived service quality. The paper concludes with a discussion of the managerial implications of these findings.
... Thus, knowledge about the factors that contribute to the tipping behavior of customers is valuable (e.g., Saunders & Lynn, 2010;Whaley, Douglas, & O'Neill, 2014). It has been suggested that the factors that influence tipping behavior can be grouped into three basic categories (Rind & Bordia, 1996;Rind & Strohmetz, 1999). The first category concerns the characteristics of the customers which includes the number of customers at the table (with larger parties leaving smaller percentage http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2015.05.001 0092-6566/Ó 2015 Elsevier Inc. ...
... The second category concerns characteristics of the server that are not directly tied to job performance such as his or her attractiveness (with more attractive female servers receiving larger tips; Hornik, 1993;Lynn & Simons, 2000) and style of dress (with more attractively dressed servers receiving larger tips; Stillman & Hensley, 1980). The third category concerns the interactions that occur between the server and the customer such as servers briefly touching their customers (Crusco & Wetzel, 1984;Hornik, 1993), squatting during their initial interaction with customers (Lynn & Mynier, 1993), giving their first names to customers during their initial contact (Garrity & Degelman, 1990), smiling at customers during their initial interaction (Tidd & Lockard, 1978), writing messages (e.g., ''Thank you'') or drawing happy faces on the back of the check (Rind & Bordia, 1995;Rind & Bordia, 1996;Rind & Strohmetz, 1999), and performing their job well (e.g., attentiveness, speed of service; e.g., Lynn, 2001;Lynn, 2003). ...
The present study attempted to expand what is known about how the personality traits of servers are associated with their job performance ratings and the tips they receive from customers. Personality traits were measured in 259 restaurant servers who were evaluated by their actual customers. Conscientiousness was associated with the average job performance ratings of servers. Extraversion was found to moderate the association that job performance had with the tips that servers received such that tipping behavior was associated with job performance for servers with high levels of extraversion but this association did not emerge for servers with low levels of extraversion. These findings are discussed in the context of understanding the connection between personality traits and job-related outcomes.
... Researchers have also investigated potential relationships between the gender of people in a service setting and perceived service outcomes (Fischer, Gainer, andBristor, 1997, Iacobucci andOstrom, 1993;Mohr and Henson, 1996;Moshavi, 2004;Rind and Bordia, 1996). These studies suggest that customers possess different biases that may affect their evaluation of service encounters, and they may have a preference for a service provider of a specific gender. ...
... When customers interact with an opposite-gender personnel during service encounters (e.g., in a bank setting), they are more likely to receive the psychological benefits associated with such behaviors than when interacting with same gender personnel. Since good service is often rewarded monetarily (in the form of a tip in restaurants and positive evaluation or more referrals in banking), such gender role behavior is positively reinforced and repeated (Rind and Bordia 1996). Therefore, flirting theory suggests that, as shown in Figure 1, customers may prefer to interact with the opposite-gender bank personnel than with same gender bank personnel, because of the perceptions that they receive better quality of service from the opposite-gender bank personnel than from same-gender bank personnel. ...
This study investigates the potential gender bias (effect) on bank service quality resulting from customer gender, personnel gender, and their interaction during the service encounter. In literature, there are two sets of competing theories to predict whether consumers prefer to interact with the same-gender or opposite-gender servers and whether consumers perceive same gender or opposite gender servers offer better quality of service. Based on 351 usable mystery shopper surveys, we identified seven factors covering the entire banking transaction. The study found that consumers (mystery shoppers) perceive an average or above level of service. The results indicate that the perception of service quality for all seven factors was not significantly different for male vs. female customers (shoppers), nor was it different for male vs. female bank servers. The comparison of shopper (customer) -bank personnel gender match and mismatch dyads indicate that, of the seven factors, only greeting was significant. The study found a significant difference between the female-shopper & male-banker mismatched dyad and male-shopper & male-banker matched dyads. This is consistent with the flirting theory. The findings of this study have managerial implications for service quality.
... Tipping has always been a controversial social convention, for both scholars and the public. The practice has been consistently tied to the worst of human nature: racism, sexism, and classism [2][3][4][5]. At many points in time, tipping has been considered downright anti-democratic [6]. ...
The custom of voluntarily tipping for services rendered has gone in and out of fashion in America since its introduction in the 19th century. Restaurant owners that ban tipping in their establishments often claim that social justice drives their decisions, but we show that rational profit-maximization may also justify the decisions. Here, we propose a conceptual model of restaurant competition for staff and customers, and we show that there exists a critical conventional tip rate at which restaurant owners should eliminate tipping to maximize profit. Because the conventional tip rate has been increasing steadily for the last several decades, our model suggests that restaurant owners may abandon tipping en masse when that critical tip rate is reached.
... Emotions are highly related to tourist experiences and can significantly influence tourists' decision-making (Rind and Bordia, 1996). The valence and strength of emotions have also been studied. ...
Tourists display bounded rationality when they rely on heuristics to simplify complex decisions or make decisions not based purely on self-interest. Behavioural economics, which moves beyond the widely criticised assumptions that traditional economics makes regarding rational economic behaviour, provides useful theoretical foundations and approaches to tourism and hospitality studies. This paper reviews and discusses studies that evaluate bounded rational behaviour in the tourism and hospitality industry and examine influencing psychological factors. A review framework of economic behaviour is proposed to identify new perspectives and approaches to evaluating tourists’ complex decision-making processes. The paper also considers the prospects for applying behavioural economics theories to tourism and hospitality. It is suggested that limited attention and projection bias should be further examined in future research. The application of anchoring, mental accounting, nudge theory and neuroeconomics to tourism studies is also recommended.
... In addition, as discussed above, social-contextual norms likely affect men's and women's chosen forms of communication. Looking at happy/smiling faces more broadly, Rind and Bordia (1996) found in a field experiment that when female restaurant servers drew a happy/smiling face on the back of their customers' checks, #HappyAnniversary it increased the servers' tips relative to a control/no-drawing condition. Drawing a happy/smiling face did not, however, increase male servers' tips, which the study's authors attributed to gender-role incongruity. ...
Research and theory suggest that men, on average, are inhibited from expressing vulnerable emotions such as love, whereas women do so more readily. Based on theories of gender socialization and social media uses and gratifications, we conducted a content analysis of gender differences in the domain of wedding and other relationship anniversary greetings delivered on Twitter (N = 414 tweets). We tested for gender as well as age differences in three areas: symbolic (emoji), photographic, and verbal content. As hypothesized, women were more likely to use emojis than were men. Most tweeters who included photographs in their greetings used photos of themselves and their partners today, although some subgroups of men and women preferred photos from their weddings. Age-related differences were clear: young-adult tweeters preferred symbolic emojis to deliver their anniversary greetings, whereas older/middle-aged adults opted for verbal/textual communication, particularly in the areas of tribute and inspirational statements and humor. Results are discussed in terms of gender-role socialization, social and cultural norms, and modes of communication (e.g., written letters and notes, smartphone texts) during different historical eras.
... In addition to the study of some behaviors such as squatting down next to the table (Davis, et al., 1998;Lynn & Mynier, 1993), putting words of thanks on the back of the invoice (Rind & Bordia, 1996;Rind & Strohmetz,1999), touching customers, (Gueguen & Jacob, 2005;Lynn, et al.1998,( and provide sweets for clients, (Strohmetz, et al. 2002), are all useful ploys. Saayman (2014) refers to three main components affecting the decision of a customer to pay a tip, these are social, demographic and behavioral factors of the service provider and some external factors. ...
The main aim of this hypothetical study was to clarify the impact of the head scarf (Hijab) of a Muslim waitress on tipping behavior in restaurants and the degree of acceptance the waitress gained based on her image when she is wearing the headscarf (Hijab) or when she is not. also The study also explored the impact of gender, job title and age variables relating to women. The study was conducted on a sample of the staff and members of faculty at Yarmouk University in northern Jordan, and the sample comprised 826 people who responded to an online survey. The study concluded that there is a clear influence of the head scarf (Hijab) on tips where the waitress with a head scarf (hijab) tended to receive greater tips than a waitress without one on. Members of the study sample were more accepting to the image of the head scarfed waitress (with hijab). The study also showed that male members of the teaching staff and the older age groups paid more to the head scarfed waitress (with hijab) and they showed more acceptance to the image of the waitress with hijab, thus showing reasonable acceptable cultural bias. The study recommended that females in Jordanian society need to know that their head scarves will not hinder their work in the restaurant sector and that they will likely be more acceptable and will probably gain a larger share of tips, due to the fact that the Jordanian society have shown attention to the waitress with head scarf (hijab) at the expense of the one without a hijab. The study recommends the necessity for conducting more studies on the Arab environment to investigate other behaviors and variables that have other influences on tips and for expanding the scope of the study.
... Past studies have indeed shown that practice and feedback are two key ingredients of effective learning (Salas, Tannenbaum, Kraiger, & Smith-Jentsch, 2012;Taylor, Russ-Eft, & Chan, 2005). Roleplays and active discussions were applied precisely for 12 tip-enhancing behaviors: introducing oneself by name (Garrity & Degelman, 1990), repeating the customers' orders (Van Baaren, 2005), smiling (Tidd & Lockard, 1978), complimenting the customer (Seiter, 2007), squatting next to the table (Lynn & Mynier, 1993), standing at a close distance (Jacob & Guéguen, 2012), calling customers by their name (Seiter & Weger, 2013), upselling (Butler & Snizek, 1976), touching the customer (Crusco & Wetzel, 1984), giving a second candy (Strohmetz et al., 2002), drawing on the check (Rind & Bordia, 1996), writing "thank you" on the check (Rind & Bordia, 1995). ...
Previous studies have shown that restaurant employees who use tip-enhancing behaviors such as smiling, introducing oneself by one’s name or writing “thank you” on the bill receive more tips. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of a training intervention about tip-enhancing behaviors on the amount of tips received by restaurant employees. The sample of this study comprised 143 employees working in 62 restaurants. Sixty-nine participants took part in the training intervention and 74 were in the control condition. After the training intervention, the amount of tips received by the employees was tracked over 5 days. Results showed that participants who followed the training intervention used more tip-enhancing behaviors than the participants in the control group, that a higher use of tip-enhancing behaviors was related to higher amount of tips and that the effect of the training intervention on the amount of tips was fully mediated by an increase in the use of tip-enhancing behaviors.
... Various authors have found that several other factors influence the tipping decision (Azar 2010;Saunders & Lynn 2010;Becker, Bradley & Zantow 2012;Lynn 2015;Saayman & Saayman 2015). Rind and Bordia (1996) and Rind and Strohmetz (1999) divided tipping behaviour into the following three basic categories: the characteristics of the customer, the characteristics of the server/waiter(ess) and, lastly, the interaction between the server and the characteristics of the customer. Saayman (2014) added another category, namely external factors (e.g. ...
The literature on dining and tipping behaviour has focused mostly on the United States of America (USA), while minimal research has been conducted in African countries. While there is a negative and grounded perception surrounding black diners being poor tippers in the USA, hardly any research has focused on the dining or tipping behaviour of this dining market from a developing country perspective. The intention of this exploratory research was to fill the current knowledge gap by segmenting black South Africans on the basis of their motives for dining out and to determine the differences in the dining and tipping behaviour of the different segments. To target potential black diners, a visitor survey was conducted at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival. A total of 256 usable questionnaires were returned and included in the analysis. Socialisation, gastronomy enjoyment, lifestyle and escape and status were identified as the four motives for dining out. Based on these motives, different black dining segments were identified and an OSI (Occasionalists, Socialisers and Indulgers) typology of diners proposed. The dining and tipping behaviour of these dining segments are furthermore influenced by several factors, with clear implications for both the server and restaurateurs. The results shed light on the dining and tipping behaviour of black South African diners and showed that this dining market cannot be regarded as bad tippers.
... This assumption finds support in psychological studies on tipping behaviour that show that smiling service personnel receive significantly larger tips than non-smiling personnel (Davis, Schrader, Richardson, Kring, & Kieffer, 1998). These effects on payment behaviour occur even when the smile is not displayed by the service person him-or herself but is provided on the service check by way of an emoji (Rind & Bordia, 1996). ...
Firms widely use smiling models to create a positive background setting for advertisements. This study assesses the various effects of smiling in print advertisements across different stages of consumer decision-making, while also considering interaction effects between the genders of models and viewers. Empirical evidence comes from 175,647 consumer evaluations of 421 real advertisements across a broad spectrum of product categories (22). Beyond gender, a smiling model not only effects a positive attitude change but also influences a product's integration into a relevant set and a consumer's purchase intention. For female consumers, a smiling model of the same gender exerts a greater influence on positive brand attitude change and on purchase intention. Advertisers should avoid using non-smiling male models when targeting female consumers. In contrast, smiling models of both genders can positively influence male consumer reaction, while use of a female model should be avoided during the early stages.
... Tipping has always been a controversial social convention, for both scholars and the public. The practice has been consistently tied to the worst of human nature: racism, sexism, and classism [2][3][4][5]. At many points in time, tipping has been considered downright anti-democratic [6]. ...
The custom of voluntarily tipping for services rendered has gone in and out of fashion in America since its introduction in the 19th century. Restaurant owners that ban tipping in their establishments often claim that social justice drives their decisions, but we show that rational profit-maximization may also justify the decisions. Here, we propose a conceptual model of restaurant competition for staff and customers, and we show that there exists a critical conventional tip rate at which restaurant owners should eliminate tipping to maximize profit. Because the conventional tip rate has been increasing steadily for the last several decades, our model suggests that restaurant owners may abandon tipping en masse when that critical tip rate is reached.
... Another study found that writing 'thank you' on the back of the check increased tip percentage (Rind & Bordia, 1995). Also, Rind and Bordia (1996) discovered that when a female server drew a smiley face on the back of the check, her tip percentage increased, but when a male server drew a smiley face on the back of the check, his tip percentage decreased because his behavior was viewed as gender-inappropriate. Furthermore, Strohmetz, Rind, Fisher, and Lynn (2002) discovered that presenting candy with the check caused diners to tip more. In another study, Guéguen (2002) found that presenting a consumer with a joke card at the time of bill delivery increased tip percentage. ...
... Caution should be taken, however, when generalizing these results to the broader domain of consumer behavior, as the topic of these studies was tipping behavior in particular. As tipping behavior may be liable to, for instance, social desirability or costumer experiences (Rind and Bordia, 1996) and also willingness to spend (Kim et al., 2009), more research is necessary to determine the types of consumer behavior for which self-persuasion proves effective. For instance, self-persuasion might be a particularly worthwhile tool for persuading highly involved consumers. ...
Purpose
This paper seeks to demonstrate that self-persuasion can be used as a marketing technique to increase consumers’ generosity and that the efficacy of this approach is dependent on consumers’ involvement with the target behavior.
Design/Methodology/Approach
An experimental field-study was conducted to investigate the effects of self-persuasion vs. direct persuasion attempts vs. no persuasion attempts on consumers’ tipping behavior in a lunchroom. Additionally, in a lab experiment the moderating role of involvement on self-persuasion vs. direct persuasion was tested.
Findings
The results reveal that self-persuasion is more effective than direct persuasion attempts or no persuasive messages in increasing consumers’ generosity. This is moderated by consumers’ involvement with the target behavior: For consumers with high involvement, self-persuasion is more effective than direct persuasion, while no differences were found for consumers with moderate or low involvement.
Practical Implications
The scope of self-persuasion is not limited to the inhibition of undesired behavior, but does also extend to the facilitation of desired behavior, which considerably broadens the scope of this technique. Self-persuasion might be used as a marketing technique to influence consumers’ purchase behavior. This might be particularly viable in situations in which consumers feel high involvement with products or behavior.
Originality/Value
Recently, research in health psychology demonstrated that self-persuasion is a very effective way of inhibiting undesired, addictive behavior, and being more successful than direct persuasion. Yet, insufficient is known about the efficacy of self-persuasion with regard to promoting other target behaviors. In particular, its potential as marketing technique to influence consumers’ behavior and its boundary conditions are still understudied.
... For example, Resnick and Schwartz (1973) found that completely informing participants about all parts of their study reduced the participants' incentive to take part. Furthermore, Rind and Bordia (1996) did not get the consent of the customers of the restaurant used in their study. Waiters were asked to put happy faces or unhappy faces on the backs of receipts to see which gained more tips and whether there was a difference between the male and female waiters. ...
When studying for a mathematics degree, it has been shown students have great difficulty working with proof (Moore, 1994). Yet, to date, there has been surprisingly little research into how we could improve the way students study mathematical proofs. Furthermore, there is relatively less research on students' proof comprehension skills when compared with that of their proof construction skills (Ramos and Inglis, 2009).
The aim of this thesis was therefore to build upon the existing proof comprehension literature to determine methods of improving undergraduate proof comprehension. Previously, text based manipulations (e.g. Leron, 1985; Rowland, 2001; Alcock, 2009a) have been tested as a way of improving proof comprehension but these have often not been as successful as we would have liked. However, an alternative method, called self-explanation training, has been shown to be successful at improving comprehension of texts in other fields (Chi et al., 1989; Wong et al., 2002; Rittle-Johnson, 2006; Ainsworth and Burcham, 2007).
This thesis reports three studies that investigate the effects of self-explanation training on proof comprehension. The first study confirmed the findings of previous self-explanation training research in other fields. Students in the study who received the self-explanation training showed a significantly greater understanding of the proof text compared to that of a control group.
Study 2 used eye-tracking analysis to show that self-explanation training actually changed the way students in the study read proofs; they concentrated harder on the proof (as measured by mean fixation durations), and made more between-line transitions.
The final study revealed that self-explanation training can be implemented into a genuine pedagogical setting with relative ease and also showed the positive effects on proof comprehension last for a longer term of three weeks.
From the findings of the research reported in this thesis it can be concluded that many students who participated in these studies appeared to have the knowledge required to understand proofs, it is perhaps they just needed some guidance on how to apply their knowledge. Self-explanation training appears to do this as it significantly improved proof comprehension in the short-term as well as offering longer-term benefits. More research will be needed to confirm these findings, given that the studies here involved participants from only one UK university on what would be considered as typical mathematics degree courses for the UK. However, these findings are promising and provide the foundation for improvements in undergraduate proof comprehension.
... Preglednica 1: Rast napitnine glede na posamezne aktivnosti natakarjev avtor raziskave Aktivnost za povečanje povprečje napitnine Porast napitnine napitnine izhodišče raziskava v % 1 Rodrigue (1999) natakar pozdravi gosta po imenu 14% 15% 10% 2 Rind in Bordia (1996) natakar napiše na račun "Hvala" 16% 18% 13% 3 Stillman in Hensley (1980) dodatki k obleki $ 1,50 $ 1,75 17% ...
Namen tega prispevka je spodbuditi natakarje k razmišljanju, o pomenu programov usposabljanja za kvalitetnejšo storitev in posledično pridobivanje višjih napitnin. V članku so obširneje podani, iz različnih raziskav, zbrani načini za povečevanja napitnin. Cilj te raziskave je bil na enem mestu zbrati korelacije med vedenji zaposlenih na eni strani in možnostmi za povečevanje prihodka natakarjev iz napitnin. V ozadju tega cilja je bil predvsem opažen pojav da kvalitetna storitev postavlja pogoje za povečevanje prihodkov iz napitnin. Napitnina namreč natakarjem predstavlja velik del njihovih prihodkov, zato je poznavanje načinov na njeno povečevanje, še toliko bolj pomembno. Seveda pa je poznavanje šele temelj k nadaljnjim aktivnostim. Potrebno je namreč zaposlene tudi usposobiti, da bodo tovrstne načine uporabljali pri vsakodnevnem delu z gosti. Dokazano je namreč, da tisti zaposleni, ki jih vsakodnevno uporabljajo pri svojem delu, prejmejo višje napitnine.
... However, research actually examining nonverbal behavior and customer service has not progressed much past the "service with a smile" notion. Specifically, there is some evidence that "positive" and more "immediate" nonverbal behaviors by sales and service workers (e.g., smiling, eye contact) are associated with a more positive experience by customers, even to the extent of leading to larger tips for smiling as opposed to unsmiling waitresses (Tidd & Lockard, 1979) --with the effect carrying over to smiling faces drawn by the waitperson on the check (Rind & Bordia, 1996). An interesting study by Davis et al. (1998) suggested that it may indeed be cues of immediacy that are important, as waitpersons who crouched down to the customers' table level received higher tips than upright standing waitpersons. ...
... The few studies examining this practice have found support for the effect. Specifically, writing "thank you" on the check was shown to increase tip size by 11 per cent (Rind and Bordia, 1995); providing a helpful message was shown to increase tips by 17 per cent (Rind and Strohmetz, 1999); providing patriotic messages was shown to increase tips by 28 per cent (Seiter and Gass, 2005); and drawing a picture of a "smiley face" was shown to increase tips for waitresses by 19 per cent (Rind and Bordia, 1996). ...
Research has shown that personalizing receipts, such as drawing “smiley faces” and writing “thank you” notes on customer bills to express gratitude, can result in larger tips for restaurant wait staff. Although the practice of receipt personalization has been supported using field experiments, limited research has examined the effectiveness of this technique based on the level of service quality provided by restaurant wait staff. Using a scenario-based approach, we found from this study that adding a personalized message significantly lowers tip percentages. Moreover, the negative effect is magnified when service quality fails to exceed customer expectations. Implications related to the findings are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
... Tipping has been the subject of numerous studies in social psychology and other disciplines (for a review, see Lynn, 2006). Much of this research has examined the effects on tipping of service (Lynn, 2003;Lynn & McCall, 2000) and of specific server behaviors, such as smiling at customers (Tidd & Lockard, 1978), touching customers (Crusco & Wetzel, 1984;Hornik, 1992;Lynn, Le, & Sherwyn, 1998), giving customers candy (Strohmetz, Rind, Fisher, & Lynn, 2002), squatting down next to the table (Davis et al., 1998;Lynn & Mynier, 1993) and writing or drawing on the check (Rind & Bordia, 1995, 1996Rind & Strohmetz, 1998, 2001. ...
A national telephone survey indicated that knowledge about the restaurant tipping norm is greater among people who are White, in their 40 s to 60 s, highly educated, wealthy, living in metropolitan areas, and living in the Northeast than among their counterparts. These findings support the idea that differential familiarity with tipping norms underlies geodemographic differences in tipping behavior. An educational campaign promoting the 15-20% restaurant tipping norm is needed to reduce geodemographic differences in tipping and to increase the willingness of waiters and waitresses to serve all customers equally.
... Because response rates in other tasks were low (e.g., less than 25% of infants provided responses), we focused our analyses on these three trials. 2 Past studies have conflated individual identity with category membership by utilizing only one exemplar of the category and drawing inferences about the entire category (e.g., one black person and one white person, Kinzler and Spelke, 2011; one male and one female, Rind and Bordia, 1996). Thus, it may be the case that those findings represent preferences for particular individuals, rather than preferences for particular social groups. ...
By 15 months of age infants are sensitive to violations of fairness norms as assessed via their enhanced visual attention to unfair versus fair outcomes in violation-of-expectation paradigms. The current study investigated whether 15-month-old infants select social partners on the basis of prior fair versus unfair behavior, and whether infants integrate social selections on the basis of fairness with the race of the distributors and recipients involved in the exchange. Experiment 1 demonstrated that after witnessing one adult distribute toys to two recipients fairly (2:2 distribution), and another adult distribute toys to two recipients unfairly (1:3 distribution), Caucasian infants selected fair over unfair distributors when both distributors were Caucasian; however, this preference was not present when the fair actor was Asian and the unfair actor was Caucasian. In Experiment 2, when fairness, the race of the distributor, and the race of the recipients were fully crossed, Caucasian infants’ social selections varied as a function of the race of the recipient advantaged by the unfair distributor. Specifically, infants were more likely to select the fair distributor when the unfair recipient advantaged the Asian (versus the Caucasian) recipient. These findings provide evidence that infants select social partners on the basis of prior fair behavior and that infants also take into account the race of distributors and recipients when making their social selections.
The shift from analog to digital point-of-sale systems (e.g., Square) and app-based service platforms (e.g., Uber) disrupted frontline services by creating new tipping processes that occur in an ever-expanding range of service contexts and involve new stakeholders. The increasing importance of tipping in the global economy and the uncertainty regarding tipping practices suggest the need for a comprehensive framework that accounts for evolving tipped service networks. We introduce the multi-stakeholder service journey lens to build a conceptual framework that accounts for the competing interests of customers, employees, frontline service managers, technology providers, and other stakeholders in emergent tipped services. This framework examines interactions between stakeholders at different points along the tipped service journey, while accounting for the technologies and contexts that shape stakeholder interactions and the sometimes divergent outcomes that result. Stakeholder interactions at each stage of the tipped service journey suggest theoretically rich research questions, such as "How do digital tipping technologies diffuse into and realign cultural practices?", and important practical questions, such as "Which tip request framing and formatting choices result in the highest tips, most customer satisfaction, and optimum employee outcomes?" Our conclusion emphasizes the importance of multi-stakeholder service journey perspectives for examining digitally-disrupted services.
Purpose
This research aimed to fill several gaps in the tipping literature which has overlooked the server's perspective in identifying and understanding variables that influence a tip amount and therefore where they concentrate their efforts during the service encounter. Furthermore, the extant literature has theorized how or why certain variables influence the tip amount, but these studies fail to capture insight from server's which would supplement the theory and provide a more in-depth understanding of the mechanisms at play.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts a grounded theory approach using semi-structured one-on-one interviews with tipped restaurant employees who were identified and selected using snowball sampling. Content analysis is employed to code and categorize the data.
Findings
The content analysis revealed five categories where servers focus their time and effort to earn tips: service quality, connection, personal factors, expertise and food quality. The server's personality was identified as a variable the tipping literature has largely ignored as a determinant of the tip amount. Server's shift their style of service for groups of eight or more people, and for regular customers, who must dine in the restaurant at least once per week. Lastly, despite the many drawbacks associated with working for tips, servers would not want to replace it with any other method of compensation.
Originality/value
This is the first qualitative study focused on understanding the server's role in the service exchange relationship since McCarty et al. (1990) study. The results provide new insights on the often-studied variables from the tipping literature.
Live streaming has enabled viewers to interact with broadcasters and peer viewers, as well as tip the broadcaster based on their emotional state. While most tips are small, a minority of viewers tip extremely large. To uncover such unique tipping patterns, we draw on the emotion literature and competitive arousal theory to examine how viewers’ emotional extremity affects tipping behavior and how broadcaster's emotional response moderates the baseline effect. This study contributes to the emerging live streaming literature by revealing the differential effects of emotional extremity on tipping amount and frequency and provides practical implications for broadcasters and platforms to steer tipping behavior.
With empirical insights gained across a series of studies, the current research examines the technology-facilitated preservice tipping encounter. Drawing on the tip-enhancing literature and the spatial crowding theory, this research reveals the divergent impacts of tip suggestion on consumers’ tipping behaviors and their satisfaction with the digital payment experience. Our findings show that, while effective in elevating tipping amount, the presence of tip suggestion can frustrate consumers and impose a detrimental impact on their satisfaction with the online payment experience. Particularly, this effect is contingent on the design of the digital payment page: The negative effect of tip suggestion on satisfaction with the payment experience is more profound when the digital payment page follows a crowded layout but mitigated when the layout is spacious. Findings from the current research offer timely contributions to theory and practice with an evolving perspective on the technology-facilitated preservice tipping encounter.
This study examines the Presenter’s Paradox in the context of customer–server interactions. Our findings from four studies suggest that, in response to service predicaments, restaurant servers frequently exhibit two tendencies that are misaligned with the preferences of their customers: they offer uninformative explanations to avoid revealing information that conveys an unfavorable impression, and they manage impressions on behalf of coworkers that cause service predicaments. These efforts lead to behaviors that do not satisfy the information needs of customers and result in less favorable financial outcomes (e.g., lower tips) for servers. This study contributes to the knowledge on impression management and customer service interactions.
Recently developed statistical tools are used to assess the evidential value and replicability of the published experimental literature on ways to increase tips. Significantly right-skewed full and half p-curves indicate that the literature is more than a collection of Type 1 errors – it provides evidence of real effects. Moreover, those real effects are scattered across both replicated and non-replicated effects as well as across the work of each of the major contributors to this literature. An overall r-index of 0.55 indicates that over half of the reported effects would likely be replicated if the studies were repeated. More research is need to ascertain the reliability of specific effects – especially those reported by Gueguen, because lower power makes his effects less replicable than others in the literature. Nevertheless, readers can be reasonably confident that most of the techniques for increasing tips in this literature will work.
Verbal communication is the main form of personal interaction. This article presents evidence for the positive role of service staff’s verbalized hospitality on consumer behaviour. The principal aim of the study was to explore the effect of verbal attention on making additional purchases and tipping behaviour in three different countries (Sweden, England, and Serbia). Moreover, research investigated whether server gender, customer gender, and group size moderate the relationship between verbal attention, additional purchase, and tipping behaviour. For the purpose of the study, servers in casual dining restaurants either paid special verbal attention to group diners, or did not do so, before asking target questions. The results show that group diners in verbal attention conditions make additional purchases and leave tips more often. While group size moderates the relationship between verbal attention and additional purchase and tipping behaviour, such role was not confirmed in the case of server gender and customer gender. The theoretical and practical implications of verbal interaction between servers and customers are discussed, as well as differences in three analysed countries.
This article investigates whether customers perceive receiving better service from same-gender service providers or from opposite-gender service providers. It also examines how occupational stereotyping and cultural values influence the perceived quality of service in eight industries. Based on 1,180 respondents from four counties, insights are provided on the effects of gender, occupational stereotyping, and culture on service quality. The study found significant gender and cultural effects on service quality and significant interaction effects of gender and culture. It was also determined that occupational stereotyping and culture significantly affect perceived service quality within each culture, which could have important managerial implications.
This study adopts social stigma theory and examines whether biases toward different types of foods and restaurants exist and, consequently, whether such biases influence gratuities. A 2 × 3 experiment was conducted in order to compare the relative impacts on tip size among samples from scenarios featuring different types of cuisines and different types of restaurants while controlling for food quality and service quality. With a focus on tipping behaviors and the restaurant industry, this study confirms that diners do have stereotypes in regard to cuisine that represents different cultures. Gender and income also played moderating roles in our findings.
Tipping has become a unilateral gratification paid by the client reciprocating the service provider for a good service, to a moral obligation to a service that sometimes does not comply with quality standards. Even though it is true that in some countries the tip is mandatory based on a percentage of the account payable, regardless of the service received, in other countries it is not. However, in countries like Mexico it is customary to pay it based on a percentage and sometimes this percentage depends on the quality of the service received. Mexican legislation does not make tipping mandatory, but the border areas live in a mix of Mexican and American cultures and traditions, making tips a percentage of the consumption.
Resumen Las propinas se han convertido en una gratificación unilateral pagado por el cliente al proveedor de servicios por un buen servicio, esta situación es una obligación moral de un servicio que a veces no cumple con los estándares de calidad. Si bien en algunos países la pauta es obligatoria basado en un porcentaje en la cuenta por pagar, independientemente del servicio recibido, en otros países no lo es. Sin embargo, en países como México se acostumbra a pagar en base a un porcentaje condicionado a la atención recibida. La legislación mexicana no la considera obligatoria, pero en las regiones fronterizas se viven una mezcla cultural entre lo mexicano y estadounidense, que redunda en un porcentaje con también con base al consumo y la tradición.
The present experiment attempted to determine whether or not the modeling effect reported in the helping-behavior literature could be used to enhance tipping behavior. In 5 bakeries, confederates who were placed ahead of a subject were instructed to give (or not) some money to the employee. The subsequent behavior of 300 subjects was then observed and the money given to the employee was also evaluated. Results showed that a tipping-model led the subject to more readily give a tip to the employee. It was also observed that the mean of tipping was significantly greater in the modeling condition than in the control condition.
van Baaren et al. (2003) found that a waitress who mimicked their patrons by repeating their order received significantly larger tips. In this study, we tried to replicate these results by testing the effect of repetition after a delay between the customer's initial order and the repetition. A waitress was instructed to mimic or not half of their customers by repeating their order verbatim when she brought the order to the table. Mimicry increased the frequency in tipping and the amount of money left by the customers.
Some studies have shown that figurative cues, presented in the immediate environment of an individual, affect his/her later behavior. This effect was studied in a tipping behavior context. In three restaurants, each bill was placed under a dish, which had a cardioid shape, a round shape, or a square shape. Results showed that more tips were left in the bill dish with the cardioid shape. The activation spreading theory is used to explain these results.
This study examined whether different forms of address used by food servers were related to customers' tipping behavior. Food servers addressed diners who paid with credit cards by their first names, titles plus last names, sir/ma'am, or no address. Results indicated that when food servers personalized their service by addressing their customers by name, they earned significantly higher tips than when they used less immediate forms of address, although customers' estimated age mediated these results.
Convention hotels with large kitchens and dining facilities contribute significantly to culinary sciences as laboratories for product and service innovations. In foodservice operations, services are intricately interrelated with tipping. However, the nature of tipping, rate of tipping, and effect of external and internal factors on tipping vary significantly across political and cultural boundaries as well as across types of foodservice operations. The current study investigates the role of employee gender in explaining the relationship between a hotel department and tip rates recorded using a secondary data set collected from a convention hotel. The results indicate that even within a hotel, tipping rates vary between the departments. Gender of an employee was also found to be an important factor. Relatively higher gender differences were noted between the in-room service department and bars with reference to tipping.
Some studies have shown that exposure to fortuitous information can influence individuals' behavior. In this study, customers in two restaurants were exposed, or not, to an altruism-related quote written on their bill. A significant increase in tipping behavior was found from both male and female patrons who had been exposed to the altruism quotes. Activation spreading theory was used to explain these results.
Conducted 2 field studies on the relationship of weather variables to helping behavior. In Study 1 (540 adult Ss), which was executed in the spring and summer and subsequently replicated in the winter, the amount of sunshine reaching the earth was found to be a strong predictor of an S's willingness to assist an interviewer. Smaller relationships were also found between helping and temperature, humidity, wind velocity, and lunar phase. Exp II was conducted indoors with 130 dining parties to control for comfort factors. Sunshine, lunar phase, and S's age and sex were found to predict the generosity of the tip left for a restaurant waitress. Sunshine and temperature were also significantly related to the 6 waitresses' self-reports of mood. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Tipping differs from most economic transactions in that consumers who tip are paying a nonobligatory amount for a service that has already been received. Academic research on this unique yet pervasive consumer behavior has focused on the determinants of individuals' tipping decisions. Little attention has been directed at macrolevel issues such as cross-country differences in tipping practices and norms. This article addresses this deficiency by presenting and testing the theory that crosscountry differences in the prevalence of tipping reflect cross-country differences in values. Results of the study generally support the theory.
Tactile behavior is a basic communication form as well as an expression of interpersonal involvement. This article presents three studies offering evidence for the positive role of casual interpersonal touch on consumer behavior. More specifically, it provides initial support for the view that tactile stimulation in various consumer behavior situations enhances the positive feeling for and evaluation of both the external stimuli and the touching source. Further, customers touched by a requester tend to comply more than customers in no-touch conditions. Implications for consumer behavior theory and research are discussed. Copyright 1992 by the University of Chicago.
Conducted 2 field studies on the relationship of weather variables to helping behavior. In Study 1 (540 adult Ss), which was executed in the spring and summer and subsequently replicated in the winter, the amount of sunshine reaching the earth was found to be a strong predictor of an S's willingness to assist an interviewer. Smaller relationships were also found between helping and temperature, humidity, wind velocity, and lunar phase. Exp II was conducted indoors with 130 dining parties to control for comfort factors. Sunshine, lunar phase, and S's age and sex were found to predict the generosity of the tip left for a restaurant waitress. Sunshine and temperature were also significantly related to the 6 waitresses' self-reports of mood. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).
Two explanations for the effects of alcohol on prosocial behavior-that is, mood enhancement and cognitive impairment-suggest that restaurant diners should tip more when they have consumed alcohol than when they have not. However, previous attempts to find a relationship between percent tip and alcohol consumption have failed. This failure may be due to statistical problems associated with using percent tip as a measure of tipping. This article reports a study that uses as a dependent variable residuals from a regression of bill size on tip amount. The results of this study indicate that alcohol consumption is positively related to tipping.
The amount tipped by 396 groups of restaurant diners was a function of the number of people eating together as well as the size of the bill. One-third of the variability in tipping was explained by the norm that tip should equal 15% of bill. In addition, consistent with a new theory of division of responsibility, variation around this norm was an inverse power function of group size, specifically, 18%/N'22.
An Emotionality Survey was developed to assess sex differences in three dimensions of emotion: covert responding, interpersonal expression, and attitudes toward responses and expressions. Situational determinants of responses were also investigated. Within each of these areas, four types of emotion were distinguished: anger, fear, joy, and sadness. In general, females exceeded males in reported emotionality, but sex differences varied as a function of dimension and type of emotion. Differences were greatest for interpersonal expression, and for fear and sadness. Females also reported more of an interpersonal basis for their emotional responses. The findings suggest a sex difference in the functional significance of emotion, and support a multidimensional approach to the investigation of sex differences in emotionality.
Tested the effect on tipping of a female waitress touching the male patron, the female patron, or neither patron, using 112 pairs of restaurant customers. Results show the average tip in the female condition was 15%, the average tip in the male condition was 13%, and the average tip in the no-touch condition was 11%. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Tested whether smiling could accrue monetary returns. Two degrees of smiling to 96 single adult men and women by a waitress in a cocktail lounge (a college student confederate) were evaluated in terms of number of drinks ordered, size of tip, and whether the customers smiled upon departure. A broad smile reaped more money than a minimal smile and more from the men than from women patrons. Results are discussed in terms of reciprocal altruism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Since its origins in 18th-century English pubs, tipping has become a custom involving numerous professions and billions of dollars. Knowledge of the psychological factors underlying tipping would benefit service workers, service managers, and customers alike. Two studies were conducted to provide such knowledge about restaurant tipping. The percent tipped in these studies was related to group size, the customer's gender, the method of payment (cash or credit), and in some cases, the size of the bill. Tipping was not related to service quality, waitperson's efforts, waitperson's gender, restaurant's atmosphere, or restaurant's food.
The effect of server posture (standing vs. squatting) on the size of tip left by restaurant customers was examined in two naturalistic experiments. In these studies, squatting down next to the tables increased servers’ tips from those tables. Both the practical implications of this effect and its similarity to other nonverbal effects on tipping are discussed.
Ratios of one variable over another are frequently used in social psychological research in order to control for a linear relationship between the numerator and the denominator. However, the use of ratio variables can introduce spuriousness into data analyses. This article provides a description and explanation of the problem of spuriousness in ratio correlations and it illustrates this problem with research on restaurant tipping.
The present study examined the effects of two types of touch in a controlled but natural setting, a restaurant. Waitresses briefly touched customers either on the hand or the shoulder as they were returning change. Customers' reactions were assessed by a restaurant survey and a novel behavioral measure, the tip expressed as a percentage of the bill. The tipping rate for the two types of touch did not differ from each other and did not differ according to the customer's gender. Both tipping rates were significantly larger than a control, no-touch condition. There were no touch effects on ratings of the waitress, the restaurant's atmosphere, or the dining experience. It was concluded that touch effects can occur without awareness, and that males will not react more negatively to touch than females when the touch is unobtrusive or free of status and dependency connotations.
The effect of a server introducing herself by name on restaurant tipping was investigated. Forty-two, 2-person dining parties were randomly assigned to either a name or a no name introduction condition. The use of a buffet brunch reduced contact between server and diners and held bill size constant. Results indicated that having the server introduce herself by name resulted in a significantly higher tipping rate (23.4%) than when the server did not introduce herself by name (15.0%), p < .001. Tipping rate also was affected by method of payment, with diners who charged the meal having a higher rate (22.6%) than those paying cash (15.9%), p < .001. The findings suggest the importance of initial server-diner interactions. Possible alternative explanations and suggestions for future research are provided.
Servers in restaurants frequently use the tactic of writing “thank you” on the backs of checks before delivering them to dining parties. Servers also frequently personalize their interaction with dining parties by signing their first name below the gratitude message. The effectiveness of these tactics in increasing tips was examined. In a field experiment conducted in an upscale restaurant in a large Northeastern city, a server wrote on the backs of the checks either nothing, “thank you,” or “thank you” plus her first name. The addition of “thank you” increased tip percentages, although personalization by adding her first name had no effect. It was concluded that the commonly employed low-cost tactic of expressing gratitude to customers by writing “thank you” on the check can produce a worthwhile return.
Tip or treat: A study of factors affecting tipping behavior.Unpublished master's thesis
- J M May
May, J. M. (1978). Tip or treat: A study of factors affecting tipping behavior. Unpublished master's thesis, Loyola University of Chicago, IL.
Tipping practices of American households in restaurants and other eating places: 1985-1986.Summary report to the IRS under contract TIR 86-279 with the
- R B Pearl
Pearl, R. B., & Vidman, J. (1988). Tipping practices of American households in restaurants and other eatingplaces: 1985-1986. Summary report to the IRS under contract TIR 86-279 with the Survey Research Laboratory, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL.
Effect of server's " thank you " and personaliza-tion on restaurant tipping Tips: The mainstay of many hotel workers' pay
- B Rind
- P Bordia
Rind, B., & Bordia, P. (1995). Effect of server's " thank you " and personaliza-tion on restaurant tipping. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 25, 745-75 1. Schmidt, D. G. (1985). Tips: The mainstay of many hotel workers' pay. Monthly Labor Review, 108,50-61.
Unpublished master's thesis
- J M May