Service sweethearting: An effective way to increase tips?

Abstract

Survey research suggests that a common tactic servers use to increase their tips is to comp (or fail to charge for) a portion of customers’ food orders. An online hypothetical scenario study found that this tactic does result in larger absolute tip amounts. The effect was fully mediated by the comp’s enhancement of the tipper’s feelings of happiness, luckiness, and gratitude. These positive affective reactions to the comp enhanced tips even though the comp lowered the bill size upon which consumers based their tip amounts. These findings suggest that restaurant managers cannot rely upon consumer perceptions of unexpected comps as unethical or as attempts at manipulation to keep them from rewarding such employee theft. Nor can managers rely upon the percentage tipping norm together with the lower bill sizes created by such give-aways to provide disincentives for this form of employee theft.