The Principle of Reciprocity in Hospitality Contexts: The Relationship Between Tipping Behavior and Food Servers’ Approaches to Handling Leftovers

Authors

John S. Seiter, Utah State UniversityFollow
Harry Weger, University of Central Florida

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research

Volume

42

Issue

2

Publication Date

12-11-2014

First Page

287

Last Page

294

Abstract

Based on the norm of reciprocity, this study hypothesized that food servers would earn higher tips when they boxed customers’ leftovers compared to having customers box leftovers themselves. In addition, the effect of writing messages (i.e., the date and/or customer’s name) on boxes of leftovers was explored. Two female food servers waited on 608 diners and boxed or did not box leftovers, and wrote or did not write messages on boxes. The hypothesis was supported. However, writing messages was not associated with tipping behavior.

Recommended Citation

Seiter, John S. and Weger, Harry, "The Principle of Reciprocity in Hospitality Contexts: The Relationship Between Tipping Behavior and Food Servers’ Approaches to Handling Leftovers" (2014). Languages, Philosophy, and Communication Studies Faculty Publications. Paper 477.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/lpsc_facpub/477