Persuasion by Way of Example: Does Including Gratuity Guidelines on Customers’ Checks Affect Tipping Behavior in Restaurants?

Authors

John S. Seiter, Utah State UniversityFollow
Garett M. Brownlee
Matthew Sanders

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Journal of Applied Social Psychology

Volume

41

Issue

1

Publisher

Wiley

Publication Date

1-1-2011

First Page

150

Last Page

159

Abstract

This study examined the role of gratuity guidelines on tipping behavior in restaurants. When diners were finished with their meals, they were given checks that either did or did not include calculated examples informing them what various percentages of their bill would amount to. Results indicated that parties who received the gratuity examples left significantly higher tips than did those receiving no examples. These results and their implications are discussed.

Comments

*undergraduate student; **graduate student

Recommended Citation

Seiter, J. S., *Brownlee, G. M., & Sanders, M. (2011). Persuasion by Way of Example: Does Including Gratuity Guidelines on Customers’ Checks Affect Tipping Behavior in Restaurants? The Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 41 (1), 150-159.