The Tipping Quiz Tool

Lynn, Michael

The Tipping Quiz Tool

Abstract

National surveys indicate that about one-third of the adult population in this country is unaware that they are expected to tip 15 to 20 percent of the bill in restaurants. Knowledge about the restaurant tipping norm is even lower for some groups of people (such as foreigners and ethnic minorities) and in some geographic regions. This represents a problem for restaurant managers because people who are unaware of the restaurant tipping norm generally tip less than those who are familiar with it and the small tips left by the former group can lower server morale, discourage servers from giving good service to those customers, and increase server turnover. To avoid or reduce these problems, restaurant mangers should educate their customers about appropriate tipping behavior, but must do so in a way that customers do not find irritating or threatening. To help managers accomplish this task, I have developed a short quiz about tipping that can be put on table tents or menu inserts. Questions designed to increase customers awareness of tipping norms and their importance are intermixed with other interesting and fun questions about tipping and the answers to all questions are provided. Thus, customers taking this quiz should learn about appropriate tipping behavior as natural consequence of having fun taking the quiz, checking their answers, and comparing their scores with others at the table.

Date Issued

2006-03-02

Keywords

Cornell; tools; gratuity; tips; servers; sales

Rights

Required Publisher Statement: © Cornell University. This report may not be reproduced or distributed without the express permission of the publisher.

Types

article