Do tipping motivations predict loyalty to the server in a restaurant?

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether guests’ tipping motivations (i.e. server quality, social norm and food quality) and demographic characteristics (i.e. gender, age and income) influence loyalty to the server in a restaurant. Design/methodology/approach Based on a national online survey consumer panel comprised of 468 participants, the authors utilized decision tree using R statistical software. Predictor variables were tipping motivations and demographic characteristics (age, gender and income). Target variable was loyalty to the server. Findings The findings suggest that social norm, food quality and income influence customers’ loyalty toward the same server on future visits. Social norm turned out to be the strongest predictor. If consumers did not have high social norm on tipping, their loyalty toward a particular server was affected by the combination of determinants such as server quality, social norm, income and food quality. Research limitations/implications Future research can identify or develop scales of tipping motivations with stronger reliabilities in the context of restaurants. Future research can also explore other demographic differences (e.g. ethnicity and sexual orientation) in tipping motivations and server loyalty. Practical implications Servers are indeed the primary contact point and they are in the most influential position with consumers. Overall, results of this study provide an interesting insight in that restaurant guests’ experience can be ruined by bad quality of food or can be mitigated by server quality. Thus, this research highlights a step-by-step process as to the actions that a server may perform and manage in order to enhance server loyalty. Originality/value Loyalty has been examined in the context of products, brands or service providers. This study focuses on loyalty toward a specific server, because the consideration of server–guest relationship provides both a compelling and timely area of study in that restaurants continue to look for unique ways to drive server–guest rapport and customer loyalty.

Smiling for tips? Will restaurant servers’ actions affect customers’ emotional contagion and tipping behavior?

“…Whaley et al (2019b) found that if consumers did not have a high social norm on tipping, their loyalty toward a particular server was impacted by a combination of determinants, such as server quality and social norm. Lynn (2015) found that individual differences in each of these motives for tipping predict the LT, uncertainty about the general LT and/or tip sizes among those who tip.…”

“…There are only few studies that incorporate the concept of social compliance with EC in the study of restaurant customer tipping behavior. One of the exceptions is Whaley et al (2019b) who use the term social norm instead of social compliance. The result of the study indicates that social norm is the leading contributor to use the same server in the future.…”

Personal and Social Tipping Norms: Race and Sex Differences

“…Tipping is poorly-related (Lee, 2015), unrelated (Lee, 2015), or positively-correlated with the service received (Whaley et al, 2014). The personal connection that the server forms with guests during the restaurant experience is a crucial motivator in consumers' willingness to return and engage in post-consumption behaviors (Whaley, Lee, & Kim, 2019).…”

Attitudes to Tipping

“…Tipping has attracted the attention of economists (Azar, 2005(Azar, , 2020, psy-chologists (Furnham, 2014;Guéguen, 2002), and particularly those in the hospitality and tourism business (Aydin & Acun, 2019;Gössling et al, 2020;Harris, 1995;Karabas & Joireman, 2020;Harris, 1995;Lynn, 2008Lynn, , 2018Lynn, , 2021Whaley et al, 2014Whaley et al, , 2019aWhaley et al, , 2019b. It is related to growing multidisciplinary literature on the psychology of money (Furnham, 1984(Furnham, , 1996(Furnham, , 2014Furnham & Grover, 2020, 2021Furnham & Murphy, 2019;Furnham & Horne, 2021;Furnham et al, 2012Furnham et al, , 2014aFurnham et al, , 2014b.…”