Does Weather Actually Affect Tipping? An Empirical Analysis of Time‐Series Data¹

Abstract

Prior literature has found evidence that pleasant weather (namely, sunshine) leads to higher tipping rates, presumably because it improves the moods of either servers or patrons. However, studies examining the relationship between pleasant weather and tipping behavior have involved relatively small samples of participants and daily observations. In addition, only one such study (Cunningham, 1979) used actual weather data to examine this relationship. We address these shortcomings by testing empirically the weather–tipping relationship on 2 years of actual sales data from a busy restaurant. We found no statistically significant relationship between sunshine and tipping. Tipping appears to be better explained as an institutional standard or norm, rather than as a prosocial behavior that can be modulated by weather‐induced changes in mood.

Taxicab tipping and sunlight

“…Other studies have relied on either actual or fake weather reported by the service workers [ 14 ] or the effects of future weather expectations on current restaurant tipping [ 13 ]. Recently, using two-year data from a single restaurant, Flynn and Greenberg [ 15 ] found no association between sunlight and tipping. Despite extensions from Cunningham [ 3 ], Rind [ 14 ], and Rind and Strohmetz [ 13 ], Flynn and Greenberg [ 15 ] studied tipping levels at the daily level.…”

“…Below, we briefly review this literature. For a more detailed review of tipping literature, we refer readers to [ 15 , 27 , 28 ].…”

“…Weather has been shown to influence stock market returns [ 7 ], prices paid at art auctions in London [ 9 ], car purchases [ 10 ], returns of products purchased from catalogs [ 11 ], worker productivity [ 3 ], loan decisions [ 12 ], and the assessment of a company’s earnings reports [ 3 ], among others. Sunny days induce a positive mood, and a positive mood could potentially increase tipping [ 5 , 13 – 15 ]. Some studies have found support for the relationship between sunlight and tipping [ 16 – 18 ], whereas others have found no association [ 19 ].…”

“…Past work on tipping shows that service providers play an important role in altering tipping behavior. Gestures, tone, affect, and actions of restaurant servers have a strong effect on tips [ 1 , 15 ]. In taxicabs, the effects of such behaviors and actions are limited except possibly for tone and the nature of the occasional conversation between cab drivers and customers.…”

Preventive and Proactive Coping with Bad Weather in Outdoor Sports: A Measurement Proposal

“…Research on the influence of atmospheric conditions on functioning indicate that weather phenomena such as heat waves, cold temperatures, violent winds and barometric pressure create difficult situations for the individual, exceeding the scope of his/her normal functioning [15,16,[29][30][31][32]. Theories of adventure sports do explain persuasively why people seek risk in outdoor sports, but do not explain how athletes are able to cope with the stress or injury associated with harsh weather.…”