- Social pressure is one of the common reasons we tip.
- Social psychologist and tipping expert Michael Lynn explained what makes us leave higher gratuities.
It's a Monday morning and you're ordering your caffè Americano as you do every morning, but as you tap your credit card, a new prompt pops up on the screen asking if you'd like to add a tip.
A tip for a $3.50 coffee that takes approximately three minutes to make.
It may just be a few cents, but now you're standing at the counter – as the barista looks back at you – wondering if you should add a tip and if so, how much is an acceptable amount? Is everyone in line behind you staring? Will the barista spit in your coffee if you don't tip?
It's common to stress over when we should tip and how much to tip, especially in America, where tipping is often expected for certain services. Social pressure is one of the common reasons we tip, according to social psychologist and tipping expert Michael Lynn.
"We comply with those norms in order to get social esteem, but sometimes we've internalized them and we tip for our own approval because we feel there's a social obligation," he said.
Lynn is a professor of services marketing at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration and has written over 70 research publications on tipping.
Based on his research, there are typically five reasons we tip:
Because it is normalized by society
To help low wage workers
To reward a server for doing a good job
To buy future service
And to gain social esteem by earning the server's respect or the respect of our dining party
It's important to note that while these are the most common reasons we tip, motives can vary among racial and cultural groups, Lynn said.
Now, when it comes to tipping even more than a standard 15% to 20%, there are a few factors that can influence us. In one of his papers, Lynn outlined scientifically proven methods for servers to increase their tips.
Here are five things that can prompt us to leave higher tips.
1. A bigger bill means a better tip.
In restaurants, roughly 70% of tips are determined by bill size, Lynn said. "That means it's twice as powerful as everything else combined in driving consumers' decisions about how much to tip," he said.
That can motivate servers to suggest the customer add more items to their bill so that the tip will automatically be bigger.
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2. We tip more when someone uses our name.
There are more subtle behaviors that can get us to tip more like when a service worker introduces themself by name or calls a customer by name. They come off as friendly and polite, increasing the social rapport between the server and the customer.
"Things that personalize, that make the server more personable, indicate liking of the customer, which tends to be reciprocated," he said.
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3. Smiling, eye contact, and physical contact help establish rapport.
Customers might tip a server more if they smile, maintain eye contact, or stand physically close to the customer. "When they squat down next to the table, they're on the same eye level as the customer," Lynn said.
Brief touches on the arm or shoulder can also connect the customer more to a server. "Some of these subtle things, like whether they touch you or not, have as big or more of an effect than the customer's own ratings of service," he said.
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4. Wearing something unusual can 'humanize' the server.
Although most service workers have strict dress codes, there are small ways they can personalize their uniform with jewelry, makeup, and accessories. In one experiment conducted in 1980, waitresses earned 17% more when they wore flowers in their hair.
When a server wears something unusual it can make them seem more interesting or personable. "It humanizes them," Lynn said.
More recently, waitresses have posted on TikTok about a "pigtail theory," saying men tip them more when they wear their hair in pigtails.
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5. We like when servers compliment our food choices.
Lynn's research also found that customers are more likely to tip more if a server compliments their food choices.
Utah State University professor John Seiter conducted two studies in 2007 that found customers tipped more when service workers complimented their decisions.
"And the greater the social connection between the server and the customer, the better the tip the server's going to get," Lynn said.