Tipping is unique in that the customer provides a major portion of the employee's wage. Because tipping is voluntary and because it usually occurs retrospectively of the service rendered, tipping practices have stimulated historic interest from both economic and psychological perspectives. This research extends the body of knowledge on tipping by integrating recent advances in motivational research which support the existence of a universal, multifaceted model of intrinsic motivation. Inasmuch, the present research investigated the underlying motives for tipping under various conditions of service. Findings supported the existence of six underlying behavioral dimensions associated with tipping: (a) Heuristic Model, (b) Impress Others, (c), Reciprocal Reward, (d) Social Obligation, (e) Generosity, and (f) Control Service. Each of these six corresponded closely with the basic motivators proposed by the multifaceted model. Results from a hierarchical linear regression confirmed the overriding influence of heuristics on tip amounts under various service conditions.
Among possible organizational compensation strategies, tipping is unique in that the customer, not the employer, provides a, if not the, major portion of the employee's wage. Compensation associated with tipping is not trivial; in the United States foodservice industry alone, tipping accounts for approximately $42 billion annually (Azar, 2008). Because tipping is voluntary on the part of the customer, and because tipping usually occurs retrospectively of the service rendered, tipping practices have stimulated historic interest from both economic and psychological perspectives. A number of theories have been proposed to explain why people tip. These theories include the belief that tipping (a) influences service quality, (b) is an ingrained social norm, (c) provides a reward for good service, (d) supports the notion of equity, (e) promotes economic efficiency, (f) facilitates customer control of the service exchange, (g) avoids insult and poor service from workers, and (h) provides ego gratification to the tipper. A review of 32 published research studies covering the years from 1985 to 2010 provides many insights but also leaves unanswered questions about the nature of tipping practices.
Predominant among existing studies is an emphasis on tip amount as the dependent variable of interest, measured either as a percentage of the bill or as an actual dollar amount. Behavioral manipulations by servers, demographic characteristics of tippers, and motivational factors underlying tipping practices are typically employed as independent variables and studied using correlation and regression analyses. Although this design should provide the most direct approach for identifying a significant and sizeable relationship between tip amount and a particular predictor, no silver bullet has emerged from research to date. Thus, prominent researchers in the field continue to encourage research that broadens our understanding and knowledge base in this area (Azar, 2007, Lynn, 2009 and Lynn and Sturman, 2010).
The present research was guided by the belief that tipping behavior is complex and simultaneously motivated by multiple factors. Existing research provides strong support for this thesis. Yet, to date, research has only begun to examine tipping behavior in the context of the multidimensional aspects of motivation. Traditional studies typically infer motivation for tipping as an explanatory tool in the aftermath of empirical analysis. This research diverges from tradition by examining the conscious motivations underlying tipping behavior as a precedent. This approach was guided by integrating recent work in psychology which supports the existence of a multifaceted model of intrinsic motivation and confirms the existence of 16 basic and underlying constructs responsible for directing human behavior (Reiss, 2004). The integration provided support for the assumption that multiple motivations inspire tipping behavior and that examining these in concert may assist in determining the prevalence and importance that the different motivations exert upon determining both the inclination to tip and the amount of the tip provided relative to excellent, satisfactory, and poor service conditions.
The purpose of this research was to (a) corroborate previous findings of the multidimensional nature of tipping motivation, (b) identify those factors that contributed to tipping motivation, (c) validate the aforementioned findings with a confirmatory model, and (d) investigate the degree to which the various motivations to tip influence the tip amount under a range of service conditions. Six underlying dimensions of tipping motivation were identified in the research, corroborating the proposition that tipping behavior is complex and multidimensional in nature. Among the findings, it is notable that the aforementioned motivational dimensions centered on the person providing the tip and not on the service provider.
This outcome suggests that the motivational dimensions of tipping indicate more about the tip provider than about either the service worker receiving the tip or the environment in which the service was consumed. While there has been substantial debate in the literature regarding whether the act of tipping improves service quality (Azar, 2008, Kwortnik et al., 2009 and Lynn and McCall, 2000), the findings herein suggest that tipping motivation is more self-centered and intrinsically contrived than previously elucidated in the literature. Inasmuch, it is suggested that future research on tipping motivation should include efforts to further develop the constructs identified in this inquiry and apply them in experimental settings.
