As a former waitress (or, should I be PC, and say waitron), I have to weigh (or should I say wait) in on this. Here's one of the things I noticed when I was a waitress that I would love to see someone study. If I noticed I forgot something fairly "minor" that a customer asked for (for example an extra napkin), I would immediately say something, then appear with it within seconds. It always resulted in a 20% tip (at least that's how I remember it... it's been years (thank the gods)). My theory was that making a big deal of remembering and taking care of it immediately brought attention to how attentive I was, despite the fact that in my busyness I missed it initially. I don't remember what would happen if they had to remind me, which probably means the tip wasn't great.
As for touching and kneeling by the table, it makes me feel manipulated and doesn't help at all. I prefer more professional type waitrons, and the over-happy ones make me crazy. Later, Marte ************************************************ Marte Fallshore Department of Psychology Room 462 Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA 98926-7575 509/963-3670 509/963-2307 (fax) I teach for free; they pay me to grade. (anon) ************************************************ >>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 08/07/03 1:57 PM >>> I like this response! I have always wondered how coffee shop employees manage to get some fairly sizeable tips when we would not even for a moment think about tipping fast food employees! I think it would be a good study for students to carry out and explore! Annette Quoting "Scott C. Bates" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > Jean, > > Jean Edwards Wrote: > > > Please don't forget about my earlier request. I'd like to > > pose students with a question about human behavior; something > > commonplace but odd; something most of us do but we give > > little thought to; something they might answer one way, > > though research findings are the exact opposite. > > I use tipping behavior (at restaurants) for just such a purpose. I find > it useful for a few reasons. First, there are a variety of interesting > and counter-intuitive findings (smiley-face on a check = higher tip; > crouching down = higher tip; touching = higher tip (plus a predictable > (and entertaining) interaction with sex)). Second, it's something that, > as you say, we do but give little thought to (with the exception of > doing some math). Finally, because it demonstrates a few different > social-psych principles that are easy to grasp and attach to the > behavior (e.g. the reciprocity norm). > > Here are a few references: > > Crusco, A. H., & Wetzel, C. G. (1984). The Midas touch: The > effect of interpersonal touch on restaurant tipping. Personality and > Social Psychology Bulletin, 10, 512-517. > Garrity, K., & Degelmann, D. (1990). Effect of server > introduction on restaurant tipping. Journal of Applied Social > Psychology, 20, 168-172. > Lynn, M., & Mynier, K. (1993). Effects of server posture on > restaurant tipping.; Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 23, 678-685. > Stephen, R., & Zweigenhaft, R. L. (1985). The effect on tipping > of a waitress touching male and female customers. The Journal of Social > Psychology, 126, 141-142. > > Also, Cialdini's book "Influence: Science and Practice" contains a > variety of good ideas for just this sort of thing. > > Hope this helps! > > Scott > > > ---------------------------- > Scott C. Bates, Ph.D. > Assistant Professor > Department of Psychology > Utah State University > (435) 797 - 2975 > ---------------------------- > > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph. D. Department of Psychology University of San Diego 5998 Alcala Park San Diego, CA 92110 [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
