EFFECT ON RESTAURANT TIPPING OF MALE AND FEMALE SERVERS DRAWING A HAPPY, SMILING FACE ON THE BACKS OF CUSTOMERS CHECKS

Research has shown that a server's smiling can increase restaurant tip s and that a server's writing ''thank you'' on the backs of checks can also increase tips. In the current study, these two approaches were c ombined. An experiment was conducted in which a male or female server drew a happy, smiling face on the backs of checks before delivering th em to customers, or simply delivered checks with nothing drawn on the back. It was predicted that this tactic would increase tips for the fe male server because of an increased perception of friendliness, but wo uld not increase tips for the male server because such behavior would be perceived as gender-inappropriate. Results were consistent with pre dictions.