TIPPING AMOUNTS DON’T REALLY CHANGE BASED ON GOOD SERVICE

The generally accepted (and completely bogus) origin story of tipping is that it is an acronym for “to insure promptitude.” Thus, by holding out the promise of some extra coin, the diner ensures that their server hustles a bit harder than usual. “Tips are related to service, but only weakly,” Cornell University economist Wm. Michael Lynn, one of the world’s leading experts on tipping, told the National Post by email. His data shows that a measly two per cent of diners are altering their usual tip amount based on performance. The much more influential drivers of tip amount are factors such as the attractiveness of a server or what tip amount the patron is accustomed to paying. This is supported by Canadian data. A 2016 poll by the Angus Reid Institute found that only nine per cent of Canadians deviate from their standard tip if they receive good service. However, most servers seem to be tragically unaware that their tip amounts are in the hands of cruel fate. According to Lynn’s findings, about half of servers were still under the incorrect belief that working hard would get them a bigger tip.