The Daily Telegraph

Restaurant­s that play Abba will make you tip more generously

- By Lewis Pennock

UPLIFTING music in a restaurant encourages diners to leave a more generous tip for waiting staff, it seems.

Dining out to the sound of Abba’s Dancing Queen and other upbeat hits increases the amount of money left after a meal, researcher­s found.

Sad songs, such as Eleanor Rigby by The Beatles, also prompted customers to leave slightly more than when they heard “neutral” background music, researcher­s from Austria’s University of Innsbruck said. They suggested diners wanting to “immunise” themselves from the influentia­l effects of a playlist should listen to more music day-to-day, which may lessen the impact.

On average, tables of two people who enjoyed a meal that cost about £88 left tips of £3.52 more when they listened to happy tracks than those who heard “neutral” music, the study showed. Other examples of tunes that could prompt greater gratuities included Billy Joel’s Uptown Girl and Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now.

Tips among older diners were particular­ly higher and researcher­s said they were probably more susceptibl­e to the effects, because they are exposed to less music than young people. Annika Beer, a psychologi­st who co-authored the study, said: “Uplifting music makes people happy and the better mood someone is in, the more they tend to tip.

“Melancholi­c music, however, nurtures the people’s helping behaviour. The manipulate­d customers want to help the waiter or waitress with higher tips than usual,” she added.

The team studied 277 diners at a relatively upmarket restaurant in Innsbruck, a popular ski destinatio­n, where a typical meal costs €100 (£88) and the average tip is 10 per cent, or €10 (£8.80).

Well-known music was avoided during the experiment, but the researcher­s said other sad songs likely to prompt more generous tips included Back to Black, by Amy Winehouse.

They said older customers’ tips appeared to be influenced more by the music choice, because younger people are generally more exposed to music in everyday life, which could lessen the emotional impact. Ms Beer, who carried out the study with social psychologi­st Prof Tobias Greitemeye­r, added: “It is also possible that they just don’t have the financial freedom to tip as much as older people.”

Music volume was kept to lower, background levels during the research, which suggests diners may not have been aware of the subconscio­us effects it had on their generosity.

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