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On the complementarity of prosocial norms: The case of restaurant tipping during the holidays

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  • Greenberg, Adam Eric

Abstract

The literature in economics overwhelmingly supports the hypothesis that people have (pure and impure) preferences for altruism. It has also been shown that prosocial acts or norms that dictate prosocial behavior can sometimes crowd out other prosocial behaviors. This paper tests whether a well-understood prosocial norm—generosity during the holiday season (i.e., around Christmas)—crowds out or complements tipping behavior, another prosocial norm. By examining seasonal differences in within-customer tipping behavior using two years of sales data from a busy restaurant, I find that during the holiday season tipping rates are higher, not lower. This effect appears to be driven by those who are already generous. The finding suggests that individuals do not necessarily view two prosocial norms as competing; rather, such norms can be complementary. Motives for prosocial norms like tipping are discussed.

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  • Greenberg, Adam Eric, 2014. "On the complementarity of prosocial norms: The case of restaurant tipping during the holidays," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 103-112.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:97:y:2014:i:c:p:103-112
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2013.10.014
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    Cited by:

    1. Stephan Müller & Holger A Rau, 2019. "Too cold for warm glow? Christmas-season effects in charitable giving," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(5), pages 1-13, May.
    2. Yeomans, Michael & Al-Ubaydli, Omar, 2018. "How does fundraising affect volunteering? Evidence from a natural field experiment," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 57-72.
    3. Thrane, Christer & Haugom, Erik, 2020. "Peer effects on restaurant tipping in Norway: An experimental approach," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 244-252.
    4. Ekström, Mathias, 2018. "Seasonal altruism: How Christmas shapes unsolicited charitable giving," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 177-193.
    5. Azar, Ofer H. & Yosef, Shira & Bar-Eli, Michael, 2015. "Restaurant tipping in a field experiment: How do customers tip when they receive too much change?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 13-21.
    6. Laura Birg & Anna Goeddeke, 2016. "Christmas Economics—A Sleigh Ride," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(4), pages 1980-1984, October.
    7. Conlisk, Sarah, 2022. "Tipping in crises: Evidence from Chicago taxi passengers during COVID-19," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    8. Amir B. Ferreira Neto & Adam Nowak & Amanda Ross, 2017. "Do tourists tip more than local consumers? Evidence of taxi rides in New York City," Working Papers 17-14, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.
    9. Amir B. Ferreira Neto & Adam Nowak & Amanda Ross, 2019. "Do Tourists Tip More Than Local Consumers? Evidence from Taxi Rides in New York City," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 42(3-4), pages 281-306, May.
    10. Menusch Khadjavi, 2017. "Indirect Reciprocity and Charitable Giving— Evidence from a Field Experiment," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(11), pages 3708-3717, November.
    11. Andreas Lange & Claudia Schwirplies & Andreas Ziegler, 2014. "On the interrelation between carbon offsetting and other voluntary climate protection activities: Theory and empirical evidence," MAGKS Papers on Economics 201447, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    12. Claudia Schwirplies & Andreas Ziegler, 2015. "Offset carbon emissions or pay a price premium for avoiding them? A cross-country analysis of motives for climate protection activities," MAGKS Papers on Economics 201504, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    13. Panzone, Luca A. & Ulph, Alistair & Zizzo, Daniel John & Hilton, Denis & Clear, Adrian, 2021. "The impact of environmental recall and carbon taxation on the carbon footprint of supermarket shopping," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    14. Ek, Claes, 2015. "Prosocial Behavior and Policy Spillovers: A Multi-Activity Approach," Working Papers 2015:26, Lund University, Department of Economics, revised 11 Sep 2017.
    15. Weiqiang Tan & Jian Zhang, 2021. "Good Days, Bad Days: Stock Market Fluctuation and Taxi Tipping Decisions," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(6), pages 3965-3984, June.
    16. Elif Aydin, Asli & Acun, Yüksel, 2019. "An investigation of tipping behavior as a major component in service economy: The case of taxi tipping," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 114-120.
    17. Conlisk, Sarah, 2021. "Tipping in Crises: Evidence from Chicago Taxi Passengers during COVID-19," OSF Preprints brvhp, Center for Open Science.
    18. Lange, Andreas & Schwirplies, Claudia & Ziegler, Andreas, 2017. "On the interrelation between the consumption of impure public goods and the provision of direct donations: Theory and empirical evidence," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 72-88.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social norms; Prosocial; Altruism; Tipping; Holidays; Christmas;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A13 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Social Values
    • D6 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics
    • Q11 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Aggregate Supply and Demand Analysis; Prices
    • J00 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - General

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