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Does a customer by any other name tip the same?: The effect of forms of address and customers' age on gratuities given to food servers in the United States

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Journal of Applied Social Psychology

Published online on

Abstract

This study examined whether different forms of address used by food servers were related to customers' tipping behavior. Food servers addressed diners who paid with credit cards by their first names, titles plus last names, sir/ma'am, or no address. Results indicated that when food servers personalized their service by addressing their customers by name, they earned significantly higher tips than when they used less immediate forms of address, although customers' estimated age mediated these results.