| Abstract: | ABSTRACT The National Restaurant Association projected $376 billion in sales and 11 million employees for the restaurant industry in the year 2000. For the servers and bartenders in the industry, tipping is an important part of their income. Results of this study suggest there are several variables that affect the tip amount by party including the amount of the total bill, customer tipping potential, alcohol consumption, the presence of children in the dining party, patronage frequency, and the age of the patron paying the bill. Patron frequency and the amount of the total bill have a strong influence on tipping, as does the customer's tipping potential as judged by the server. A server can expect larger tips from patrons with no children as opposed to those with children. Also, tips are larger when the patron paying the bill has consumed alcohol. The gender and ethnicity of the patron were found to be nonsignificant, as were seating preference and method of payment. |
