Jersey behavioural scientist David Strohmetz, who wanted to see how restaurant patrons
would respond to ridiculously small favour from their food server, in the form of after-dinner
chocolate for each diner. The secret, it seems, is in how you give the chocolate. When the
chocolates arrived in a heap with the bill, tips went up a miserly 3% compared to when no
chocolate was given. But when the chocolates were dropped individually in front of each diner,
tips went up 14%. The scientific breakthrough, though, came when the waitress gave each
diner one chocolate, headed away from the table then doubled back to give them one more
each as if such generosity had only just occurred to her. Tips went up 23%. This is “reciprocity”
in action: we want to return favours done to us, often without bothering to calculate the relative
value of what is being received and given.
E
Geeling Ng, operations manager at Auckland’s Soul Bar, says she’s never heard of Kiwi waiting
staff using such a cynical trick, not least because New Zealand tipping culture is so different
from that of the US: “If you did that in New Zealand, as diners were leaving they’d say ‘can we
have some more?” ‘ But she certainly understands the general principle of reciprocity. The way
to a diner’s heart is “to give them something they’re not expecting in the way of service. It
might be something as small as leaving a mint on their plate, or it might be remembering that
last time they were in they wanted their water with no ice and no lemon. “In America, it would
translate into an instant tip. In New Zealand, it translates into a huge smile and thanks to you.”
And no doubt, return visits.
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