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Service with a smile takes on new meaning.
A new study finds that adding emojis like smiley faces to payment options can increase tips from restaurant workers.
Research published in the International Journal of Hospitality Management and reported by BNN Bloomberg shows that restaurant workers could see their earnings increase by more than 30% if smiley emoticons are used at payment terminals.
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Study authors Professors Sarah Lefebvre, Laura Boman and Marissa Orlowski said: “Across three studies, we determined that when emojis are included in tip suggestions during payment transactions, customers tip proportionally more than when emojis are not included. Higher.” said.
“We also (demonstrated) that the presence of emojis increases the positive emotions experienced by customers during the payment transaction, which in turn has a positive impact on tip percentage.
“These effects have been replicated in field and laboratory studies in different settings, including on-site dining and third-party food delivery.”
Research shows that neutral emojis attract lower tips, while smiling emojis attract higher tips.
Tips for in-store dining increased by 11% when customers used emojis, and by 9.9% when customers ordering through food delivery apps saw smiling faces.
Customers buying takeout food increased their tips by 16.75% when using emojis.
“Prior research has examined many variables beyond customer satisfaction that influence tipping behavior,” Lefebvre, Boman and Orlowski said.
They said the study examined how complimenting guests, servers’ appearance (such as the accessories they wear), status cues, unexpected gifts and tip suggestions affect the percentage of tips customers leave.
“Technological advances also allow restaurants to have greater ability to alter the information provided to customers during payment transactions without having to rely on server initiative,” they added.
Given the tipping culture in places like the United States, and the fact that U.S. workers have a federal minimum wage of $2.13 an hour, “understanding the unintentional ways to increase tips is important for academics and practitioners.”
By comparison, Australia’s minimum wage is $23.23 an hour, or $882.74 for a typical 38-hour work week, and tips are less common.
Although Australia’s tipping culture is far less ingrained than in the United States, a 2022 Zeller study found that Australians tipped an average of A$16.06, or 7.13%.
Studies have found that adding built-in tipping capabilities to POS systems increases tips by more than 25%.
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