Tipping Food-Delivery Agents: A Field Study

With the growing trend toward having food delivered from a restaurant and the importance of successful hospitality, it is crucial to understand the determinants of tipping behavior in this context, which has not received much attention in the literature. We conducted a field study to explore the factors that influence tipping of food delivery agents. A complimentary dish or water bottle was added to the delivery in two manipulations, in addition to a control treatment without any gift, to examine the effect of gifts on tipping. The addition of these gifts had no significant impact on tipping. On-time delivery also had no effect on tips. These results suggest that reciprocity is not a major reason for tipping in the food-delivery context. The tip amount increased with the bill amount. The tip as a percentage of the bill decreased with the bill amount. Both the tip amount and the tip percentage were higher when the bill was paid in cash. We attribute this to the fact that when the bill was paid in cash, the tip was paid together with it and therefore the tip was considered relative to the bill. Paying with a credit card over the phone when making the order, however, resulted in the tip being paid in cash separately when the delivery arrived, which emphasized the absolute amount of the tip and not its size compared to the bill, leading to lower tips. We also find that customers prefer to tip in round amounts.