On tipping - and breast size

Yes, it does make a difference, at least according to a study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior. The larger the breasts, the bigger the gratuity. Also effective is a light touch on the customer's arm or stooping down to table level. And let's not forget those smiley faces on the backs of customers' checks - believe it or not, that will bump up tips, but only for female servers. From Smart Money:

While people claim in surveys that they tip almost exclusively based on the level of service, field studies in actual restaurants, such as those conducted by Michael Lynn of Cornell, find that better service is only partially correlated with bigger tips. A step up on a 1-to-5 rating scale of customer satisfaction translates into just a small increase (say, from 15 to 16 or 17 percent of the check).

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Mark Lacter
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.
 
Mark Lacter, business writer and editor was 59
The multi-talented Mark Lacter
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