Do consumers use tipping to monitor service? Role of power and embarrassment

Jeonggyu Lee, Anubhav Aggarwal, Hoori Rafieian and Daniel Korschun

Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 2020, vol. 56, issue C

Abstract: Tipping is regarded as a buyer monitoring mechanism. By rewarding good service (by giving larger tips), and punishing bad service (by giving smaller tips), consumers can contribute to enhance service quality. However, in this paper, we show that not all consumers use tipping to evaluate service. In three experiments, we demonstrate that based on the level of power consumers feel they have, they punish/reward service differently. Specifically, we show that low-power consumers are less likely than high-power consumers to punish poor service quality (Studies 1 and 2). We find that leaving small tips (in low service quality scenarios) makes low-power consumers anticipate embarrassment. These anticipations mediate the interaction effect of service quality and power on consumer tip size (Study 3).

Keywords: Tipping; Buyer monitoring; Power; Meta-perception; Embarrassment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:joreco:v:56:y:2020:i:c:s0969698919308756

DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2020.102159

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