In the meantime, the surveys have already been sent out and I am receiving many responses. This doesn't mean that i'm just going to wait for everyone to fill in my survey. I'm going to start with secondary research and look up previous research on my subject.
In my project I investigate how a tip, in the hospitality industry, can be replaced by a digital alternative. In order to make my secondary research run smoothly, I divided my research question into a few subquestions that I want to investigate.
What is a tip?
Why do people tip?
What persuades consumers to give a tip/positive confirmation?
Does paying with bank cards reduce the amount of tips given?
Is tipping in our culture?
Are there already solutions for giving tips online?
Below you can find all the sources I consulted for my project.
Wat is a tip?
Factors influencing costumers tipping (Thong, 2015)
The origin of the word “tip” itself, according to Ayres and Nalebuff (2004), came from the phrase “To Insure Promptness.” However, nowadays “tip” is read as “To Insure Prejudice” instead. This new phrase came after a research conducted by Ayres, Vars, and Zakariya (2005), which percepts the size of tips that must be given might lead people to leave nothing instead.
Thong, J. (2015). Factors influencing costumers’ tipping behaviour in restaurant in Luzern. Neliti, 1–24. https://www.neliti.com/publications/83508/factors-influencing-customers-tipping-behaviour-in-restaurants-in-luzern; Accessed on 26 November 2020.
Why do people tip?
Geschiedenis van het geven van fooien (Omroep nar, 2018)
Tot de tweede wereldoorlog kregen mensen die werkten in bars en restaurants als bediening geen salaris, dus ze leefden van het krijgen van fooien. Na de oorlog kwam een minimum loon dat werd verhoogt met bedieningsgeld. Dat is een extra verplicht bedrag dat op de rekening van de klant kwam (vb. 15% extra betalen van de rekening)
Omroep NTR. (2018, oktober 15). Schooltv: Waarom geven we fooi? - Een extraatje voor de service. SchoolTV. Retrieved from https://schooltv.nl/video/waarom-geven-we-fooi-een-extraatje-voor-de-service/. Accessed on 16 November 2020.
The Economics of tipping (Azar, 2020)
Where tipping exists, it occurs in some service occupations (like taxi drivers) but not in others (like bus drivers). Restaurants and bars are the industries where tips are by far the most prominent.
In many US states, tipped employees have a lower minimum wage—as low as $2.13 per hour—resulting in wage income being very low and making tips a very high part of their income.
Azar, O. H. (2020). The Economics of Tipping. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 34(2), 215–236. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.34.2.215. Accessed on 22 November 2020.
Factors influencing costumers tipping (Thong, 2020)
Tipping can be described in different ways: a gift from customers to employees, to reward good services or to punish employees because of bad services, or as an obligation for tipping is a norm (Whaley, Douglas, and O’Neill, 2014). Lynn and Simons (2000) stated that tipping is a behaviour driven by social norm. Other than that, it is also found that service tipping is influenced by repetition, age, frequency of one’s visit, and cross-gender interactions (Conlin, Lynn, and O’Donoghue, 2003).
Lynn, M. & Simons, T. (2000). Predictors of male and female servers’ average tip earning. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 30, 241-252.
The results obtained from this study showed that every individual has different motivations to tip, whether it is rational or irrational to them, such as self-interest, reciprocity, guilt, or any other motivations that might occur (Gambetta, 2006). Thus, there are many factors that influencing one’s tipping motivation, which resulting in the tipping behaviour. The participants of this study have implied that the product quality and the service received were two important factors that determined their tipping behaviour. In addition, the participants have also implied that most of them did not consider future service when they tipped nor they felt obligated to tip. From this study, the author concludes that instead of only one certain motivation, it is possible that one’s tipping behaviour is influenced by many different motivations. As stated by Gambetta (2006), whether it is the same people or different people, when it comes to tipping, it is likely that they are driven by either the same motivations or any other different motivations. Thus, it is highly likely that factors influencing tipping behaviour vary between one and another. However, from this study that conducted in Luzern, it was found that the product quality of a restaurant was the most important factors that influence customers’ tipping behaviour, followed by the service received by customers, presentability of the servers, operational processes of the restaurant, whether the products offer value for money, server’s attentiveness, server’s actions, customers’ consideration for future service, social compliance and social pressure.
Group size, where customers who come as a large group tend to give smaller tips although the bill size of the group was quite large.
Although tip is not always required, whether customers tip or not, they have their own motivations – the drive that made them to do so. According to discussion on www.tipping.org (2001), there are seven reasons as to why people tip in restaurants: 1. The payment for service received, where a tip functions as a response for the service provided by the server, for bringing them food from kitchen to customer’s table, 2. Customer feels he/she is treated and served nicely, where a tip functions as a response for the caring attitude from server to a customer in a restaurant, 3. Servers receive low wages, 4. Working as a server in a restaurant is a difficult and tiring job, full of pressure, etc., 5. Everyone gives tip, 6. Dignity, 7. Tipping makes customers feel nice.
www.tipping.org (2001) where the reason "Customer feels he/she is treated and served nicely, where a tip functions as a response for the caring attitude from server to a customer in a restaurant" is number two why people tip in restaurants.
The author tried to see from different point of view, such as the employment statuses of the respondents. Table 3 shows the results of the said analysis, and it was found that the respondents who chose not to tip were all 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 18-23 24-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61 and above Yes, always Yes, sometimes No 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 18-23 24-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61 and above Yes, always Yes, sometimes No 21 students (15%). From the author point of view, it might be because most students did not have enough allowances to spend on tipping.
Thong, J. (2015). Factors influencing costumers’ tipping behaviour in restaurant in Luzern. Neliti, 1–24. https://www.neliti.com/publications/83508/factors-influencing-customers-tipping-behaviour-in-restaurants-in-luzern. Accessed on 26 November 2020.
Thong (2015) conducted a study where he investigated costumers' tipping motives and what the factors are that influencing costumers' tipping behaviour. The result of his surveys are that the respondents who chose not to tip were all students (15%). From Thong (2015) his point of view, it was because most student didn't have enough allowances to spend on tipping.
Who do we tip and why (Azar, 2005)
Indeed, looking at a few prominent examples seems to justify this belief: we tip waiters and taxi drivers because we can easily evaluate their service quality, we do not tip lawyers and accountants because we lack the professional knowledge required to evaluate them
Azar, O. H. (2005). Who do we tip and why? An empirical investigation. Applied Economics, 37(16), 1871–1879. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036840500119018. Accessed 30 November 2020.
Motives to tip (Lynn, 2009)
Lynn, M. (2009). Individual differences in self-attributed motives for tipping: Antecedents, consequences, and implications. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 28(3), 432–438. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2008.10.009. Accessed 30 November 2020
What persuades consumers to give a tip/positive confirmation?
What’s in a tip? The creation and refinement of a restaurant-tipping motivations scale: A consumer perspective (Whaley & Douglas & O’neill , 2014)
Bijvoorbeeld Speer (1997) en Jewell (2008) stellen voor dat een lichte aanraking, een warme en vriendelijke glimlach, of direct oogcontact de dienstverlening verbeteren. Videbeck (2004) suggereert dat wanneer je je gasten nonchalant aanraakt bij het terugkomen van verandering, de grootte van de tip kan vergroten, en dat "het bukken aan tafel, het tekenen van een smiley op de rekening, het voorspellen van goed weer, het vertellen van een grap, en het dragen van een bloem in je haar" (p. 40) ook invloed kan hebben op het kantelgedrag.
Veel consumenten, en in het bijzonder degenen die in de getipte beroepen hebben gewerkt, geven een tip die verder gaat dan de eis, omdat "ze weten hoe het is om te leven van tips zodat ze de neiging hebben om dienovereenkomstig te tippen" (Babcock, 2007, p. 44).
Actions such as with the customer or “touch” have been found to
be a motivating factor of tipping behavior in other studies (Jewell, 2008).
Whaley, J. E., Douglas, A. C., & O’Neill, M. A. (2014). What’s in a tip? The creation and refinement of a restaurant-tipping motivations scale: A consumer perspective. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 37, 121–130. Accessed on 16 November 2020. DOI:
Teveel wisselgeld dat werd teruggegeven (niet relevant) (Azar & Yosef & Bar-Eli, 2013)
Repeated customers returned the excessive change much more often than one-time customers. This is consistent with our hypothesis and can be explained by two reasons. First, repeated customers already know some of the restaurant’s staff and may feel worse than one-time customers about keeping excessive change at the cost of the waiter or the restaurant. Second, repeated customers are much more likely to visit the restaurant in the future, and may care more about the possibility that the waiter will find out that he gave too much change and will be angry with the customer for not behaving honestly. Also in line with our hypothesis, we found that women are much more likely to return the extra change than men. Interestingly, however, considering different potential interactions we found that for one-time customers the gender difference is not large; it becomes much more significant for repeated customers, however. It seems that women feel more need than men to behave honestly when they know the server or expect to see him again in the future, but not so much otherwise.
Some results surprised us. We thought that tables of two diners will create social pressure to behave honestly and will return the excessive change more often than tables with one diner. The analysis shows no statistically significant effect of the number of diners. Possibly those who do not feel internally the need to behave honestly and return the excessive change, also do not think that others believe this is the right thing to do, and therefore they do not try to impress others by behaving honestly and returning the extra change.
Azar, O. H., Yosef, S., & Bar-Eli, M. (2013). Do customers return excessive change in a restaurant? Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 93, 219–226. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2013.03.03. Accessed on 26 November.
Does paying with bank cards reduce the amount of tips given?
Minder fooi door pinnen (Nu, 2014)
Door de digitalisering van het betalingsverkeer zoals betalen met bankkaart, worden er minder fooien gegeven. Ook gebeurd het vaker voor dat er arrangementen worden geboekt die vooraf worden afgerekend.
Door het digitaal betalen word het geven van een fooi vergeten. Het vereist een andere soort actie dan enkele munten neerleggen of zeggen dat ze het wisselgeld mogen houden. Wanneer je digitaal betaald, moet de ober zelf het bedrag gaan ingeven wat kan zorgen voor een awkward moment.
NU.nl. (2019, January 14). Fooi geven? ‘Het is ongemakkelijk en gebeurt steeds minder’. NU - Het Laatste Nieuws Het Eerst Op NU.Nl. Retrieved from https://www.nu.nl/geldzaken/5654426/fooi-geven-het-ongemakkelijk-en-gebeurt-steeds-minder.html#coral_talk_wrapper. Accessed on 16 November 2020.
Het uitsterven van fooi (Spronsen, 2019)
Uit onderzoek blijkt dat er steeds meer pintransacties worden gedaan in de horeca. In 2017 werd 44 procent van de rekeningen pinnend voldaan terwijl in 2012 nog in vier van de vijf gevallen contant werd betaald. Tegenwoordig kan je ook snel en gemakkelijk contactloos betalen. Hierdoor wordt het over het algemeen ‘awkward’ gevonden om snel uit te rekenen wat je wilt geven en uiteindelijk te zeggen wat iemand ervan mag maken.
Voor jongeren op zoek naar een bijbaan is de extra fooi een belangrijke reden.
Spronsen, M. (2019, April 5). Het uitsterven van fooi. Spronsen. Retrieved from https://www.spronsen.com/het-uitsterven-van-fooi/. Accessed on 16 November 2020.
Is tipping in our culture?
Fooi geven is niet wettelijk vastgelegd (Nu, 2014)
Het laatste onderzoek rondom fooien in de horeca werd in 2015 uitgevoerd door Misset Horeca. Hieruit blijkt dat 38 procent van de gasten altijd fooi geeft in de horeca en 42 procent regelmatig. De rekening afronden naar boven is de favoriete vorm van fooi geven: 41 procent van de gasten betaalt zo wat extra.
NU.nl. (2019, January 14). Fooi geven? ‘Het is ongemakkelijk en gebeurt steeds minder’. NU - Het Laatste Nieuws Het Eerst Op NU.Nl. Retrieved from https://www.nu.nl/geldzaken/5654426/fooi-geven-het-ongemakkelijk-en-gebeurt-steeds-minder.html#coral_talk_wrapper. Accessed on 16 November 2020.
The norm of restaurant tipping (Conlin & Lynn & O’Donoghuec, 2003)
However, it is also interesting to note that the restaurant-tipping norm varies significantly across countries. For example, in Australia, China, Denmark, Japan, and Iceland, restaurant tipping is not used; and in Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden, it is customary merely to round up the bill or to leave small change in addition to an automatic service charge (Starr, 1988).
Starr, N., 1988. The International Guide to Tipping. Berkeley, New York.
Conlin, M., Lynn, M., & O’Donoghuec, T. (2003, November 1). The norm of restaurant tipping. ScienceDirect. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167268103000301?casa_token=e2tCzu8HascAAAAA:rM9iYHWz_lvhE4KvUmsKIJniI8STIowrEkZ8n24WvUGnOJkEXRDmB1FJaBRvfOjB4uzmhAUGt8Q. Accessed on 22 November 2020. DOI:
Are there already solutions for giving tips online?
Het uitsterven van fooi (Spronsen, 2019)
De afgelopen jaren zijn er meerdere systemen gelanceerd om het digitaal tippen mogelijk te maken. Op horecatrends schreven mijn collega’s in 2012 al over DipJar. Dit systeem maakt het mogelijk om zowel fooi te geven aan de werknemers maar ook te doneren aan goede doelen. Op dit systeem na zijn er ook veel van dit soort ideeën nooit echt van de grond gekomen.
Spronsen, M. (2019, April 5). Het uitsterven van fooi. Spronsen. Retrieved from https://www.spronsen.com/het-uitsterven-van-fooi/. Accessed on 16 November 2020.
Wat doet een fooi met een werknemer?
Although service quality is generally high, which could lead us to think that tipping is the incentive that causes waiters to provide excellent service, the analysis above shows that the sensitivity of tips to service quality is so small that tipping is not likely to be the reason for the high service quality. Consequently, tipping, at least in restaurants, does not seem to improve social welfare and economic efficiency by improving service quality.
Azar, O. H. (2009). Incentives and service quality in the restaurant industry: the tipping–service puzzle. Applied Economics, 41(15), 1917–1927. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036840601131813.
User persona
Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants (Prensky, 2001)
“Digital natives”
Prenksy, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. Retrieved from https://marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf. Accessed on 21 November 2020.
A Tsunami of Learners Called Generation Z (Rothman, 2016)
“This generation is tech-savvy and prefers to communicate using social media over direct contact with people.”
Rothman, D. (2016). A Tsunami of Learners Called Generation Z. Retrieved from https://www.mdle.net/Journal/A_Tsunami_of_Learners_Called_Generation_Z.pdf. Accessed on 21 November 2020.
Zara Hannah (Marketing Zara, 2018)
Opiniezoeker
Deze groep bestaat voornamelijk uit jonge mensen, tussen 18-25 jaar oud. Ze zoeken een gevoel van bevestiging bij hun aankoopbeslissingen en worden gemakkelijk beïnvloed door de massamedia, social media en mensen om hen heen. Ze vinden de meningen van mensen om hen heen heel erg belangrijk. Zo vragen ze advies aan hun familie, vrienden en zelfs aan verkopers bij het kopen van een item.
Gezien deze mening belangrijk is voor deze doelgroep, maakt het feit dat Zara over het algemeen een positief merkimago heeft, het mogelijk om van dit segment te profiteren. Zara adverteert zelf niet tot bijna niet, maar het merk is veel te zien op bijvoorbeeld Instagram en Youtube. Deze doelgroep laat zich dan ook heel erg beïnvloeden door social Influencers. Op Youtube showen bekende vloggers hun nieuwste aankopen in video's. Opiniezoekers zien deze aankopen en willen de items hierna zelf ook zo snel mogelijk hebben.
Marketing Zara. (2018). Onze klanten. https://marketingzara.jouwweb.nl/onze-klanten. Accessed on 23 November 2020.
VSCO Hannah
VSCO mainly targeted to young adults that age from 19 to 29. 73% of VSCO’s users are under age 25; Generation Z made up 75% of these users and it is still the fastest growing segment in 2018. Based on Ruben Kogel’s research, 76% of VSCO’s users are female.
Hong, V. A. P. B. J. (2018, November 13). Who are the Target Audiences of VSCO? The Ultimate Guide to VSCO. https://theultimateguidetovscoco.wordpress.com/2018/10/02/who-are-the-target-audiences/. Accessed on 23 November 2020.
Kogel, R. (2017, April 7). Data based segmentation @ vsco. Slideshare. https://www.slideshare.net/RubenKogel/data-based-segmentation-vsco. Accessed on 23 November 2020.
According to Similar Web, 30.2% of VSCO users have Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, and Facebook accounts
V. (2020). VSCO: Photo & Video Editor by VSCO android app ranking & stats. SimilarWeb. https://www.similarweb.com/app/google-play/com.vsco.cam/statistics/. Accessed on 23 November 2020.
Spotify and Instagram Vince (23 November 2020)
Vince is into Music. He daily updates his playlists on Spotify to stay up to date with new music. In this way he keeps his followers on Spotify. According to Similar Web, 34.6% of Spotify users have Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, and Facebook accounts
https://www.similarweb.com/app/google-play/com.spotify.music/statistics/#audienceInterests
Digital comfort Vince (23 November)
Je bent een digital native die ook digital kan werken, en je snapt dat een journalist in de 21ste eeuw crossmediaal opereert.
Artevelde. (2020, 4 december). Wat zal je leren? Arteveldehogeschool Gent. https://www.arteveldehogeschool.be/opleidingen/bachelor/journalistiek/wat-zal-je-leren. Accessed on 23 November 2020.
Double diamond
Bell, A. (2020, 13 oktober). The Double Diamond Design Process Explained. CloudApp. https://www.getcloudapp.com/blog/double-diamond
Giving makes happy
in a study conducted by Anik, Aknin, Norton & Dunn (2009) happiness was measured between people who spend money on something for themselves or people who spend it on a gift for someone else. Results showed that the participants that spent their money to someone else where happier at the end of the day.
Anik, L., Aknin, L. B., Norton, M. I., & Dunn, E. W. (2009). Feeling Good About Giving: The Benefits (and Costs) of Self-Interested Charitable Behavior. SSRN Electronic Journal, 7–11. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1444831. Accessed on 6 december 2020.
Loyalty cards
Impact loyalty card
Out of a study from Demoulin and Zidda (2008), where they investigated the impact of loyalty cards on store loyalty, they concluded that holders of a loyalty card are more loyal and less price sensitive when they are satisfied with the reward scheme.
Demoulin, N. T. M., & Zidda, P. (2008). On the impact of loyalty cards on store loyalty: Does the customers’ satisfaction with the reward scheme matter? Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 15(5), 386–398. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2007.10.001. Accessed on 7 december 2020.
Joyn explanation Joyn is a loyalty card that customers can use at all their favorite local merchants, while still saving for nice rewards at each merchant separately. For you, as a merchant, behind the digital loyalty card is a user-friendly but powerful loyalty platform, with which you turn every customer into a regular customer. (Joyn, 2020) Joyn. (2020). Maak fans van je klanten. https://www.joyn.eu/nl/digitale-klantenkaart-en-marketingplatform-in-een?gclid=CjwKCAiAiML-BRAAEiwAuWVggq04hXm6zna68v9ApatMpUmhxMe5ttpmi4aFU6nR6es7OtnhLbhSbxoCwVoQAvD_BwE. Accessed on 10 December 2020.
Joyn users
7.500 HANDELAARS
Joyn heeft zo'n twee miljoen gebruikers. Ongeveer 7.500 Belgische handelaars zijn aangesloten bij het loyaliteitsplatform, waaronder vooral lokale winkels, zoals bakkers, koffiehuisjes of kledingboetieks. s
De Morgen. (2019, 17 mei). Spaar punten terwijl je betaalt: Payconiq en Joyn slaan handen in elkaar. De Morgen. https://www.demorgen.be/nieuws/spaar-punten-terwijl-je-betaalt-payconiq-en-joyn-slaan-handen-in-elkaar~b28eb5d1/