Holiday effects on tipping rates in full-service restaurants

Abstract

Dining at restaurants on holidays involves a mostly different experience than dining on any other normal day, as it provides the opportunity for diners to get together with family and friends. Consequently, in this study, we investigate whether the prosocial behavior of restaurant diners deviates from the norm on holidays. Using a large dataset of credit card transactions at full-service restaurants, we confirm that this is indeed the case, albeit in a strikingly dichotomous fashion; religious and other family-oriented holidays are generally associated with significantly higher tipping rates than normal, whereas most other holidays are associated with significantly lower tipping rates than normal. Our findings suggest that family gatherings often meant to reinforce a sense of belonging and togetherness seem to strengthen prosociality, whereas social gatherings in restaurants on other festive occasions seem less likely to promote prosocial behavior.