Random Thought on A Monday: Is Commenting Like Tipping?
By Ian
Have you ever been a bartender? I have. (Along with a movie mogul and a Comic Book Guy.) One of the common practices of some bartenders, and one that is catching on in coffee-houses and other places where food service comes from behind a counter more often than not, is the placement of a "tip jar" near the cash register. Of course, you've all seen them. You don't ever really see them empty, though, do you? That's because, more likely than not, the bartenders put in the first dollar. The thought is that this will inspire people who look upon the jar to place one of the dollars they receive in change into the tip jar (this is also why you tend to get back five ones in change, rather than a five dollar bill).
Does this really make a difference? Well, while it turns out that there is someone out there who is very into studying the practice of tipping, the question on whether or not this "first dollar concept" actually helps to increase total tips isn't addressed in any of the papers I read through.
(NB: This is not to say the papers aren't worth the time to read. They are fascinating in their own right. As a note to restauranteurs: offering candy with the bill does, in fact, seem to increase the amount of tip left. But speaking from the other side of the table, I'm not so hot on the suggestion of a lot of touchy-feely from the servers. I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that the positive effect from interpersonal touching is a result of the gender of the respondent and the perceived attractiveness of the server in relation to the diner. Guys tip attractive women more. Homely guys tip very attentive, very attractive servers a lot more. I can't speak for the women. It's harsh, but it's true.)
As I posted a comment to Kevin's post directly below, I couldn't help but wonder if there is something similar, though opposite about comment counts. Does a 0 comment count induce people to refrain from commenting? Could it be that few comments on a blog overall might reduce the incentive to comment, despite the traffic levels of the blog? That is to say, with better information, people might tip more or less (as is borne out in a couple of Lynn's studies that show longer duration with a server, such as more courses or expectations to return, the higher the tip), thus increasing the sensitivity of the tip to the performance of the server. Assuming, that is, people expand their expectations to consider that a server giving other people good service will do the same for them. So, If people are coming back to T&B, but routinely see few comments, do they feel that commenting really isn't necessary? As opposed to, say, Kevin Drum or Little Green Footballs, where the first comment is often simply "FIRST!" as though there were some pride-of-place benefit. Of course, the ongoing chat about the Iraqi Dinar is a notable outlier here.
Taking into account what people might otherwise be doing with their time, commenting on sites isn't "free". (And we greatly appreciate everyone who takes their time to do so here at T&B.) So in some ways the amount of commenting could be considered as that extra amount of time (a tip) someone is willing to give over and above simply reading the posts (dinner). But as can be seen from the papers linked to above, the overall tipping levels don't necessarily serve as a good measure of the quality of the service at an establishment. (Something up for some debate, mind you.) Unlike tipping, people will know how motivated others have felt to give a little bit more of their time by seeing the numbers of comments.
Should we expect tipping to be a better driver of good service if people knew more about what others were tipping at a restaurant? And, does commenting on a blog post have "tipping point" where x comments start to generate a larger incidence of commenting?
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