Racial Prejudices, Racialized Workplaces, and Restaurant Servers’ Hyperbolic Perceptions of Black–White Tipping Differences

Abstract

On average, Black consumers have been reliably shown to tip restaurant servers less than their White counterparts, and this difference has been widely acknowledged to contribute to servers’ negative attitudes toward Black customers. However, studies centered on explicating the actual and perceived magnitude of Black–White tipping differences are scarce. Furthermore, there have been no studies conducted that have aimed to identify and test for individual and/or environmental factors that encourage the development and sustainment of exaggerated or stereotypic perceptions of interracial differences in customers’ tipping practices. In response, this study offers an unconditional meta-estimate of the Black–White tipping differential to this literature. Given the available published evidence, we estimate that as a percentage of the bill, the average Black customer is likely to leave a tip that is 3.30 percentage points less than would be left by a White customer. In addition, by analyzing data derived from a factorial survey experiment that was administered in two independent and demographically diverse samples of servers, this study demonstrates that servers’ perceptions of Black–White tipping differences are significantly shaped by racial antipathy and/or employment in a workplace characterized by anti-Black discourse and observed mistreatment of Black clientele. Taken as a whole, our results suggest that although a Black–White tipping difference does exist, there is a notable segment of the population of restaurant servers, namely, those who harbor prejudicial attitudes and/or work in racialized workplaces, who may cognitively exaggerate the magnitude of this difference. Thus, to curtail the industry challenges that stem from Black–White tipping differences (e.g., service discrimination, lawsuits), restaurant operators are encouraged to devise strategies to actively confront servers’ stereotypic perceptions of Black customers’ tipping behaviors.