The Tip Perception of the Hotel Employees: Wage or Reward?

Abstract

The “tip” phenomenon attracts the attention of various disciplines such as economics, sociology and psychologywhile it is a voluntary payment added on the service fee. A vast majority of the research on tipping examine thetipping behavior and motivation of the customers in the light of customer responses. There is a limited number ofstudies examining the “tip” phenomenon from an employee perspective. The aim of this study is to determine thetipping perceptions and beliefs of the employees who communicate face-to-face with customers and work in thehotel industry in Turkey. Our study reveals the meaning of tipping for hotel employees, the dynamics that determinethe customers’ tipping behavior and the strategies that employees use to get a tip, considering the experience of theemployees who worked/are working in a five-star hotel.