Uplifting music in a restaurant makes diners more likely to tip wait staff, study finds

Uplifting music in a restaurant encourages diners to leave a more generous tip for waiting staff, a study has revealed.

Dining to the sound of Abba’s Dancing Queen and other upbeat hits increases the amount of money left after a meal.

Sad songs such as Eleanor Rigby by The Beatles also prompted customers to leave slightly more than when they heard “neutral” background music, a team from Austria’s University of Innsbruck found.

Researchers also suggested diners who want to “immunise” themselves from the influential effects of a playlist should listen to more music day-to-day, which could lessen the impact.

Tables of two who enjoyed a meal which cost about £88 left tips of £3.52 more on average when they listened to happy tracks than those who heard "neutral" music, the study showed. Other examples of tunes which could prompt greater gratuity included Billy Joel's Uptown Girl and Queen's Don't Stop Me Know.

Tips among older diners were particularly affected and researchers said they were probably more susceptible to the effects, because they are exposed to less music than young people.

Annika Beer, a psychologist who co-authored the study, said: “Uplifting music makes people happy and the better mood someone is in, the more they tend to tip.

“Melancholic music, however, nurtures the people's helping behaviour. The manipulated customers want to help the waiter or waitress with higher tips than usual.”

The team studied 277 diners at a relatively upmarket restaurant in Innsbruck, a popular ski destination, where a typical meal costs 100 euro (£88) and the average tip was ten per cent, or £8.80. 

Well-known music was avoided during the experiment, but the researchers said other sad songs likely to prompt more generous tips include Back to Black, by Amy Winehouse.

They said older customers’ tips appeared to be influenced more by the music choice because younger people are generally more exposed to music in everyday life, which could lessen the emotional impact.

Miss Beer, who carried out the study with Professor Tobias Greitemeyer, a social psychologist, added: "Of course, it is also possible that they just don't have the financial freedom to tip as much as older people."

Music volume was kept to lower, background levels during the research, which also suggested diners may not be aware of the subconscious effects it had on their generosity levels.

The research followed previous studies which highlighted the influence music can have on a person’s mood, a factor often used to boost the impact of films and adverts.