The inevitable question heard at the end of many restaurant meals was asked of consumers across the globe, with the most common answer from 31% of all respondents being between 10 and 15 percent of the bill.

The Synovate study on global tipping practices showed that 15% of consumers will usually leave less than 10 percent of the bill, 14% will leave between 15 to 20 percent of the bill, while the largest group of all (36%) don't base the amount of their tip on the final bill.

Unsurprisingly, Americans are the world's largest tippers, with 53% of respondents from the USA believing that a tip of between 15 and 20 percent of the bill is an appropriate amount to leave at the end of a meal, while Russians were the least generous, generally leaving less than 10 percent of a bill.

Confused consumers
Synovate Director Travel and Tourism, Sheri Lambert said global tipping etiquette is a source of unwarranted pressure, uncertainty and discomfort for consumers all around the world.

"Feeling an obligation to leave a gratuity is one of the most common complaints cited by consumers in relation to tipping, with 45% of respondents sometimes feeling pressured to leave a tip when they don't want to and 36% being embarrassed if they don't leave a tip due to bad service but feel one is expected," she said.

"Knowing how much to tip also causes confusion, with almost one third of all consumers surveyed (29%) having difficulty determining the amount of tip to leave, and an additional 30% believing that it is better for restaurants to automatically add a service charge to a bill.

"To further add to the uncertainty, tipping practices are reliant upon a consumers' locality, with 60% of those who do regularly provide a tip usually changing their behaviour to suit local habits when abroad," she added.

Well-known for their accommodating nature, consumers from the United Kingdom (77%) are the most likely to change their tipping behaviour according to local custom when they are overseas, followed by respondents from Hong Kong (74%) and Canada (72%).

Brazilians (58%), Americans (47%) and Serbians (45%) were the least likely to change their usual tipping habits when travelling.

To tip or not to tip
Despite the apparent uncertainty surrounding tipping, more than two thirds (69%) of respondents in Synovate's global tipping survey usually provide a tip or gratuity for a service rendered and a substantial 91% of these respondents feel personal satisfaction from leaving such a reward.

American (98%), Canadian (97%) and British (84%) consumers are the most likely to tip their service providers, while only 31% of Indonesians usually reward good service with a gratuity.



Synovate Executive Director Consumer Insights, Mike Sherman, said although most consumers do tend to tip, lower income levels and pre-existing service charges in some countries meant numerous consumers were not able to tip or did not view tipping as a necessity.

"Tipping for good service is a cultural norm accepted in most of the countries surveyed. However, in some places where tipping is not so prevalent, including Indonesia, Serbia and Brazil, low income levels restrict consumers' behaviour, with non-tipping respondents naming low income as the main reason for not regularly providing a gratuity," he said.

"In contrast, the majority of consumers who did not provide a tip in some of the wealthier countries, such as France and Hong Kong, named the fact that a service charge was included as the main reason they did not normally leave a gratuity."

Who do you tip?
Consumers are most likely to tip the world's waiters (86%), hairdressers (58%) and taxi drivers (52%), while casino dealers (8%), hotel doormen (14%) and coat check staff (22%) are the least likely to be rewarded.

Other service providers named by consumers as likely to receive a tip for their service include bartenders (46%), hotel bellhops (43%) and the handyman (33%).

Restaurant wait staff were the first pick across all countries surveyed except Indonesia, where the local handyman is the person most likely to be tipped. Handymen also fared well in Serbia and Brazil, where 75% and 62% of respondents respectively said they would reward such workers with a tip for their service.

In the United States, hotel bellhops (97%) were the equal top choice with wait staff (97%) as most likely to receive a tip, followed by hairstylists and tour guides (79% each), while the British tip their taxi drivers (79%) and hairstylists (56%) with what they have left over from rewarding their waiters (96%).

CURIOSITIES

• Three quarters of consumers globally will not leave a tip if they feel that they have received bad service.
• 82% of respondents in Hong Kong, 65% of respondents in Serbia and 53% of respondents in Brazil would rather donate their money to a charity than leave a tip.
• Spa service providers such as masseuses are most likely to receive a tip in Russia and Serbia, where 41% and 50% of respondents respectively said they usually reward such services, but are unlikely to be tipped by the French (4%) or the Spanish (6%).