Is it possible that this is actually a reflection of hiring practices at higher-end restaurants? More expensive restaurants pay more and generate larger tips and the hiring managers, still more men than women, are selecting the more attractive and buxom servers?

Please tell me who funded such a study?

Why do professors do studies on subject matter which seems to answer a self evident question.

Did any students get a degree or thesis from this research?

Seriously sounds like this dork was using his "survey" as an excuse to talk to women. "I was at Hooters doing research sir, honest."

Seriously dude? Really? Why don't you also research whether men like attractive women or not?

I (and really anybody) could have told you that without any research. Why do all the New York restaurants have random dudes get your food and take your dishes but it's a blond chick who comes pick up the check.

OMG.....I cannot believe he published this research, but moreover, I cannot believe he was even able to do the research. Is this really indicative of Ivy League curriculum? If it is, then I should be granted a honorary PhD because I have a hell of alot more smarts than what he's displayed here. And I could have told you anything he published in his "research". This is quite degrading to women and to the serving profession as a whole.

Probably got his funding for this study from Silicon Valley

This professor is one of the worst professors at the Hotel School...if not the ONLY bad professor. The faculty at HTL is simply flawless. But this guy is a big joke. The Hotel school is renowned for its research in hospitality....but this study is simply unnecessary and stupid.

Lynn...resign...or leave. No one cares if you are the world's expert on tipping.

Did the study confirm that both women and men give bigger tips to waitresses with larger breasts, blond hair and/or slender bodies than they do to waitresses with other physical characteristics? The explanation offered by Prof. Lynn (evolution) seems to assume that only men eat in restaurants and tip waitresses. If both men and women are more generous tippers with waitresses who have certain physical attributes, then there's more to it than the simplistic explanation of reproductive potential.

"Colb suggested instead that a uniform percentage “gratuity” be charged with each meal."

That rather defeats the purpose of tipping. One might as well just increase the prices of the food and drink. Tipping is designed as an incentive system: good service -> better tip.

Yes, part of service is presenting an attractive appearance. Hiring an attractive staff is completely justified as a reasonable sort of "discrimination". An attractive apperance - just like courtesy, efficiency, and a good memory - is a desirable quality in a waitress.

(By the way, not everyone equates large breasts with attractiveness. To some of us males, the opposite is true. Apparently we are in the minority, at least in the USA).

The cause of this phenomenon may be the increased atmospheric CO2 from fossil-fuel combustion, as indicated by the reduced 13C/12C ratio in the atmosphere and in tree rings. Think about it: The tree rings are growing bigger so ...

I don't see what the big deal is about people criticizing his research. It might have been "self evident," but unless there was an official documented study you can't take anything for granted.

Plus, I find it interesting that the study says that appearance has a stronger correlation to tips than does quality service. I'm wondering what types of quantified research they did to determine "quality of service" but I digress.

As for having a flat tipping system, that wouldn't work, at least not in theory. Unless every waiter/waitress has the same amount of "quality of service" then a flat tipping system would result in a theoretically decrease in service quality. What is the incentive for a waiter/waitress to be exceptionally nice if their tip is not depending on service? In theory the waiter/waitress will do the bare minimum amount of work -- just enough so they don't get reported to their supervisor.

There is ALWAYS going to be some sort of bias in the system. Maybe if there is a flat tip and everyone performs the same, customers might stay longer (and thus buy more) if their waitress is exceptionally attractive. So no matter what you try to do, the outcome is still relatively the same.

Personally, I don't mind a study like this, even if you might think it is "obvious." Someone needs to PROVE the obvious and I'd be interested if they expanded upon it. Maybe see how customers react if there is a flat tip -- do they stay longer or buy more expensive food? What else does appearance of the waitress have on the effects of the patrons? etc.

Is obesity a protected class? Or can you refuse to higher a waitress because she is overweight?

I don't care how big her boobs are---if she's give mediocre service, she gets a mediocre tip. Very simple.

We all know it. If she's blonde, slender and has big boobs, every man would like to give her a big tip, eh? (That is, if he has a big tip.)

i suspect that the people who object to this study being made are those who are unhappy with the results.

do they also get upset over every chapter in freakonomics?

i think this was a good idea, to either support or refute accepted wisdom with actual proof and statistics.

(even if some are unhappy with the subject matter)

Maybe Silicon Hills

Without some sort of a description of how "quality of service" was objectively defined, I fail to see how this study is of any use at all.

And the flat tipping system is indeed a terrible idea. The only way to deal with poor service with such a system is to call for the manager and to complain -- and that's a confrontational and time-consuming activity, something most folks I know prefer to reserve for truly abysmal service, and not for merely substandard service.

I don't really object to this sort of study, although I object to the recommendations. It has, however, prompted me to start thinking about writing down the (objective) markers for good/bad service that affect my tipping...

Remember, the sign of a great restaurant is not how nice it is when everything goes well, it's how they take care of you when they make a mistake.