The Skeptics Guide #1015 - Dec 21 2024
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
You're listening to The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe, your escape to reality.
Hello and welcome to The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe.
Today is Saturday, December 7th, 2024, and this is your host, Stephen Novella. was a little weak. It's unclear.
A little unclear.
Joining me this week are Bob Novella. Hey, everybody. Cara Santa Maria. Howdy. Jay Novella.
Hey, guys.
Evan Bernstein. Hello, Washington, D.C. And George Robb. Chestnuts roasting. Yay. So yeah, we are in Washington, D.C., our nation's capital. I actually lived here for five years. It's a very nice city. We came back to do a, to record our live show here. So we are going to get into some news items. We're going to do a little bit of a Q&A like halfway through the show. Have you guys all submitted your questions? So Cara, if you live off tips, how do you get people to tip more?
So I'm going to answer not that question today, but I thought I was going to be answering that question, but it turns out it's much more complicated than that. So a recent study that was published in the Journal of Business Research, I love these online publications because it says it was published in January 2025. I'm not sure how that...
They do usually date the publication the month after it comes out so it's relevant longer. It doesn't seem dated the moment it hits the shelves.
Cheaters. These researchers who actually focus their research, they're marketing professors and they study digital tipping, which is really interesting. We started to talk about this amongst ourselves last night at dinner and there were feelings. There were lots of feelings about tipping. They wanted to understand how customers respond to what they call tip surveillance. So there are quite a few studies looking at when and how customers are more likely to tip more or to tip less. And what's interesting is that the research is sort of all over the place. But they were interested in not just tipping, but what they call non-tip measures. So how does it impact a customer, let's say, coming back to this place again in the future or recommending this place to friends or family members, but also tipping.
And they were interested specifically in something that they call tipping privacy measures. So they ran a few different experiments. They looked at 36,000 kind of field transactions, and then they did four controlled experiments with 1,100 participants. And they compared setups that they kind of deemed had different levels of privacy. handheld versus countertop payment systems, point-of-sale POS systems. They looked at times when employees look at you while you're tipping or when they turn away or walk away. And they also looked at point-of-sale systems that either show the tips to employees, and you were asking about this just last night, right away, because you were like, do they know? Like what it's facing me.
Do they know? I bought my kids hamburgers. My wife is away. Long story. I'm like, okay, Wednesday night, I'm super busy. I get the kids hamburgers, right? So I go to five guys. You're a terrible father. I know. Well, I did not get them milkshakes, so I am a terrible product. You're redeemed. So I'm like there, and I'm like, you know, typical scene. I'm buying them. I'm paying. And then the tip thing comes up. And I have that thing where I'm like, shit, like she's standing right there. I'm like, I don't usually tip people like this. This is not where I tip people. At a counter, yeah. At a counter at a fast food restaurant. Like they're getting paid a wage. You know, it's not like they're underpaid. Yeah, you don't tip the person at McDonald's.
But the thing I didn't like and I told the carer was like I felt like she knew I didn't tip because she gave me – I probably thought about it. She gave you the stink eye? She gave me some type of stink eye that was there or not. It could have been produced in my head. But I felt guilty. And in that moment, I'm like, that sucks. It really was uncomfortable for me.
So I do think tipping should be basically anonymous. But I have to tell you about Perry's Tip-O-Meter.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–4:36
2
How does digital tipping and 'tip surveillance' affect customer behavior and business outcomes?
4:36–8:37
3
What did the Journal of Business Research experiments reveal about privacy, perceived control, and tipping?
8:37–39:42
4
What are the key skeptical lessons from the JonBenét Ramsey case and how did media and police misconduct shape public opinion?
39:42–57:51
5
What new evidence rewrites our view of Neanderthal art and intelligence?
57:51–1:03:19
6
Which audience questions were answered during the live Q&A about music and Webb observations?
1:03:19–1:15:14
7
What practical tips did the panel give for improving memory and organizing knowledge?
1:15:14–1:44:02
8
How does global food trade impact environment, economies, and seasonal eating?
1:44:02–1:51:35