The Mint Trick That Boosted Restaurant Tips by 14% #shorts

22 Oct 2026 · 1 min

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In this short, Robert Cialdini explains a field experiment conducted in New York restaurants that examined how the presence of mints on a diner's tray influences tipping behavior. The study found that placing a single mint on each diner's tray increased the average tip by 3.3%. When servers placed two mints on each tray, the average tip rose by 14% compared to the baseline with no mints. Cialdini links these results to the reciprocity principle, noting that the act of receiving a small, unexpected gift (the mint) creates a psychological urge to give back, which in this context manifests as a higher tip.

Chapters

If there's a mint on the tray, your tip goes up 3.3%. There's a study that was done in New York, tough tippers, 3.3% if there's one mint on the tray for each diner. They had another condition in which the server came to the table and put 2 mints on the tray for each diner. And that condition produced a 14% increase. Wow. Not a 14% tip, a 14% increase over the usual tip without a mint. All in keeping with this rule. that says, the moment after you've given, people stand ready to give back to you.