Compliments pay when it comes to buying food - Study

A new study has found that paying compliments pays off, at least when it comes to fast food.

The research by Austrian economists at the Innsbruck University involved buying 100 cones of ice cream and 800 kebab wraps.

The researchers sent several people to fast food restaurants over a series of days to buy soft serve ice cream.

To measure the effect of praise and recognition in consumer interactions, the experimenters ended their order with the sentence "You have the best ice cream in town."

They then left the shop to weigh their serving with a small scale.

They found that the praise got them 10 per cent more ice cream on average than when they ordered without paying a compliment.

Instead of praise, the researchers also tried tipping the salesperson at the time of ordering.

This increased the serving by an average of 17 per cent, but after accounting for the tip, the actual value increase was only 7 per cent.

According to the researchers, praising and tipping kebab vendors brought similar results.

Over several days, customers who paid compliments got continuously growing portions that ended up being bigger than the ones that were only accompanied by tips.

There is a tendency to underestimate immaterial incentives such as recognition and praise and to overestimate monetary incentives, said lead author Michael Kirchler.

To reach their findings, the experimenters did not have to gorge on fast food, but they gave most of the ice cream to passers-by and the kebab to a charity.

So if you need more, just say a little word of compliment or maybe some tips.