Tipping norms vary greatly between nations and world regions. According to Nancy Star in her book entitled The International Guide to Tipping (1988), the United States was identified as one of the top three countries in terms of number of service providers tipped in the world. Because of this disparity in tipping prevalence, many foreigners or second generation immigrants living in the United States experience confusion with the norm of tipping (Lynn et al, 1993, Mills & Riehle, 1987). Tipping in the US is a unique social situation which can be unclear, even at times to domestic consumers. There is no cut and dry contract between the consumer and the worker, and opinions, evaluations, and behaviors differ immensely across an individual’s consumer-service orientation (Azar, 2007). Thus, for many foreigners consuming in the United States, tipping scenarios are met with great uncertainty. While some research has been conducted in the area of ethnicity and tipping behavior (Lynn & Thomas-Haysbert, 2003; Lynn, 2004; Lynn et al, 1993), this area of tipping research is relatively underdeveloped and requires more investigative work, especially via primary empirical data collection at the individual level.

For many consumer experiences, not limited to tipping scenarios, ethnic ties have been recognized as having a major predictive influence on consumer behavior (Deshpande & Stayman, 1994). This paper seeks to compare Asian consumer behaviors in the United States with American consumer behaviors in the United States within the realm of tipping. We assume that Asian consumers who are unaware of the cultural norms of tipping in this country will base his or her behavior on the cultural dimensions associated with his or her culture. Based on the dimensions of the Asian culture, we show that tipping behavior varies significantly in the absence of US tipping knowledge.