IMPACT OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE ON CUSTOMER PREFERENCES FOR TIPPING DELIVERY AGENTS

Abstract

Purpose The primary research question of the term project is ascertaining the influence of social factors on tipping behavior exhibited by customers towards delivery agents. The impact of socially relevant aspects like relative opinions and comments of fellow customers were shown to the treatment group through a biased survey report, carrying results of responses to the same questions which they were to answer in the experimental setup. Visual and emotional triggers like glimpses of the agents' lives – snapshots of their kids, families, struggles, etc., were analyzed through two-phase experimental research in the proposed study. The critical aspect of this study is assessing whether the subjects' response changes significantly, i.e., they begin to favor tipping the delivery providers following a biased exposure to external factors like social or psychological influences. However, the experimental flavor of this study came from a random selection of samples in two phases for data collection, with an experimental setup that would apply "between subject" comparison of responses to independent variables. The dependent variable is customer preference or attitude to tipping delivery agents in this humble attempt. In contrast, the independent variable was a social influence enforced through different tools Design/methodology/approach The data analysis methodology has entirely been quantitative in nature, relying on statistical tools and hypothesis testing. Analysis techniques for correlation and causal analysis has been deployed to check (alternate) hypothesis - Social Influence has an impact on customer preferences towards tipping delivery agents. A survey questionnaire has been designed and administered to experimental group respondents in two phases. In the second phase, the respondents are stimulated by 6 | P a g e different ways like providing a colored, multi-page brochure showcasing the real-life episodes of delivery agents, their quotes, etc. along with a fictitious, biased (pro-tipping) survey report of respondents. Findings The analysis of datasets obtained after score computation of survey respondents from two phases of this study has been used to ascertain the importance and relevance of the topic.