• Culinary science and hospitality research
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.191-201
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• 2009

Tipping takes significant part in hospitality industry, especially in hotels and restaurants. According to the recent studies, over US$26.4B were given to the service personnel in the restaurant industry from the customers as tips in 2003 in the US alone. As a result of these developments, tipping has been a legitimate area of academic inquiry in many foreign countries but here in Korea this custom has not drawn much attention due to service charge being placed by the government since 1979. The purpose of this study is to analyse the perception and attitude of tip recipients and compare it with the results of previous studies carried out by Shamir and Parrett. Statistical analyses were carried out to compare the differences of perception between tip recipients and non recipients on the staff role conflict, job satisfaction, pay satisfaction and attitude toward the guests. It is suggested from the finding that the current service charge system needs to be taken into consideration for possible revision or alteration as the management environment and customer needs in the hospitality industry in Korea are changing at an enormous pace. As this study focused on the perception of employees, further study on the perception of customers to tipping is highly recommended.