Studies in restaurants show that the tips left by customers who pay their bill in cash tend to be larger when the bill is presented on a tray that bears a credit-card logo. Consumer psychologists hypothesize that simply seeing a credit-card logo makes many credit-card holders willing to spend more because it reminds them that their spending power exceeds the cash they have immediately available. Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the psychologists’ interpretation of the studies? A. The effect noted in the studies is not limited to patrons who have credit cards. B. Patrons who are under financial pressure from their credit-card obligations tend to tip less when presented with a restaurant bill on a tray with credit-card logo than when the tray has no logo. C. In virtually all of the cases in the studies, the patrons who paid bills in cash did not possess credit cards. D. In general, restaurant patrons who pay their bills in cash leave larger tips than do those who pay by credit card. E. The percentage of restaurant bills paid with a given brand of credit card increases when that credit card’s logo is displayed on the tray with which the bill is prepared.

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Studies in restaurants show that the tips left by customers who pay th

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guddo

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17 Jun 2026, 21:30

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Harsh020

I'm struggling with why (B) is considered strong support for the psychologists' interpretation.

The psychologists' hypothesis is that seeing a credit-card logo reminds cardholders that their spending power exceeds the cash they currently have available. In other words, the logo reminds them of access to credit.

However, (B) says that patrons under financial pressure from their credit-card obligations tip less when they see the logo.

Why should this support the hypothesis?

Someone under significant credit-card debt can still have spending power that exceeds their available cash. For example, a person with $50 in cash, a $20,000 credit limit, and $15,000 in outstanding debt still has spending power that exceeds the cash currently available.

To get from (B) to the psychologists' conclusion, it seems necessary to assume an additional premise: that people under financial pressure react negatively to reminders of credit, whereas people without such pressure react positively. But that assumption is not stated in the stimulus.

In contrast, if a credit-card logo causes people to use that specific credit card more often (as in E), doesn't that at least show that the logo is affecting spending-related behavior through thoughts about credit cards?

What am I missing?

B supports the psychologists’ interpretation because it shows that the credit-card logo affects people through their thoughts about credit-card finances.

For ordinary credit-card holders, the logo may remind them of extra spending power, so they tip more. For people under credit-card pressure, the same logo may remind them of debt, so they tip less. In both cases, the logo is affecting behavior by triggering credit-related thoughts.

This does not need to prove the whole hypothesis. It only needs to strengthen it.

E is weaker because it shows that a logo can influence which card people use, not that the logo makes cash-paying customers feel able to spend more. So E is about payment choice, while B is about the psychological mechanism behind spending.

This question has been discussed extensively on the previous two pages, with several very good expert responses, so I suggest reviewing those carefully for more.

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18 Jun 2026, 00:34

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I was attracted to the first option because I read it and thought- "ah, the study is not limited to just the patrons who use credit cards, so this option establishes that the study can be generalised to a larger set of customers." but even if the study was just limited to patrons, so what? The question is not asking for an option that establishes the generalisability of the study, but one which strengthens the hypothesis of the researcher. The argument is essentially saying that the credit card logo reminds users about their credit cards (which signals to them their spending power), so when paying with cash, they tend to tip more. Option B establishes the fact that IT IS INDEED the credit card logo that reminds users about their credit cards, and thereby, their spending power.