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

Question

Studies in restaurants show that the tips left by customers who pay their bill tend to be larger when the bill is presented with the server’s name hand-written on the bill. Psychologists hypothesize that simply seeing a handwritten name makes many consumers feel more of a personal identification with the server, encouraging larger tips.
 
Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the psychologists’ interpretation of the studies?

(A) The effect noted in the studies applies to patrons paying with either credit cards or cash.

(B) Nametags for servers have not been shown to have any effect on the size of the bill.

(C) Greeting card companies have found that charities which send holiday cards with and written signatures are more likely to receive donations than those which send cards with printed signatures.

(D) The studies indicated much larger average tips if the customer ordered alcoholic beverages with his or her meal.

(E) Many of the restaurants in which the studies were conducted are located in tourist areas, where people are traveling for leisure activities.

Bunuel · Accepted Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

This argument concerns a potential explanation for larger tips on the part of restaurant patrons. The explanation provided is that customers are more generous toward servers that leave their hand-written name on the bill due to a greater degree of personal identification with the server, which encourages larger tips. The correct answer will either support the fact that a hand-written name strengthens personal identification, or that personal identification encourages larger tips.

(A) The fact that the effect applies equally regardless of the method of payment is not relevant to the conclusion.

(B) The argument does not address the size of the bill; rather, it addresses the size of the tip. This choice is irrelevant.

(C) CORRECT.  This answer choice provides further evidence that a handwritten name or signature generates a greater form of personalization and emotional connection among recipients, leading to more donations.

(D) The impact of alcoholic beverages on tipping behavior is irrelevant.

(E) The location of the restaurants and leisure pursuits of the patrons are irrelevant to the argument.

ankit546 · Answer

Hi Kinjal

The arguments just say that if the bill is presented with the server’s name hand-written on the bill then he is tipped.

The same is said in option C. The answer is C as this option is trying to show an analogy to the arguments presented in the question stem.

D,E are irrelevant and Out of scope
B - We don't care how much is the size of the bill.
A - Does it matter whether the tip is provided with a credit card or cash ?

Do revert for discussions if still unclear.

Thanks
Ankit

PS: Hit the Kudo button if you understood the explanation.

kinjiGC · Answer

My analysis:

Studies in restaurants show that the tips left by customers who pay their bill tend to be larger when the bill is
presented with the server’s name hand-written on the bill. Psychologists hypothesize that simply seeing a hand-written name makes many consumers feel more of a personal identification with the server, encouraging larger tips. Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the psychologists’ interpretation of the studies?

a) The effect noted in the studies applies to patrons paying with either credit cards or cash.
 Neither supports or refutes - Neutral statement.

b) Nametags for servers have not been shown to have any effect on the size of the bill.
 We are talking about the tip and not the size of the bill - Out of scope.

c) Greeting card companies have found that charities which send holiday cards with handwritten signatures are more likely to receive donations than those which send cards with printed signatures.
 - Correct and supports.
Though in a different scenario but outlines the same principle.

d) The studies indicated much larger average tips if the customer ordered alcoholic beverages with his or her meal.
  - We are talking about if tipping is encouraged by the server's name and not about the size of the tip - Out of scope

e) Many of the restaurants in which the studies were conducted are located in tourist areas, where people are traveling for leisure activities.
  - We are not talking about specific customers - Out of scope.

aditya8062 · Answer

though i feel that C is the only possible answer here but i have my apprehensions .

i have read it many times (from good sources) that in CR strengthening and weakening questions, the answers which have similar examples are incorrect. For eg, if the stimulus talks about - country X implementing some policy and if one of the answer choices talks about country Y which implemented the same policy and which proved to be very successful ,then this choice is normally wrong and will never act as strengthener to an argument that says that this policy will be successful in country X . i have had example of such question in GMAT prep but i don't have them handy right now

my question is does option C not violate that logic ? if not then why so?

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear aditya8062 , I received your private message and am happy to respond. :-)

It appears that kinjiGC already gave you a very good answer to this specific question. I will just add: you are trying to understand GMAT CR by learning general rules, as if it were mathematics. Beyond the basics, that is an extremely poor approach. Whatever rule you possibly could learn, the GMAT can construct a CR question that doesn't obey it. If you really want to understand the GMAT, I have a few suggestions. (1) Practice some LSAT arguments. They are very hard, and extremely well written, and if you understand those subtleties, the GMAT arguments will be easier. (2) Read the Economist magazine each week from cover-to-cover. That magazine is exceptionally well written, and the arguments presented there are subtle and sophisticated, much like the GMAT CR arguments. Reading that every week would be extremely good for all your Verbal skills. (3) When you get a GMAT CR question wrong, read the explanation and appreciate what is unique about that scenario. The GMAT always presents arguments that are unique to a particular scenario. (4) Stop reading anything at all about general rules for GMAT. I don't care how reputable the source is. Stop completely! At this point, that reading is proving detrimental to your approach to the GMAT CR. GMAT CR does NOT happen in general rules. It happens in the details of the specific situation, and if you view these arguments through the one-size-fits-all lens of general rules, you will be tripped up time and time again. Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

AryamaDuttaSaikia · Answer

The Psychologists hypothesize that since the server's name is written with hand in the bill it promotes rapport and motivates the customers to pay a larger tip. Any answer choice which gives extra support to this contention is the answer. "C" is a direct analogy which compares "Charities" with the "Restaurant" and "donations" with tips". Since handwritten signatures on the greetings card fetches higher donations for the charities than do printed signatures; similarly handwritten bills encourage customers to pay larger tips.

jayarora · Answer

Hey,
I think there are some gaps in my understanding and I would really appreciate if someone can clarify them. What is wrong with option A? I agree it strengthens the argument but it does so lesser than C. Is my understanding correct? Can there more than 1 strengthener?
I feel so it removes an additional parameter, the mode of payment, thus solidifying the "cause and effect" relation indicated in the argument.

Please let me know. Don't wanna chose the wrong option on my GMAT

GMATNinja · Answer

Choice (A) simply reinforces the accuracy of the  results  of the study. We need something that "strongly supports the psychologists’  interpretation  of the studies", which is that "simply seeing a hand-written name makes many consumers feel more of a personal identification with the server, encouraging larger tips".

Only choice (C) strengthens this interpretation.

I hope this helps!

VerbalBot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot: 

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

 This post was generated automatically.

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

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

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

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards