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 fi nancial pressure from their credit-card obligations tend to tip less when presented
with a restaurant bill on a tray with a 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 presented.
The psychologists’ hypothesis is that the credit-card logos on the trays bring to the minds of
those who tip more the fact that they have more purchasing power than merely the cash
that they have at hand. Th is explanation would not be valid even if those people who are
not reminded of their own excess purchasing power—if in fact they have any such
power—when they see such a logo nonetheless tip more in such trays. Th us, if restaurant
patrons who are under fi nancial pressure from their credit-card obligations do not tip
more when their bills are presented on trays bearing credit-card logos, then the
psychologists’ interpretation of the studies is supported.
