(NEXSTAR) – Have we reached a tipping point?
If you regularly buy takeout from local restaurants, or if you start your day with a latte from your favorite coffee shop, you’ll likely be asked to leave a tip after swiping your card at the point-of-sale machine, usually at through a digital tip screen with predetermined dollar amounts or percentages.
Some customers may also feel that they are being asked to tip more frequently, and in more settings, than in years past.
“There aren’t any good studies, but most people’s experiences are…they’re encountering these things more and more often,” he said. michael lynn, professor of marketing and management communication at Cornell University and author of more than 70 studies on the subject of tipping and tipping culture.
As Lynn explained, it’s hard to know for sure if there are more establishments that accept or solicit tips than, say, a decade ago, when tips were more often collected somewhat implicitly (via a tip jar, for example). . But the wealth of anecdotal evidence Lynn has gathered gives her a good idea of how often consumers are presented with the option of tipping.
“Personally, I think it’s more common,” Lynn told Nexstar, pointing specifically to quick-service restaurants and coffee shops.
etiquette expert Diana Gottsmann, the founder of the Texas School of Etiquette, feels similarly, telling Nexstar that she is increasingly being asked about proper consumer behavior when asked for such a display, whether in-store or at a store. app (like Uber or Starbucks).
“We are subjected to that app, that screen, almost every day when we buy a coffee or a sandwich,” Gottsman said. “So we have to get used to this form of payment.”
Gottsman acknowledges that customers can feel guilty when presented with the option of tipping, but Lynn points to studies that suggest it also annoys or even angers people.
“People think it’s manipulative, it annoys them, and their perception of the service goes down,” Lynn said, citing a recent study of researchers at Purdue and Temple Universities who found that, in a significant number of cases, participants who were presented with a tipping screen had more “negative emotions regarding the payment experience” than those who were presented with a tip screen. it wasn’t introduced to them, and those weren’t even in real world settings.
So why do so many establishments seem to be ditching the tip jar in favor of a tablet or app prompt? To put it plainly, it’s because it might be working.
The same study by Purdue and Temple researchers found that, in general, a tip screen was effective in “raising tip amounts” for customers who might not otherwise think of leaving a tip. another study of New York City taxi riders found that tip displays, specifically those with default options for tips of 15%, 20%, and 25%, had “a significant effect on tip amounts.” When those default values were increased (to 20%, 25% and 30%), the average tip increased even more, effectively compensating customers who refused to use one of the default options out of frustration, University of Chicago researchers found. and Columbia University found.
But some studies on the subject have come to murkier conclusions. One, published by authors from Murray State University and the University of Central Florida, found that customers at limited-service restaurants (where they paid before receiving their food) were more irritated and less likely to return. when tips were requested on lower priced items (say a $1 item), but you didn’t feel too bad when you tipped on a larger check.
Another study published in the business research magazine Suggested tipping screens did result in increased tipping instances, but only when the server or clerk was physically in the customer’s presence.
“’Guilty pleas’ is what they call it,” Gottsman said. “We think the whole world is watching us.”
Meanwhile, Lynn believes that employers at quick-service restaurants have reason to be fans of more explicit tip requests.
“It helps with recruiting,” Lynn says. “Especially in the current environment, where there are shortages, even fast service would have a hard time recruiting staff. [at places] where these employees, these baristas are paid the regular minimum wage, at least.”
Speaking with Nexstar, both Lynn and Gottsman noted that servers at full-service establishments likely earn less than minimum wage, which means they may be more reliant on tips than employees at quick-service restaurants or counter-service stores. .
“We have to remember that if you’re sitting at a table, in a restaurant, that tip is socially mandated,” said Gottsman, who clarified that she is “pro-tip” in most situations. “That [server] he’s working for a tip… and that makes up for his income. But if you’re standing at a counter, in a deli, this person is working for an hourly wage. Maybe not a great hourly wage, but an hourly wage. Tipping here is a polite gesture, but not mandatory.”
“Tipping is voluntary and you should feel free to say no,” Lynn added of tipping at food service establishments where employees earn more than minimum wage. “Outside of the context of the restaurant, most people would not tip.”