To tip, or not to tip: that is the question — and what a troubling one it is.
I recently ordered takeout from a restaurant in Squirrel Hill. I placed my own order online, entered all of my credit card information into a third-party payment system, and personally drove to pick up my order. In my mind, I had removed every service element of the exchange besides the preparation of the food.
I scoffed at the tip screen that popped up during online payment, especially seeing that a service charge had been automatically added to my order. (I could imagine a 5-10% tip for packaging, but it seemed that was already covered by the service charge.)
When I went to pick up my order, the woman at the counter held my food as she blankly handed me a receipt. The “+ tip” was circled, as was the section of suggested tip amounts, ranging from 18% to 25%. I was baffled. Even more baffling, I ended up leaving a 20% tip! I succumbed to the awkwardness and the guilt as she stared at me, holding my food hostage while she waited for me to tip.
I walked out in a state of shock — both at the tipping expectation and at my own behavior. The experience has since has left me feeling uneasy about my own tipping practices, and the general tipping culture, ever since.
Over the course of the past five years, tipping culture has seen a dramatic shift away from its humble beginnings: once a reward for exemplary service, and now an expectation for simple product transactions.
According to a WalletHub survey, nearly 90% of Americans agree that tipping culture is out of control. The terms ‘tipflation’ and ‘tip creep’ are now being used to refer to the increased expectation and prevalence of tipping, particularly in places that tips weren’t previously expected. The Pew Research Center reports that 72% of Americans believe that tipping is now expected in more places than it was just five years ago. It begs the question: what’s causing tipflation and tip creep?
Rising expectation to tip more places compared to five years ago (Pew Research Center, 2023)
Human-computer interaction (HCI), in its broadest lens, considers much more than the design of digital touchpoints in a user’s experience. It also considers the psychological, technological, and business factors that influence that design.
Several HCI classes, such as Digital Service Innovation, introduce us to the concept of a PEST(LE) analysis. In performing the analysis, we consider the political, economic, social, and technological (and sometimes legal and environmental) factors that shaped the available opportunities for a given time period. At the height of the pandemic:
With the rise in disposable income (for some), the desire to support struggling restaurants and small businesses, and the ease of tipping through POS systems, it’s easy to understand why people were inclined to tip generously despite the lack of traditional service. In an attempt to stay afloat, a broader range of businesses began accepting and requesting tips. At the time, it was an admirable norm to tip more generously. However, over time, the temporary norm became the long-term expectation.