Confronted with the growing ubiquity of tablet checkout screens that prompt suggested tip amounts, at coffee shops, retail stores, hair salons, and so forth, U.S. consumers are rejecting the hint. Arguably due to their “tipping fatigue,” people have indicated their decreased willingness to tip at all, even in conventional settings like deliveries and sit-down restaurants. Whereas a few years back, an estimated 77 percent of diners tipped every time they ate at a full-service restaurant, a recent survey indicates that only 65 percent do so now. Yet among those consumers who do tip, the amounts they leave have grown larger; the median tip for restaurant servers generally ranges around 20 percent, higher than it was in the past. Demographics have some effect on these trends too: Men and younger adults tend tip less frequently. But when they do tip, they throw down an impressive amount. Furthermore, attitudes toward tipping as a norm continue to grow less positive, with an estimated one-third of adults asserting that the practice simply has grown out of control. It shows no signs of stopping though; consumers must continue to decide how to react when a service provider turns that tablet around and waits expectantly to see which button they click.

 

Sources: Jared Mitovich, “Fewer Americans Are Tipping, Bankrate Survey Finds,” Yahoo Finance, June 8, 2023