According to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, American consumers are suffering a new sort of modern malaise: tip fatigue. Spread beyond conventional tipping settings, such as restaurants and beauty salons, tipping expectations appear to arise in nearly every interaction—especially those enabled by digitalized payment services.

Whether grabbing a coffee at the airport, stopping by a bakery for a quick muffin in the morning, or stopping to purchase some peanuts between innings at the local sports stadium, consumers checking out using self-service payment terminals confront requests for tips for the workers who simply hand the items over the counter. The requests usually offer three options, giving consumers an easy way to click to add 15, 20, or 25 percent to the total (or some other percentages; the systems can be designed with any percentage amount), as well as the choice to specify their own amount. Other consumers report encountering tip requests at the self-checkout kiosks in supermarkets and hardware stores too.

For consumers, the pressures can feel intense. Tipping constitutes an inherently social practice. It has long served to signify consumers’ appreciation and recognition for the effort expended by service providers. It also is observable by others, such that consumers might enjoy a positive reputation as a generous “big tipper” by laying out a large sum and waiting for that contribution to be noticed, in person (e.g., when restaurant workers ring a bell to signal a nice gratuity) or on social media. Furthermore, tipping is deeply embedded in U.S. culture, partly reflecting wage laws that allow restaurants and other service industry firms to pay employees below the national minimum wage, with the expectation that workers will be compensated by tips.

During the coronavirus pandemic, these drivers grew in strength, and tipping came to seem like an inspirational way to come together and recognize the sacrifices and dedication of frontline employees, working in impossible situations. In the years after the nadir of the pandemic though, consumers also have been buffeted by new and rising costs and “junk fees” imposed on many of their purchases. For the most part, their own costs of living have increased, meaning that requests for even more sacrifice and higher prices feels oppressive.

For example, 76 percent of U.S. consumers report feeling pressured to tip in self-service situations, and guilt reportedly motivates average consumers to tip an extra $450 each year. Such numbers give credence to the claims of 33 percent of consumers who allege that tipping culture has grown far out of control.

Although people continue to recognize the appropriateness of tipping in conventional purchase situations, such as salons, food delivery, restaurants, and ride sharing, they increasingly are rejecting tips in self-service settings. In particular, regular consumers and influencers have begun airing their complaints about gratuitous gratuity demands. These signals offer a

 

different sort of social signal. That is, as more people reject the idea of tipping through self-service kiosks, more others come to recognize that social norms do not necessarily expect them to add a few bucks to their total, when the transaction did not demand much effort from the service providers.

Discussion Questions

1. Should quick service businesses maintain tip requests on their payment devices or not? Who benefits, and who does not, from their presence?
2. How might shifting social conventions continue to change—that is, what do you predict tipping will look like in the future?

Sources: Allen Kopelman, “Has Tipping Reached a ‘Tipping Point’?” Forbes, July 3, 2024; Ann Carrns, “Tip a Self-Service Kiosk? How to Deal with the Many Requests for Tips,” The New York Times, November 17, 2023; Kayla Bailey, “Dave Portnoy Blasts Self-Checkout Tip Kiosks over Gratuity Guilt: ‘I Don’t Do It to Be a Nice Guy’,” FOX Business, May 17, 2023