tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca-fr/topics/tipping-18128/articlesTipping – La Conversation2023-12-10T14:30:57Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2175122023-12-10T14:30:57Z2023-12-10T14:30:57ZTight budgets are making tipping a thorny issue this holiday season — here’s how to manage it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564373/original/file-20231207-31-bf2zcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=71%2C26%2C5182%2C3341&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Due to the current affordability crisis, many Canadians can’t afford to tip extra this holiday season.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/tight-budgets-are-making-tipping-a-thorny-issue-this-holiday-season-heres-how-to-manage-it" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>With the holiday season upon us, many Canadians are reassessing their spending habits in the face of the country’s <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/10049369/rising-cost-of-living-unprecedented-pressure-food-banks-canada/">high cost of living</a>. </p>
<p>Canadians are <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-canadian-holiday-spending">projected to spend 11 per cent less</a> this holiday season compared to 2022, according to Deloitte Canada. Nearly 80 per cent of Canadians expect <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/10076040/holiday-spending-travel-poll-canada/">interest rates and inflation to impact their holiday budgets</a>.</p>
<p>In addition, some Canadians are still recovering from last year’s festivities. One-quarter of Canadians <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/10087745/canadian-holiday-spending-debt/">still haven’t paid off their holiday spending debt from last year</a>, according to a survey commissioned by Global News.</p>
<p>As such, Canadians are being forced to be more discerning in their holiday spending. Restaurants are usually one of the <a href="https://www.pymnts.com/consumer-finance/2022/restaurants-first-to-go-when-shoppers-cut-holiday-spending">first things to be cut from spending budgets</a> — Restaurants Canada <a href="https://www.restaurantscanada.org/resources/real-foodservice-sales-drop-in-november-2022/">noted a decline in food service sales</a> throughout 2022 compared to 2019. Since restaurants <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/eat-drink-and-be-merry-heres-where-shoppers-have-been-spending-the-most-money-this-holiday-season-11672072356">receive a big share of consumers’ holiday spending</a>, they are likely to be impacted by tightened budgets.</p>
<p>This, of course, extends to tipping — with the current affordability crisis and tip inflation, <a href="https://dailyhive.com/canada/holidays-tipping-extra">Canadians can’t afford to tip extra</a> this holiday season.</p>
<h2>Tip creep and inflation</h2>
<p>Many Canadians are frustrated with current tipping culture. A recent Angus Reid survey found <a href="https://angusreid.org/canada-tipping-service-hospitality-included-tipflation-tip-creep">three in five Canadians</a> are being asked to tip a higher percentage — ranging from 18 to 30 per cent — for a wider range of goods and services. </p>
<p>These two phenomena — known as tip creep and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/costofliving/tipflation-gratuities-1.6555135">tipflation</a> — have been hurting shoppers financially. In the context of the cost-of-living crisis, this is only worsening affordability issues.</p>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic also exacerbated
tip creep and tipflation. A survey conducted by Restaurants Canada in April 2022 found that <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/here-s-what-the-average-restaurant-tip-percentage-is-across-canada-1.6040388">44 per cent of respondents tipped higher</a> when dining in-person, compared to before the pandemic. </p>
<p>While research has shown that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0010880401421001">customers tip servers to reward them for good service</a>, 78 per cent of Canadians believe tipping no longer functions as a way to show appreciation for employees; instead, they feel it is expected of them, no matter the quality of service.</p>
<p>Tipping is so ubiquitous in Canada, that point-of-sale devices now default to including tip. Tipping makes sense if an employee helps a shopper, but <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/01/technology-pandemic-economy-gratuity-tipping-etiquette-square/672658/">a self-checkout kiosk asking the shopper to tip</a> is plainly ridiculous.</p>
<h2>Are no-tip models the future?</h2>
<p>Tip creep and tipflation have led to widespread <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-tip-too-far-why-tip-fatigue-may-be-setting-in-for-north-americans-189289">tipping fatigue</a> among Canadians, with more than half expressing a preference for a no-tip, service-included model that ensures higher base wages for employees.</p>
<p>However, not all Canadians support the service-included model. In <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4488280">my ongoing research</a>, I’ve discovered that some shoppers oppose this approach because they want to maintain control over how much they reward good service.</p>
<p>My co-researcher and I asked individuals to explain their reasons for avoiding restaurants with a no-tip policy. Almost 40 per cent of their responses related to losing control of rewarding or penalizing service quality.</p>
<p>A no-tip policy typically raises menu prices by a flat 20 per cent, which not only acts as a defacto tip, but also robs customers of the ability to personally reward excellent service and, by extension, penalize subpar service. </p>
<p>Our findings revealed that 30 per cent of the reasons given were tied to the price hike, while the remaining 30 per cent were associated with concerns about potential poor service from establishments adopting this policy. This means a no-tip model is not a likely solution. Instead, there are other ways tipping can be managed to promote Canadians’ financial well-being.</p>
<h2>Tipping during the holidays</h2>
<p>There are three ways Canadians can navigate the thorny issue of tipping this holiday season. First is reminding shoppers that tipping is discretionary. Canadians should not feel pressured into tipping unless they wish to reward workers for good service. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A waiter, wearing a face mask, writes on a notepad while standing in front of two customers seated at a restaurant table" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564376/original/file-20231207-17-bmeqfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564376/original/file-20231207-17-bmeqfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564376/original/file-20231207-17-bmeqfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564376/original/file-20231207-17-bmeqfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564376/original/file-20231207-17-bmeqfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564376/original/file-20231207-17-bmeqfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564376/original/file-20231207-17-bmeqfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Consumers need to remember they always have free will in choosing what amount to tip workers, or whether to tip them at all.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Canadians must not feel that they need to tip employees to allow them liveable wages. Canada is not the United States, which has an abysmal <a href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/state/minimum-wage/tipped">minimum wage of US$2.87 for tipped workers</a>. In Canada, only <a href="https://www.quebec.ca/nouvelles/actualites/details/hausse-du-salaire-minimum-a-compter-du-1er-mai-2022-le-ministre-jean-boulet-annonce-une-hausse-du-taux-general-de-075-lheure-37361">Québec still maintains a tipped wage</a> — the other provinces have minimum wages ranging from $14 to $16.77 an hour. </p>
<p>These rates come much closer to the country’s <a href="https://www.livingwage.ca/rates">liveable wage</a> compared to the U.S. But, in any case, businesses should be the ones responsible for ensuring employees are paid appropriately, not the public.</p>
<p>Second, shoppers must remember they always have a choice in choosing what amount to tip workers. Business owners may choose default tip percentages on point-of-sale devices, but customers are always able to change them. Shoppers need to hold owners (not employees) responsible for their decisions. </p>
<p>Third, if an owner or their employees want to encourage tipping, they should disclose <a href="https://members.restaurantscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Current-Tipping-Rules-in-Canada_December-2017.pdf">how the tips are distributed</a> between owner and staff and among customer-facing and back-end staff. Such disclosures will make shoppers feel respected and allow staff to truly <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/no-tipping-model-restaurants-1.6755944">earn their tips</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217512/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vivek Astvansh does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>With the current affordability crisis and tip inflation, many Canadians can’t afford to tip extra this holiday season.Vivek Astvansh, Associate Professor of Quantitative Marketing and Analytics, McGill UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2106712023-08-18T12:39:44Z2023-08-18T12:39:44ZTipping etiquette and norms are in flux − here’s how you can avoid feeling flustered or ripped off<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542867/original/file-20230815-23-mw6txd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=298%2C54%2C5743%2C3841&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Digital payment methods may automatically prompt you to leave a gratuity.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/TippingFatigue/11bc6c8b9388484fa0dbf543db35dc47/photo?Query=tip%20fatigue&mediaType=photo,video,graphic,audio&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=5&currentItemNo=0">AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tipping has gotten more complicated – and awkward – in North America.</p>
<p>The ever-growing list of situations in which you might be invited to tip includes <a href="https://haveyourselfatime.com/smoothie-king-tipping-etiquette/">buying a smoothie</a>, <a href="https://bestlifeonline.com/places-you-should-never-tip/">paying an electrician</a>, <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/should-you-tip-your-flight-attendant-it-all-depends-on-the-airline-2019-01-08">getting a beer from a flight attendant</a> and <a href="https://support.actblue.com/donors/about-actblue/what-are-actblue-tips-for/">making a political donation</a>. </p>
<p>Should you always tip when someone suggests it? If yes, how do you calculate the right amount? And if you don’t, are you being stingy?</p>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=iU_D4EwAAAAJ&hl=en">marketing professors</a> who <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=s5S9eAoAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">specialize in customer interactions</a>, we’re researching how <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/10946705231166742">digital payment technologies have changed how and when customers tip</a>. Our research suggests that asking for <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1094670519900553">tips before service</a> and <a href="https://www.msi.org/working-papers/whos-in-control-how-default-tip-levels-influence-customer-response/">suggesting tip amounts that are too high</a> can frustrate customers and be bad for business.</p>
<h2>What’s new</h2>
<p>U.S. customers historically tipped people they assumed were earning most of their <a href="https://ssrn.com/abstract=465942">income via tips</a>, such as restaurant servers earning less than the minimum wage. In the early 2010s, a wide range of businesses started processing purchases with iPads and other digital payment systems. These systems often prompted customers to tip for <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/3022182/how-square-registers-ui-guilts-you-into-leaving-tips">services that were not previously tipped</a>.</p>
<p>Today’s tip requests are often not connected to the salary and service norms that used to determine <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/01/technology-pandemic-economy-gratuity-tipping-etiquette-square/672658/">when and how people tip</a>.</p>
<p>Customers in the past nearly always paid tips after receiving a service, such as at the conclusion of a restaurant meal, after getting a haircut or once a pizza was delivered. That timing could reward high-quality service and give workers an incentive to provide it. </p>
<p>It’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/customers-hate-tipping-before-theyre-served-and-asking-makes-them-less-likely-to-return-132078">becoming more common</a> for tips to be <a href="https://theconversation.com/payment-apps-asking-for-specific-tips-before-service-annoy-the-heck-out-of-users-but-still-generate-bigger-gratuities-180083">requested beforehand</a>. And new tipping technology may even <a href="https://abc7news.com/amazon-fresh-tipping-tip-delivery-driver-automatic/13325771/">automatically add tips</a>.</p>
<h2>Tip creep and tipflation</h2>
<p>The prevalence of digital payment devices has made it easier to ask customers for a tip. That helps explain why <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/01/business/dollar3-tip-on-a-dollar4-cup-of-coffee-gratuities-grow-automatically.html">tip requests are creeping</a> into new kinds of services.</p>
<p>Customers now routinely see menus of suggested default options – often well above 20% of what they owe. The amounts have risen from <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/03/29/1089587173/the-land-of-the-fee-2021">10% or less in the 1950s</a> to 15% around the year 2000 to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/14/is-25percent-the-new-20percent-how-much-to-tip-in-a-post-pandemic-world.html">20% or higher today</a>. This increase is sometimes called <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tipping-backlash-inflation-who-should-get-tipped/">tipflation</a> – the expectation of ever-higher tip amounts. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22446361/pandemic-gratuity-covid-service-work">COVID-19 pandemic</a>, which hastened the adoption of digital payments and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0886368721999135">increased sympathy for service workers</a>, amplified both tip creep and tipflation.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542872/original/file-20230815-17-m69ndx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Soda fountain attendant serving young woman in a black and white photo taken in the 1950s" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542872/original/file-20230815-17-m69ndx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542872/original/file-20230815-17-m69ndx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542872/original/file-20230815-17-m69ndx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542872/original/file-20230815-17-m69ndx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542872/original/file-20230815-17-m69ndx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542872/original/file-20230815-17-m69ndx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542872/original/file-20230815-17-m69ndx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tips used to be smaller.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/soda-fountain-attendant-serving-young-woman-royalty-free-image/53271877?phrase=tip+restaurant+service+black+and+white&adppopup=true">George Marks/Retrofile RF via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Tipping has always been a <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/07/17/1187275511/tipping-minimum-wage-tips-tip-screen">vital source of income</a> for workers in historically tipped services, like restaurants, where the tipped minimum wage can be as low as <a href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/state/minimum-wage/tipped">US$2.13 an hour</a>. Tip creep and tipflation are now further supplementing the income of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/13/business/economy/tipped-wage-subminimum.html">many low-wage service workers</a>.</p>
<p>Notably, tipping primarily benefits some of these workers, such as waiters, but not others, such as cooks and dishwashers. To ensure that all employees were paid fair wages, some restaurants banned tipping and increased prices, but this movement toward no-tipping services has <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-gastronomy/the-limitations-of-american-restaurants-no-tipping-experiment">largely fizzled out</a>.</p>
<p>So, to increase employee wages without raising prices, more employers are succumbing to the temptations of tip creep and tipflation. However, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/10/american-tipping-system-makes-no-sense/600865/">many customers are frustrated</a> because they feel they are being asked for too high of a tip, too often. And, as our research emphasizes, tipping now seems to be more coercive, less generous and often completely dissociated from service quality. </p>
<p>While digital tipping can be an easy way for customers to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/19/dining/tipping-gratuity-restaurants.html">help workers or express their gratitude</a> for good service, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/09/briefing/tipping-confusion-food-delivery-apps.html?searchResultPosition=2">many Americans feel uncertain</a> about what to do when asked for a tip.</p>
<h2>3 questions to always ask</h2>
<p>Here are some questions you can ask yourself when faced with almost any tipping decision. </p>
<p><strong>1. Should I tip?</strong></p>
<p>It’s generally up to you to decide whether you will tip and how much.</p>
<p>To avoid being <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1094670519900553">pressured into tipping when you don’t want to</a>, establish your own norms for different services. That will make you less likely to be surprised by an unexpected or high-pressure tip request. Many customers do pay tips in those situations but get upset.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542871/original/file-20230815-26-1zfy69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Tip jar full of dollar bills with a 'thank you' written on a strip of tape adhered to it" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542871/original/file-20230815-26-1zfy69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542871/original/file-20230815-26-1zfy69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542871/original/file-20230815-26-1zfy69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542871/original/file-20230815-26-1zfy69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542871/original/file-20230815-26-1zfy69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542871/original/file-20230815-26-1zfy69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542871/original/file-20230815-26-1zfy69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sometimes it’s best to chip in with a little cash.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/glass-tip-jar-at-checkout-counter-royalty-free-image/1324730309?adppopup=true">Catherine McQueen/Moment via Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>We advise you to always tip when there’s a clear tradition of doing so: dining at full-service restaurants or ordering a drink at a bar, traveling by taxi, having meals delivered to your door and getting a haircut.</p>
<p>We also recommend tipping employees you believe are being paid less than a fair wage. Though it can be difficult to determine whether employees are underpaid, learning whether your state or city <a href="https://www.epi.org/minimum-wage-tracker/?gclid=CjwKCAjw5_GmBhBIEiwA5QSMxAJ3gRSsi_Jz-Ny8ZacR8aM7pW0FmaCazBhvhq0vzZtzSpDM63s-wBoCOX4QAvD_BwE#/min_wage/New%20Jersey">guarantees a minimum wage</a> that’s well above the federal requirement can help.</p>
<p>For many tipped services, quality varies widely. In these situations, you can use tips to reward better service, if you pay after receiving it; or you can give workers a tip beforehand as an incentive to treat you well.</p>
<p>Likewise, pay a tip if you’re likely to use the service again. You will earn a reputation as a good or bad tipper, and employees will treat you accordingly.</p>
<p>There’s a wide range of services that may or may not require a tip. These include quick-service cafes and takeout, where customers order at a counter rather than being waited on at a table. You will need to decide what to do in those situations on a case-by-case basis. <a href="https://www.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/news/2014/05/should-you-tip-your-barista">Tipping a barista</a> who has skillfully prepared your fancy latte makes more sense to us than tipping a worker who rings up a can of soda.</p>
<p>In many instances, paying and tipping in cash makes the most sense because you can avoid coercive technology and ensure that the employee who helped you directly receives the tip. That way, the employee will know you appreciate their service, and you can be fairly certain that their employer is not somehow <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/employers-would-pocket-workers-tips-under-trump-administrations-proposed-tip-stealing-rule/">swiping their tip money</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542868/original/file-20230815-25-uwuvhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A card reader tablet with tip options that are for $1, $2 and $3, custom or no tip" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542868/original/file-20230815-25-uwuvhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542868/original/file-20230815-25-uwuvhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542868/original/file-20230815-25-uwuvhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542868/original/file-20230815-25-uwuvhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542868/original/file-20230815-25-uwuvhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542868/original/file-20230815-25-uwuvhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542868/original/file-20230815-25-uwuvhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When is it OK to just say no?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/TippingFatigue/e26fc772b27c4a76a60d20c4f041c58d/photo?Query=tip%20fatigue&mediaType=photo,video,graphic,audio&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=5&currentItemNo=3">AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh</a></span>
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</figure>
<p><strong>2. How much?</strong></p>
<p>This question is especially important when preservice tips are requested. If service quality may vary based on your response, for example with food delivery, food trucks, bars and restaurants, we suggest tipping the middle or high default tip amount, which will often be around 20%, or a flat dollar amount that is the rough equivalent. That approach will avoid the possibility of getting poor service. Of course, this can result in frustration if service doesn’t meet your expectations.</p>
<p>An alternative strategy is to tip the lowest recommended option, which is often close to 10%, then add an additional cash tip if the service is good. While using this strategy risks bad service, it’s a wise way to go if you plan to be a repeat customer.</p>
<p><strong>3. Can I skip it this time?</strong></p>
<p>If a tip request comes as a surprise, that usually means there is no norm you’re familiar with for that service. We recommend that you don’t tip in that situation, despite the social pressure. If you wind up tipping anyway, we recommend either not returning to the business or writing a polite but critical review online describing your uncomfortable experience.</p>
<p>We don’t believe there’s a reason to feel guilty leaving no tip or a low tip when you are using a service that is not traditionally tipped or where service quality is not affected by the tip amount, such as when making a donation or <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/09/27/woman-asked-to-tip-while-online-shopping/">ordering an office chair from an internet retailer</a>. </p>
<p>Ultimately, tipping is voluntary, which makes it a personal choice.</p>
<p>But whether you tip or not, you should always treat service workers well, especially tipped service workers. They are often exposed to the worst customer behaviors, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/03/11/business/tipping-sexual-harassment.html">including harassment</a>, which is never appropriate – no matter how much a customer tips.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210671/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Tipping seems to be more coercive and less tied to service quality these days.Nathan B. Warren, Assistant Professor of Marketing, BI Norwegian Business SchoolSara Hanson, Associate Professor of Marketing, University of RichmondLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1972762023-01-18T18:12:19Z2023-01-18T18:12:19ZCanada is stuck with tipping — and we’re worse off for it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504114/original/file-20230111-32622-ntzy54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C176%2C4912%2C3081&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tipping requires customers to increase the wages of a restaurant's servers — something that should be the employer's responsibility. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Kate Townsend/Unsplash)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/canada-is-stuck-with-tipping-—-and-we-re-worse-off-for-it" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Imagine a local business where employees are compensated by age, gender, attractiveness and with some extra dollars if they flirt with customers. It would end up before the human rights commission and lead the local newscasts.</p>
<p>Yet this is how tipping works. It’s a deeply embedded custom and an unquestioned part of everyday life. But as the average <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/here-s-what-the-average-restaurant-tip-percentage-is-across-canada-1.6040388">tip percentage goes up</a> in Canadian restaurants, tipping is coming under more scrutiny.</p>
<p>When the COVID-19 pandemic began, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/21/business/pandemic-restaurant-tipping.html">there was a belief that the crisis would be such a shock to the status quo of the hospitality industry</a> that tipping as a custom might collapse. As we’ve seen, the opposite has occurred.</p>
<p>There are two frequently given defences for tipping, neither of which hold up under close scrutiny.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-tip-too-far-why-tip-fatigue-may-be-setting-in-for-north-americans-189289">A tip too far? Why tip fatigue may be setting in for North Americans</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Rewarding good servers?</h2>
<p>Tipping rewards good service, right? This belief presumes that the server receives the tip. But <a href="https://members.restaurantscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Current-Tipping-Rules-in-Canada_December-2017.pdf">in most provinces, management often requires servers to share tips with kitchen staff, and sometimes with management itself.</a> </p>
<p>Furthermore, Canadian provinces and territories permit tip-sharing among servers. Your individual hard-working server may not have any appreciable benefit from your generous tip.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/rainforest-cafe-strike-puts-the-spotlight-on-tip-sharing-116556">Rainforest Cafe strike puts the spotlight on tip-sharing</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In the United States, where research on tipping has been more extensive, it’s been found that there is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0010880401421001">no meaningful connection</a> between the amount of the tip and the quality of service. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A bearded waiter serves plates of food to a table of three women." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504113/original/file-20230111-4937-revg4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=307%2C147%2C3775%2C2079&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504113/original/file-20230111-4937-revg4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504113/original/file-20230111-4937-revg4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504113/original/file-20230111-4937-revg4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504113/original/file-20230111-4937-revg4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504113/original/file-20230111-4937-revg4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504113/original/file-20230111-4937-revg4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A waiter tends to customers at a Montréal restaurant in June 2020, shortly after Québec allowed restaurants to reopen after the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Lending a helping hand?</h2>
<p>The other common defence of tipping is that these poorly paid employees need some extra help. Yet we’re not selective about which poorly paid employees we tip. </p>
<p>We don’t tip retail workers or maintenance workers, who are also usually working for minimum wage. Each culture has different customs about which occupations get tipped, and it’s hard to find any consistent rationale.</p>
<p>In the United States, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Prohibition-United-States-history-1920-1933">Prohibition in the 1920s and early 1930s</a> was an existential shock to the restaurant industry. When alcohol sales became illegal, restaurateurs welcomed tipping because it eased some of the financial pressure for employers. As a result, Prohibition <a href="https://www.edwards.usask.ca/faculty/marc%20mentzer/tipping.pdf">caused tipping to become routine</a> in the U.S. and the custom eventually spread to Canada. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A tip jar on a counter asking for tips." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504115/original/file-20230111-34767-2w4dwp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504115/original/file-20230111-34767-2w4dwp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504115/original/file-20230111-34767-2w4dwp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504115/original/file-20230111-34767-2w4dwp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504115/original/file-20230111-34767-2w4dwp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504115/original/file-20230111-34767-2w4dwp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504115/original/file-20230111-34767-2w4dwp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Prohibition helped normalize tipping in the United States, and the habit migrated north to Canada.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Dan Smedley/Unsplash)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The pandemic’s impact on tipping</h2>
<p>The latest existential threat to the industry, the COVID-19 pandemic, likewise has made tipping even more deeply entrenched.</p>
<p>Some Canadian and American restaurants have experimented with <a href="https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/some-ontario-restaurants-are-starting-to-adopt-a-tip-free-dining-model-here-s-how-it-works-1.5938410">abolishing tipping</a>, and the record <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/nexstar_media_wire/3560040-what-happens-when-a-restaurant-goes-tip-free/">has been mixed</a>. Servers like tipping because they feel they can control their income, and customers like tipping because it gives the illusion of power over the servers.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1607418094586327040"}"></div></p>
<p>Some restaurants abolished tipping, but reinstated it due to <a href="https://www.eater.com/21398973/restaurant-no-tipping-movement-living-wage-future">pressure from servers and customers</a>. Those few establishments that have succeeded with a <a href="https://foodism.to/culture/toronto-restaurants-stopping-tipping/">no-tip model tend to be high-end, fine dining establishments</a> where the clientele is insensitive to price.</p>
<p>A variation of the no-tipping concept is service charges for customers instead of a tip. But where service charges are in place, the money <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/23426907/restaurant-service-fee-charge-tipping-inflation-confusion">doesn’t always go to the servers</a>. In many instances, the restaurant manager simply keeps some or all of the service charge, so it’s merely a sneaky way of increasing menu prices.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Four middle-aged people sit at a tall table in a diner-type restaurant." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504119/original/file-20230111-43582-1ytit7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504119/original/file-20230111-43582-1ytit7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504119/original/file-20230111-43582-1ytit7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504119/original/file-20230111-43582-1ytit7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504119/original/file-20230111-43582-1ytit7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504119/original/file-20230111-43582-1ytit7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504119/original/file-20230111-43582-1ytit7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Patrons enjoy a meal at the Last Chance Saloon in Wayne, Alta.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Is paying fair wages up to the customer?</h2>
<p>In a rational world, servers’ compensation would not come via tips. In nearly all occupations, it’s the employer’s obligation to pay a reasonable wage, not the customer’s duty to bring compensation up to a fair level. </p>
<p>Yet abolishing tipping is hopelessly idealistic. A more modest and realistic tack is to revisit provincial laws on what actually happens to the tip money after the customer leaves.</p>
<p>The sharing of tips with non-tipped employees is known as “<a href="https://mmhlabourlaw.ca/tip-pooling-tipping-out-legal/#:%7E:text=THE%20LAW%20OF%20TIPS,large%20groups%20at%20a%20restaurant">tipping out</a>.” In most provinces, tipping out is such a long-running custom that it’s rarely questioned. After all, who can begrudge a few dollars going to the under-appreciated kitchen staff, who don’t get tipped? </p>
<p>The opposing perspective is that paying the kitchen staff is management’s responsibility. In short, it should not fall on the shoulders of the tipped employees to ensure that other employees are fairly paid. </p>
<p>As well, the “tipping out” percentage is increasing, as servers are required <a href="https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ts/business/2021/08/03/in-a-bid-to-be-more-fair-toronto-restaurants-are-now-funneling-more-tip-money-to-the-kitchen.html">to share an ever-growing proportion</a> of their tips with kitchen workers. This further dilutes the notion that a tip is the customer’s reward to a specific server.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman wearing a mask makes French fries in a restaurant kitchen." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504117/original/file-20230111-24-hzep9l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504117/original/file-20230111-24-hzep9l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504117/original/file-20230111-24-hzep9l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504117/original/file-20230111-24-hzep9l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504117/original/file-20230111-24-hzep9l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504117/original/file-20230111-24-hzep9l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504117/original/file-20230111-24-hzep9l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A woman cooks a batch of French fries at a restaurant in Huntingdon, Que., in February 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Provinces handle tipping differently</h2>
<p>Québec, along with Newfoundland and Labrador, forbid tipping out. Other provinces might consider following suit. </p>
<p>Even more objectionable is the practice of “house tipping,” where management takes a share of the tips, often sugar-coated with language about everyone being part of the team. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-future-of-tipping-should-be-driven-by-canadians-not-businesses-181018">The future of tipping should be driven by Canadians, not businesses</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Legal protections for servers <a href="https://doi.org/10.18848/2470-9336/CGP/v06i02/1-10">vary by province</a>. Broadly speaking, Québec gives restaurant servers the highest level of protection where tips are concerned, while Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the three northern territories give restaurant owners almost unlimited leeway in how tips are handled. </p>
<p>Restaurateurs would, understandably, fight any reforms that restrict their handling of tips, because kitchen workers would expect employers to make up the lost income if “tipping out” was abolished. </p>
<p>Despite industry opposition, this would be a small step in softening the dysfunctional but deeply ingrained tradition of tipping. The notion of actually abolishing tipping is a dream for another day.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197276/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marc S. Mentzer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Tipping isn’t going to disappear anytime soon, but provinces can do more to protect servers.Marc S. Mentzer, Professor of Human Resources and Organizational Behaviour, University of SaskatchewanLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1892892023-01-09T20:49:48Z2023-01-09T20:49:48ZA tip too far? Why tip fatigue may be setting in for North Americans<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503140/original/file-20230104-3468-csspoj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C251%2C5730%2C3862&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A server brings food to a table as people dine at a restaurant in Vancouver in September 2021. For many people, deciding exactly how much to tip in a given situation can be uncomfortable.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/a-tip-too-far-why-tip-fatigue-may-be-setting-in-for-north-americans" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Tipping has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2014.12.002">long been an established and widely accepted</a> <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/social-norms/">social norm</a> in North America. Although it is not required, many Canadians feel pressured to tip — <a href="https://www.cp24.com/lifestyle/now-15-per-cent-is-rude-tipping-fatigue-hits-customers-as-requests-rise-1.6070417">even in situations when we are dissatisfied</a> with food or service quality.</p>
<p>For many, deciding exactly how much to tip in a given situation can be uncomfortable. Two recent phenomena are exacerbating this and increasing tensions around the practice of tipping.</p>
<p>The first is an increase in tipping percentage, known as <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/lifestyle/tip-flation-what-s-behind-rising-tip-percentages-at-restaurants-1.6044152">tip inflation or “tipflation.”</a> The second is <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/josh-freed-weve-reached-a-tipping-point-with-tip-creep">tip creeping</a>, which refers to the increase in services that now expect a tip from customers. Both tipflation and tip creep are reigniting the conversation about tipping in Canada and drawing attention to how entrenched tipping is in North American culture.</p>
<h2>Tip inflation</h2>
<p>Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the standard tip percentage in Canada was <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/tipping-in-canada/index.html">between 15 and 18 per cent</a>. Now, we are seeing tip prompts <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/costofliving/tipflation-gratuities-1.6555135">of 30 per cent and higher</a>. </p>
<p>There is evidence that Canadians have started <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/covid-19-increased-tipping-generosity-of-canadians-data-finds-1.5863487">tipping more</a> since the pandemic, as well. What is less clear is whether consumers are being pushed to tip more, or whether they are choosing to do so on their own.</p>
<p>Given the size of most restaurant transactions, the majority of them occur using a debit or credit card. The concern over the transmission of COVID-19 or other infections has increased the <a href="https://www.tastingtable.com/782895/how-covid-changed-the-way-we-pay-for-dinner/">appeal of contactless</a> or minimum contact payment. This provides businesses with an opportunity to prompt customers with an “acceptable” tipping amount through payment terminals. </p>
<p>These <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/nudgeomics/about/what-is-nudge-theory/">nudges</a> are a way for businesses to frame choices to get a desired outcome. The payment terminals provide suggestions as to the amount to tip and make it easy to choose that amount. Choosing a different amount requires more effort and is, therefore, less likely to happen. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A waiter processes a dinner tab with a credit card processing device" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503141/original/file-20230104-129938-88bdxw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503141/original/file-20230104-129938-88bdxw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503141/original/file-20230104-129938-88bdxw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503141/original/file-20230104-129938-88bdxw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503141/original/file-20230104-129938-88bdxw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503141/original/file-20230104-129938-88bdxw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503141/original/file-20230104-129938-88bdxw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Card payments provide businesses with chances to prompt customers with pre-set tipping amounts through payment terminals and credit card readers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Nudging works, but it can backfire. A <a href="https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/37364598">Harvard study found that</a> higher default options led to higher average tips, but when the defaults were too high, a whiplash effect led to lower tips and negative feelings about the restaurant. Businesses need to be careful not to alienate their customers when doing this.</p>
<p>Nudges make tipping requests explicit, meaning customers are pressured into tipping, suggesting an expectation to tip, rather than a choice. This has the potential to induce feelings of guilt in customers.</p>
<p>Tipflation is also compounded by regular inflation. Restaurant prices <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1810000403">increased by 7.7 per cent in Canada</a> in 2022, meaning tips in the food industry are increasing substantially.</p>
<p>In the past, tipping percentages have been applied to the pre-tax amount. When you calculate a percentage yourself, you calculate the tip based on the pre-tax amount, but when using terminals, tips are calculated <em>after</em> tax. All of these factors are contributing to tip inflation.</p>
<h2>Tip creep</h2>
<p>At the same time as tip percentages are increasing, the types of businesses explicitly suggesting tips are expanding. Historically, <a href="https://arrivein.com/daily-life-in-canada/tipping-in-canada-things-to-know-as-a-newcomer/">tipping in North America</a> has been reserved for restaurant serving staff, taxi drivers and hairstylists. Before point of sale terminals, you would occasionally see a tip jar on the counter at coffee shops, as well. </p>
<p>But now, other industries like <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/tip-fast-food-liquor-mechanic-1.6546504">fast food, retail outlets and even mechanics</a> are offering tipping options on sales terminals to encourage — or pressure — customers into tipping. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A fast food worker at a drive through window handing a bag of food and a drink to a customer" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503151/original/file-20230104-12-d1kgtj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503151/original/file-20230104-12-d1kgtj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503151/original/file-20230104-12-d1kgtj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503151/original/file-20230104-12-d1kgtj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503151/original/file-20230104-12-d1kgtj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503151/original/file-20230104-12-d1kgtj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503151/original/file-20230104-12-d1kgtj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Should you tip fast food workers? Some fast food restaurants, like Subway and Domino’s, now have tipping options for customers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many <a href="https://www.repairsmith.com/blog/how-much-to-tip-mechanic/">auto industry insider blogs</a> are also promoting tipping in an effort to normalize the practice in industries that have not historically been part of the tipping norm. Tip creeping can create both confusion and resentment in consumers.</p>
<p>The nudge towards tipping is not just happening on payment terminals, either. The freelance service platform Fiverr suggests a tip after delivery — work is paid for when it is requested. This <a href="https://www.fiverr.com/?gclid=CjwKCAiAnZCdBhBmEiwA8nDQxY3XlyST1uktfIYYhoXBlvJ8wvh_W1uYAGG-lMQjrvDx-ZXUX89ccBoCYfEQAvD_BwE">creates uncertainty for customers</a>.</p>
<h2>Tip fatigue</h2>
<p>Many Canadians are feeling <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/now-15-per-cent-is-rude-tipping-fatigue-hits-customers-as-requests-rise-1.6071227">tip fatigue</a> from being bombarded with tipping requests more frequently. At the very least, tip fatigue means customers are leaving interactions that involve tipping with negative feelings. But at the worst, tip fatigue could cause customers to tip less or stop altogether. Those pushing to increase tipping risk alienating consumers who find the amounts and the range of services expecting tips too much.</p>
<p>As consumers, we should remember that we are in control. We choose when, where and how much to tip. While tipping is a social norm, no one should feel pressured to tip more than the standard percentage, if at all. If a business is prompting you with a tip percentage higher than you are comfortable with, you can always enter a custom amount that you feel is appropriate instead.</p>
<p>We can send a message that we won’t be pushed or guilted into tipping. We could even push for a model where customers only pay what the service is worth and businesses are required to pay their workers a reasonable wage, rather than <a href="https://www.restaurantscanada.org/industry-news/minimum-wage-by-province/">forcing them to rely on tips to make a decent living</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189289/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael von Massow receives funding from a variety of organizations including the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Genome Canada, and Protein Industries Canada.</span></em></p>As the cost of living continues to rise, the amount Canadians are being asked to tip is also increasing due to a phenomenon known as tip inflation.Michael von Massow, Associate Professor, Food Economics, University of GuelphLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1810182022-05-08T12:22:58Z2022-05-08T12:22:58ZThe future of tipping should be driven by Canadians, not businesses<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461368/original/file-20220504-23-ww3zeq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=201%2C613%2C6367%2C3822&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tipping reshapes the relationship between workers and their managers, and workers and consumers. In doing so, it has wide-ranging effects on workers.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tipping has long been a source of <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?id=PJfTYcB48uIC&printsec=frontcover&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false">significant controversy</a>, spilling over from time to time into the <a href="https://www.tvo.org/article/its-time-to-abolish-tipping-once-and-for-all">pages of Canadian media</a>. Canadians’ views on tipping remain divided, as <a href="https://theconversation.com/at-the-tipping-point-its-time-to-include-tips-in-menu-prices-as-restaurants-reopen-from-covid-lockdowns-164017">a recent survey</a> by researchers from Dalhousie University has found.</p>
<p>One reason why tipping garners so much interest is that it <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=368727">reshapes the relationship</a> between workers and their managers, and workers and consumers. In doing so, it has wide-ranging effects on workers. </p>
<p>On the one hand, tipping can boost workers’ income and give workers a <a href="https://tupress.temple.edu/book/3138">greater sense of control over some facets of their work</a>. On the other, more problematic, hand it often comes with a range of negative outcomes that are not always apparent to consumers. </p>
<p>These include <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/EDI-04-2019-0127/full/html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss_journalLatest">sexual harassment</a>, pressure to engage in <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=368727">degrading and demeaning behaviours</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15378020.2016.1215760">inequality</a> among different groups of workers, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2008.00338.x">racial discrimination</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.413">unpredictable incomes</a>. </p>
<p>Tipping <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F10564926221088729">might also have a range of societal impacts</a>, including exacerbating class distinctions and legitimizing other employment practices like <a href="https://points.datasociety.net/racing-for-tips-4816da5b5096">classifying workers as independent contractors</a> that can be harmful to workers. Clearly, tipping is neither a neutral or trivial activity.</p>
<h2>A shifting landscape</h2>
<p>Tipping <a href="https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/gig-economy-workforce-rockets-to-more-than-one-in-ten-of-canadians-a-further-third-are-open-to-joining-reveals-new-study-812441559.html">underpins much of the rapidly growing contemporary gig economy</a>, in which 13 per cent of Canadians are reported to have worked in 2021. </p>
<p>Tipping is spreading to more and more parts of the hospitality industry, including <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJCHM-12-2019-0981/full/html">cafes and limited-service restaurants</a>. Soon, it might even spread to <a href="https://time.com/5499027/flight-attendants-to-keep-tips-frontier/">airlines</a>, <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/the-100000-a-year-waitress-isnt-a-myth-some-hard-truths-about-tipping-in-canada">liquor stores</a> and <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/3539922/customers-fear-tip-shaming-as-gratuity-expectations-grow/">pet grooming businesses</a>.</p>
<p>These changes are taking place before our eyes without any serious policy debate or direction. When tipping does receive policy attention, it is often limited to <a href="https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2021LBR0022-001048">tweaking or eliminating different minimum wages for tipped workers</a>, and adapting laws around <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/employees-tips-other-gratuities">tip pooling</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Woman sitting at an outdoor restaurant table using a cell phone" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461361/original/file-20220504-19-ra6avh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461361/original/file-20220504-19-ra6avh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461361/original/file-20220504-19-ra6avh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461361/original/file-20220504-19-ra6avh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461361/original/file-20220504-19-ra6avh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461361/original/file-20220504-19-ra6avh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461361/original/file-20220504-19-ra6avh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">More and more businesses have chosen to amplify tipping by prompting customers to tip via payment portals or apps.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While these are important topics, these efforts fail to tackle the complex issues and trade-offs associated with tipping in a comprehensive manner. They represent a missed opportunity to start a conversation we need to have as a society. Instead, it is businesses that are often in the driver’s seat.</p>
<p>While some businesses, including <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/business/local-business/no-more-tipping-at-montreal-cafe-larrys-heres-how-and-why">Larry’s in Montréal</a> and <a href="https://theprovince.com/news/b.c./servers-now-accepting-tips-again-at-canadas-first-no-tipping-restaurant-smoke-n-water">Smoke ‘N Water in Parksville, B.C.</a>, have tried to eliminate tipping, more commonly they have amplified it by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1094670519900553">prompting customers to tip via payment portals or apps</a>. Businesses have many reasons to do this, notably the opportunity to cut costs by shifting some of the <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=368727">responsibility for workers’ compensations onto consumers</a>. </p>
<p>Once tipping starts to become more common in a particular industry,
strong <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167487014001056">norms tend to form around it</a> that are hard to break. If this pattern holds in industries where tipping is spreading in Canada, millions more Canadian workers could see their working lives significantly altered. </p>
<h2>It’s time for a serious conversation</h2>
<p>In light of these trends and our current knowledge of the impacts of tipping, we should pause and ask ourselves: is this really what we want the future of work to look like in Canada? </p>
<p>As a business and sustainability professor, I argue that it is time for Canadians, their representatives and policymakers to have a serious conversation about the future of compensation in Canada and what role, if any, tipping ought to play in it.</p>
<p>This conversation should include a thorough consideration of pros and cons of tipping and its alternatives, like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/08876040810881722">service charges and service-inclusive pricing</a>, and the supporting practices needed to successfully transition from one approach to another. </p>
<p>It should also provide opportunities for Canadian workers to learn and deliberate together by accessing expert insights, research and stakeholder perspectives, like those of <a href="https://not9to5.org/about-us/">Not 9 To 5</a> and the <a href="https://workersolidarity.ca/">Worker Solidarity Network</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A barista standing behind a counter with a tip jar on it. A customer is putting money in the jar." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461365/original/file-20220504-25-zf0pih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461365/original/file-20220504-25-zf0pih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461365/original/file-20220504-25-zf0pih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461365/original/file-20220504-25-zf0pih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461365/original/file-20220504-25-zf0pih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461365/original/file-20220504-25-zf0pih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461365/original/file-20220504-25-zf0pih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Canadians, their representatives and policymakers need to have a serious conversation the future of compensation in Canada and whether tipping should play a role in it.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We could take inspiration from the recent work of the <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/document/future-work-ontario">Ontario Workforce Recovery Advisory Committee</a>, which leveraged extensive stakeholder consultations and research when drafting its report on the future of work in Ontario. We could also draw on the growing number of <a href="https://participedia.net/method/4258">citizens’ assemblies</a> that are tackling issues like <a href="https://www.fsrao.ca/newsroom/fsra-receives-residents-reference-panels-final-report-automotive-insurance-ontario">auto insurance</a> and <a href="https://www.commissioncanada.ca/">democratic expression</a>.</p>
<h2>The future of tipping</h2>
<p>Canadians may ultimately express a desire for the elimination of tipping, at least in some sectors, as was the case <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053535704001027">in some U.S. states in the past</a>. This could be coupled with policies to give workers some of the benefits tipping can have, namely higher wages and a greater sense of control by giving workers more <a href="https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newtmm_81.htm">autonomy over how they do their jobs</a>. </p>
<p>Alternatively, Canadians may want to keep the practice of tipping, but implement clear rules about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2019.3541">techniques used to solicit tips through apps and platforms</a>, higher wages for workers and transparency about how tips are distributed and whether any tipped minimum wages apply to workers.</p>
<p>Rather than tipping being largely determined by businesses as they tinker with payment portals, it should be defined by Canadians who, though they may experience tipping on a regular basis, have not been given the chance to properly reflect on it. </p>
<p>This will become all the more important as the pandemic draws our attention to the importance of creating an economy that offers <a href="https://ppforum.ca/publications/the-future-is-now-creating-decent-work-post-pandemic/">decent and quality work for all of us</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181018/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Pek receives funding from the University of Victoria's President's Chair award. </span></em></p>The future of tipping should be defined by Canadians, not businesses seeking to shift responsibility for worker compensation onto consumers.Simon Pek, Assistant Professor, Gustavson School of Business, University of VictoriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1800832022-04-19T12:20:15Z2022-04-19T12:20:15ZPayment apps asking for specific tips before service annoy the heck out of users – but still generate bigger gratuities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456708/original/file-20220406-14-hl6tfb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=34%2C8%2C5509%2C3819&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Customers may prefer the old-fashioned tip jar. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/unrecognizable-coffee-shop-customer-using-tip-jar-royalty-free-image/938547524">SDI Productions/iStock via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em> </p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>Asking customers to leave specific tip amounts before food is delivered or provided prompts larger gratuities but also leads to lower satisfaction – especially if the payment page design is crowded, <a href="http://www.doi.org/10.1177/10963480221076467">I found in new research I co-authored</a>. </p>
<p>My colleagues and I conducted three studies and a survey to explore how consumers are responding to the <a href="https://www.today.com/money/guilt-tipping-are-square-mobile-payments-making-us-tip-everyone-t126151">use of tip suggestions</a> on digital payment devices. All participants for the study were recruited via the crowdsourcing website Mechanical Turk and were required to have eaten out or experienced a similar service in the past 12 months and left a tip. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Two payments interfaces sit side by side with prices for a 'pizza set.' The one on the left has suggested tipping options 15% 20% 25% and the other has an empty box with optional tip" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456922/original/file-20220407-12-168o8a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456922/original/file-20220407-12-168o8a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456922/original/file-20220407-12-168o8a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456922/original/file-20220407-12-168o8a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456922/original/file-20220407-12-168o8a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=650&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456922/original/file-20220407-12-168o8a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=650&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456922/original/file-20220407-12-168o8a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=650&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Study participants were shown either a payment interface with suggested tip amounts or simply an optional box.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fan, Wu, Liu (2022)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In our first study, we asked 134 people to imagine themselves ordering a large pizza that cost about US$28.97, including taxes and fees, from a local restaurant via a mobile app on their phones. They were shown a payment page similar in design to what you would find on apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats. Half of the participants viewed a payment page that noted “tipping optional” next to an empty box into which users could enter a gratuity if they so chose. The other half saw specific tip suggestions, 15%, 20% and 25%, as well as a “custom” option. We highlighted 20% as the default. </p>
<p>We then asked them to rate how they felt about the paying experience, whether they felt manipulated and how much they would tip. We found that participants who saw specific suggestions gave significantly higher tips but also reported feeling manipulated and more dissatisfied with the experience. </p>
<p>In a second study, we wanted to test whether the design of the payment page made much of a difference. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1094670520904408">Past research on spatial crowding</a> has found that less-crowded screens are less stressful to consumers and make them less likely to react emotionally. So we replicated the first study with 280 more participants with the two tipping options; half of them viewed a relatively cluttered design, while the rest saw more white space between words and graphics. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Two payments interfaces sit side by side with prices for a 'pizza set'. The one on the left is slightly smaller with less spacing between words and elements than the one on the right" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456923/original/file-20220407-14-m6nm9q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456923/original/file-20220407-14-m6nm9q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456923/original/file-20220407-14-m6nm9q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456923/original/file-20220407-14-m6nm9q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456923/original/file-20220407-14-m6nm9q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456923/original/file-20220407-14-m6nm9q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456923/original/file-20220407-14-m6nm9q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Study participants found the more roomy layout less dissatisfying.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fan, Wu, Liu (2022)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We found that people still tipped more when given suggested amounts. But the less-cluttered design resulted in less dissatisfaction in the payment experience. </p>
<p>Our final study repeated the same basic structure of the second except we had our 201 participants view the payment pages – cluttered or spaced out – on a computer. We found similar results, with tip suggestions yielding higher gratuities and a crowded design resulting in more dissatisfaction than a spacious one. </p>
<p>Finally, we conducted a survey and found that people said they’re more likely to patronize a restaurant and say positive things about it if the digital payment experience is a good one. </p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?nl=weekly&source=inline-weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Whether ordering a cappuccino at a cafe or a pizza from a delivery app, it seems like we’re all being increasingly asked to tip before tasting our food or experiencing delivery or other service. A point-of-sale provider <a href="https://www.today.com/money/guilt-tipping-are-square-mobile-payments-making-us-tip-everyone-t126151">recently reported</a> that about half of its “quick serve” clients, like cafes and bakeries, and almost a quarter of all its merchants used the suggested tip feature on their payment screens. </p>
<p>And of course tips are important for the workers who <a href="https://flowingdata.com/2017/08/03/working-on-tips/">depend on them</a>. Gratuities make up a significant amount of service workers’ take-home pay. Servers, for example, <a href="https://www.nelp.org/publication/wait-staff-and-bartenders-depend-on-tips-for-more-than-half-of-their-earnings">earn over half of their incomes</a> on tips alone. </p>
<p>Our research shows suggesting tip amounts is indeed effective at increasing tip amounts. But this comes at a cost when consumers feel manipulated into forking over more money before their pizza or coffee has even arrived. Our survey showed that this may lead people to avoid ordering from a given restaurant in the future. </p>
<p>Companies can use a less-cluttered payment interface to hold on to more customers.</p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>We hope to do further research on how different social cues, such as explaining to customers the importance of tips to delivery and other service workers, might affect customer satisfaction when using the tipping feature of digital payment apps.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180083/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alei Fan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Delivery services and cafes commonly prompt customers to leave a specific tip – for example, 15%, 20%, 25% – at the point of sale rather than after completing the service.Alei Fan, Assistant Professor of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Purdue UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1640172021-07-11T12:28:39Z2021-07-11T12:28:39ZAt the tipping point: It’s time to include tips in menu prices as restaurants reopen from COVID lockdowns<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410228/original/file-20210707-25-1sc4sr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5609%2C3742&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tipping, a popular cultural practice in Canada, can have hidden consequences for food service workers.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tipping is a cultural practice strongly supported in Canada, with most patrons feeling good about their experiences. However, gratuities can have hidden consequences for those working in food service.</p>
<p>With staff recruitment a problem as the easing of pandemic guidelines are allowing restaurants to re-open, our research suggests it may be time for the industry to think seriously about how to manage tipping differently. And incorporating tips as part of the price of a meal should be an option. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://cdn.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/sites/agri-food/Tipping%20Study%20(June%2019%202021)%20EN.pdf">report</a> released a few weeks ago on the future of tipping was a pulse check of patrons’ perceptions of food service tipping and their anticipated behavioural changes as we exit the pandemic. </p>
<p>While our survey plainly asks how people are feeling about tipping during the pandemic, prior research provides evidence of how tipping contributes to detrimental working conditions for restaurant staff.</p>
<p>Some are suggesting that the sector needs a <a href="https://troymedia.com/business/restaurants-face-a-great-reset-thanks-to-covid-19/">“great reset”</a>. The COVID-19 pandemic has severely disrupted Canada’s food service industry. With restrictions, limited hours, take-out or delivery-only options, revenues have dropped significantly. Many businesses have taken on substantial loans in order to stay afloat. </p>
<p>In a May report by <a href="https://www.restaurantscanada.org/industry-news/raising-our-voice-restaurants-canada-calls-for-sector-specific-survival-measures-at-federal-finance-committee-meeting/">Restaurants Canada</a>, 10,000 food service businesses have permanently closed. As vaccination counts increase and provinces begin to relax restrictions, resuming our previously normal behaviours may in fact become a problem. </p>
<h2>A pro-social behaviour</h2>
<p>Our report investigated tipping as a pro-social behaviour, in which giving money results in positive feelings.</p>
<p>Though 71 per cent surveyed did not anticipate changing their tipping habits, 20 per cent are planning on tipping more and are happy to do so. Additionally, 60 per cent of respondents contribute the same tip percentages in all restaurants, but 40 per cent tip more in their favourite restaurant. </p>
<p>In the short term, this is good news for servers in restaurants. Patrons may have the financial security to tip more as personal savings rates have increased dramatically over the pandemic, according to <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3610011201&pickMembers%5B0%5D=2.1&cubeTimeFrame.startMonth=01&cubeTimeFrame.startYear=2018&cubeTimeFrame.endMonth=01&cubeTimeFrame.endYear=2021&referencePeriods=20180101%2C20210101">Statistics Canada</a>. But this may not last. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Masked and gloved waitress stands before two seated restaurant patrons" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410224/original/file-20210707-15-1vkt79x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C116%2C3114%2C1959&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410224/original/file-20210707-15-1vkt79x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410224/original/file-20210707-15-1vkt79x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410224/original/file-20210707-15-1vkt79x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410224/original/file-20210707-15-1vkt79x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410224/original/file-20210707-15-1vkt79x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410224/original/file-20210707-15-1vkt79x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A new study from Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab examined attitudes and perceptions of tipping habits during the COVID-19 pandemic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Beyond the customers’ ability to tip, tipping also has a <a href="https://troymedia.com/business/the-dark-side-of-tipping-your-server/#.YNX6yBNKh24">darker side</a> to it.</p>
<h2>Cultural expectation</h2>
<p>There is evidence that tipping is a strong cultural expectation in Canada, to which patrons willingly conform — and some are even motivated to exceed expectations.</p>
<p>However, there are issues that are not evident when patrons are paying the bill. Tipping has been documented to <a href="https://youtu.be/kOk2C4n4eMQ">play a contributing factor</a> in income instability, high employee turnover rates, discrimination — and even sexual harassment. </p>
<p>Food service typically deals with a 70 per cent turnover rate, which has likely increased due to the pandemic. Tip-dependent incomes have not recovered to pre-pandemic levels. About 80,000 workers are still technically employed, but have no hours according to <a href="https://www.restaurantscanada.org/industry-news/raising-our-voice-restaurants-canada-calls-for-sector-specific-survival-measures-at-federal-finance-committee-meeting/">Restaurants Canada</a>. </p>
<p>Studies from tipping behaviour researchers have shown that there are not only <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0010880403260105">racial</a> and gender prejudices about tipping amounts, but tipping creates a power dynamic in how patrons and servers treat each other and perceptions of service quality. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://hbr.org/2018/01/sexual-harassment-is-pervasive-in-the-restaurant-industry-heres-what-needs-to-change">Harvard Business Report</a> publication cites 90 per cent of women and 70 per cent of men report experiences of sexual harassment as food service workers, with most going unreported to managers due to the culture of “the customer is always right” or it’s just “part of the job.”</p>
<p>Additionally, the food service sector is behind all others in terms of recovery. As of May, Statistics Canada revealed there are still over <a href="http://www.restaurantscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/infographic_RC_Final.pdf">300,000 jobs</a> to fill in the sector. This means a new, inexperienced population are likely to fill food service jobs, unaware of the challenges facing them.</p>
<p>As patrons, we are largely unaware of the negative consequences, and tipping remains a pleasurable experience.</p>
<h2>Feeling the ‘warm glow’</h2>
<p>Termed a “warm glow” by researchers <a href="https://dunn.psych.ubc.ca/">Elizabeth Dunn</a> of the University of British Columbia, <a href="https://www.sfu.ca/psychology/about/people/profiles/laknin.html">Lara Aknin</a> of Simon Fraser University and <a href="https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/profile.aspx?facId=326229">Michael Norton</a> of Harvard Business School, the effect we feel from tipping fulfils a basic human need of feeling in control, seeing the immediate effect of your decisions, and feeling a social connection through the exchange. </p>
<p>Respondents prefer to follow their own tipping formula, though some do not like included tips or service charges. Most surveyed feel like their tips make a difference and that tipping makes the job worthwhile or contributes to motivation. Tipping yields positive feelings that justify current and future behaviour for the patron. </p>
<p>Even so, more than one third of those surveyed indicate they do not support tipping in food service and would like to see it prohibited or regulated.</p>
<p>Restaurants Canada reports that nearly 50 per cent of Canadians know someone in food service and 22 per cent choose food service as their first job. With so many people experiencing tipping firsthand or through people they know, it is surprising that the support for tipping is still so high despite <a href="https://troymedia.com/business/the-dark-side-of-tipping-your-server/#.YNX6yBNKh24">previous research</a> indicating high support for tipping alternatives. </p>
<h2>What’s the true cost?</h2>
<p>The true cost of the bill currently includes other social burdens that are not evident at the time of the tipping experience. Increasing tips, while with good intentions, will only prolong dealing with the issues of income instability, employment security, discrimination in all its forms and sexual harassment. </p>
<p>If we want to address these issues, we need to acknowledge the less visible impacts of our actions. By encouraging our restaurants and delivery services to move away from tipping, we are doing more in the long run to make sure that our restaurants and their staff have a sustainable, long term future that will survive the next large scale disruption.</p>
<p>Because menu prices would go up by incorporating tips, such a change would require a policy shift coupled with support from industry. However, our data shows we still have a long way to go. </p>
<p>The pandemic has proven we can get through challenges together and we can still feel that “warm glow” by knowing that when we pay the bill, everyone benefits.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164017/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Tipping has often-overlooked consequences for food service workers. The industry should turn its attention to underlying issues if it wants to ensure a sustainable future.Sylvain Charlebois, Director, Agri-Food Analytics Lab, Professor in Food Distribution and Policy, Dalhousie UniversityPoppy Nicolette Riddle, Research associate, Dalhousie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1492102020-11-30T13:30:27Z2020-11-30T13:30:27ZWhy waiters give Black customers poor service<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371096/original/file-20201124-13-q994pg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=33%2C176%2C7315%2C4715&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some people argue the poor service is because of a stereotype that Black people tip less.
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/young-african-american-is-calculated-credit-card-royalty-free-image/1086131330">PavelVinnik/iStock via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>When Black diners <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/317564/new-highs-say-black-people-treated-less-fairly-daily-life.aspx">get poorer service</a> from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/tsq.12093">wait staff and bartenders</a> than white customers, it’s more likely because of racial bias than the <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-we-teach-restaurant-servers-to-treat-all-customers-equally-regardless-of-race-42865">well-documented fact that they tip less</a>, according to a <a href="http://www.doi.org/10.1177/0731121420946775">new survey I recently published</a>. </p>
<p>To reach that conclusion, my colleague Gerald Nowak and I recruited over 700 mostly white full-service restaurant servers and bartenders to review a hypothetical dining scenario that randomly involved either white or Black customers. We then asked them to predict the tip that the table would leave, the likelihood that the table would exhibit undesirable dining behaviors and the quality of service they would likely provide the table. </p>
<p>We also asked participants to fill out a survey to learn how frequently they observed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2019.102435">anti-Black expressions of bias</a> in their workplaces and to elicit if they harbored <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/0162-895X.00281">their own prejudices</a> toward African Americans. </p>
<p>Servers who either held prejudices toward African Americans, worked in a restaurant where racist remarks were frequently heard or both were significantly more likely to predict that the table with Black customers would not only tip them less but also display uncivil, demanding and dishonest behaviors. As a result, these servers also reported that they would give worse service to the Black table relative to the white one. </p>
<p>We found no evidence of racially disparate treatment except when one of those two conditions was present: server prejudice or racist workplace words and behaviors.</p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>The link between bias and actual discrimination is widely assumed – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.32.061604.123132">but rarely documented</a> – to be responsible for the mistreatment that Black Americans continue to experience <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/racism-african-americans-quiz.html">while engaging in a host of routine activities</a>. </p>
<p>Besides providing new evidence of this connection, our results also have important practical implications. Because surveys show that Black customers are <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-behind-racial-differences-in-restaurant-tipping-35889">less familiar than white people</a> with the 15%-20% tipping norm, <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1177/1938965518777221">they do tend to tip less</a>. Servers are thus thought to be <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-we-teach-restaurant-servers-to-treat-all-customers-equally-regardless-of-race-42865">economically motivated</a> to give preferential service to white customers who they believe are more likely to reward their efforts. </p>
<p>In response, <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-behind-racial-differences-in-restaurant-tipping-35889">some have suggested</a> that voluntary tipping be abolished or steps be taken to eliminate the Black-white tipping difference by <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-behind-racial-differences-in-restaurant-tipping-35889">increasing Black customers’ familiarity</a> with tipping norms.</p>
<p>However, we did not find evidence of stereotyping and service discrimination in the absence of anti-Black bias, which suggests the solution to this problem is in addressing racial prejudices in the restaurant industry. </p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>A drawback of our study is that we asked servers how they would think and behave under hypothetical, controlled and experimentally manipulated conditions. We can’t know for sure how this process would unfold when servers wait on actual white and Black customers. Doing so would be very challenging. And because our participants weren’t randomly selected, our ability to know how well they reflect the attitudes and workplaces of all servers and bartenders nationwide is limited. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1416587112">prior research</a> has documented a relationship between what people say they would do under hypothetical conditions and what they actually do when confronted with similar situations, which gives us some confidence in the real-world application of our results. </p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>Right now, we’re examining racial discrimination on the other side of the table by studying restaurant customers’ tendency to discriminate against Black servers by tipping them less than white ones. By administering a survey experiment to over 2,000 restaurant customers across the nation, our ongoing research project aims to further document this form of consumer racial discrimination. </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/149210/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Zachary Brewster does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It’s long been known that Black patrons of bars and restaurants tend to get worse service than white customers. What’s not been well understood is precisely why.Zachary Brewster, Associate Professor of Sociology, Wayne State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1320782020-02-25T13:53:45Z2020-02-25T13:53:45ZCustomers hate tipping before they’re served – and asking makes them less likely to return<p>Imagine you’re in line at a coffee shop. You order your usual cappuccino and swipe your credit card to pay. Then the cashier swivels a little screen that prompts you for a tip – before the espresso shot is pulled or a drop of milk steamed.</p>
<p>Do you tip more, perhaps hoping that it will lead to a better drink? Or less or none at all, peeved at being asked to reward service that hasn’t happened yet? Do you feel pressured into tipping the suggested amounts, which can equate to more than half the price of the drink? </p>
<p>This is a dilemma that most of us are increasingly facing in a variety of settings where previously you might have encountered a lone tip jar with change and crumpled dollar bills. Now we’re being <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/01/business/dollar3-tip-on-a-dollar4-cup-of-coffee-gratuities-grow-automatically.html">asked to fork a over US$3 tip for a $4 coffee drink</a>. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1094670519900553">a 2020 research study</a>, we explored how this new pre-service tipping etiquette is affecting consumers – and what it meant for the baristas and other employees hoping for a reward for their efforts. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316517/original/file-20200220-92526-6fol9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=89%2C81%2C5365%2C3623&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316517/original/file-20200220-92526-6fol9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316517/original/file-20200220-92526-6fol9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316517/original/file-20200220-92526-6fol9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316517/original/file-20200220-92526-6fol9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316517/original/file-20200220-92526-6fol9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316517/original/file-20200220-92526-6fol9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Long live the tip jar.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post via Getty Images</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The pre-service tip invasion</h2>
<p>Point of sale platforms such as <a href="https://squareup.com/us/en">Square</a> and <a href="https://www.clover.com/">Clover</a> are making it easier than ever for businesses large and small to seamlessly integrate tip requests into the service experience. </p>
<p>While most of us are used to filling out the tip line on a receipt at a full-service, sit-down restaurant, we are now seeing tip requests occur in many <a href="https://www.today.com/money/guilt-tipping-are-square-mobile-payments-making-us-tip-everyone-t126151">new environments</a>, such as cafes and bakeries, fast-casual delis and food trucks, and even retail stores, flower shops and liquor stores. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.today.com/money/guilt-tipping-are-square-mobile-payments-making-us-tip-everyone-t126151">Articles</a> in the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-26/a-new-guide-to-tipping-in-the-gig-economy">popular</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/24/opinion/tipping.html">press</a> <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-tipping-technology-20181130-story.html">about the trend</a> suggest that some prefer the convenience of tipping when placing their order. Others say they feel that they are being guilted into tipping employees who have not yet provided a service – and who have done little more than type in an order and <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/you-want-20-for-handing-me-a-muffin-the-awkward-etiquette-of-ipad-tipping-1539790018">hand over a muffin</a>. </p>
<h2>How consumers really feel about it</h2>
<p>To find out how people respond to differences in tip timing – before or after service – we conducted a series of experiments with fellow marketing professor <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=r2IfYiAAAAAJ&hl=en">Hong Yuan</a>. </p>
<p>We looked at how it affected tip amounts, ratings and likelihood of returning to the business, controlling for variables that might affect tip amounts, most notably the effects of repeat customers or attractive workers. </p>
<p>The first study compared real tip amounts at two locations of a popular smoothie chain on the East Coast. At one location, tips were collected while ordering – before receiving the smoothie. At the other, gratuities were requested only after someone handed the customer her order. After analyzing 7,523 transactions, we found that tips were 75% higher on average at the location that asked for them only after people received their smoothie. </p>
<p>Next, to dive a little deeper into why, we conducted three experiments in which we recruited participants online and asked them to imagine themselves a customer in a scenario. In one, participants imagined ordering a drink and a sandwich at a cafe, while the other two involved getting a haircut at a salon. In all three, participants were randomly prompted to tip either before or after receiving service. </p>
<p>Then we asked them to fill out a scaled survey rating the experience in terms of how likely they’d be to return to the business and how they felt about the tip request. In the third study, we also asked participants to select how much they’d tip and and how they’d rate the service on Yelp. </p>
<p>In each study, we found that participants viewed pre-service tip requests as unfair and manipulative and reduced the likelihood that they would become repeat customers. In the third study, requests for tips before a haircut also led to lower gratuities and online ratings.</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation’s politics, science or religion articles each week.</em><a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-best">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>We also found that businesses that emphasize the convenience of tipping can offset some, but not all, of the other negative feelings.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316956/original/file-20200224-24651-18xmh9o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316956/original/file-20200224-24651-18xmh9o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316956/original/file-20200224-24651-18xmh9o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316956/original/file-20200224-24651-18xmh9o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316956/original/file-20200224-24651-18xmh9o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316956/original/file-20200224-24651-18xmh9o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316956/original/file-20200224-24651-18xmh9o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Consumers prefer to drink their coffee before handing over a tip.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Anastasiya Aleksandrenko/Shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Tip benefits</h2>
<p>Tipping trends are constantly shifting.</p>
<p>Some innovations include the introduction of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0010880401423007">recommended tip amounts on receipts</a> and the proliferation of <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-06-11-we-12092-story.html">tip jars</a> in the 1990s and most recently <a href="https://www.marketplace.org/2014/06/06/tip-jar-gets-digital-makeover/">digital tip requests</a>. Each has contributed to “tip creep,” which has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/01/business/dollar3-tip-on-a-dollar4-cup-of-coffee-gratuities-grow-automatically.html">pushed up</a> the average tip from 10% in the 1940s to over 20% today, and made tipping the norm in more and more types of business. </p>
<p>Our findings, however, suggest that businesses should be careful when adopting new innovations. Customers, employees and owners all benefit if businesses stick to tradition – and request the tip only after the coffee is poured.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/132078/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>How do you feel when your barista asks you for a tip before she makes your cappuccino?Nathan B. Warren, Ph.D. Candidate, Marketing, University of OregonSara Hanson, Assistant Professor of Marketing, University of RichmondLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1165562019-05-12T16:45:35Z2019-05-12T16:45:35ZRainforest Cafe strike puts the spotlight on tip-sharing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273625/original/file-20190509-183089-1ah1ynq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4000%2C2269&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Hospitality workers across the country are concerned about efforts by employers to zero in on their tips. The ongoing labour dispute at the Rainforest Cafe in Niagara Falls underscores the alarm.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Unsplash</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The ongoing labour dispute at the Rainforest Cafe in Niagara Falls, Ont., highlights a growing concern among hospitality workers across the country — <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/restaurant-chains-increase-tip-outs-1.4517271">employer control over their tips</a>. </p>
<p>Unionized servers, bussers and hostesses at the Rainforest Cafe have been <a href="https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/news-story/9273637-striking-rainforest-cafe-workers-put-niagara-falls-tourism-district-on-notice-">on strike since early April</a>. They are trying to bargain their first collective agreement with their employer, Canadian Niagara Hotels. Canadian Niagara Hotels owns the Rainforest Cafe location, as well as several <a href="https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/news-story/9289769-backlash-hits-falls-hotel-after-tourists-kicked-out-for-joining-picket-line/">local-area hotels</a> and attractions. </p>
<p>Both the substance and the administration of the employer’s tip-sharing policy remains a key sticking point in the dispute.</p>
<h2>They can’t take my tips, can they?</h2>
<p>Tips make up a substantial portion of a server’s income. And yet, prior to 2016, there was nothing in Ontario law that prevented employers from taking servers’ tips for any reason whatsoever: to cover breakage, theft by patrons, general renovations and other capital investments, to redistribute to other workers, or, simply, to keep them. </p>
<p>Tips are not counted as wages. And, contrary to the popular view, until recently, servers were not legally entitled to them. </p>
<p>Across Canada, regulation of tips and tip-sharing is more or less robust. For instance, Québec gives complete control over tip-sharing arrangements <a href="https://www.cnt.gouv.qc.ca/en/wages-pay-and-work/wages/wages-employees-receiving-tips/index.html">to the employees themselves</a>. Not only are employers forbidden from imposing tip-sharing arrangements upon employees, but the employer has no role in the administration of any such arrangement except at the request of the employees. </p>
<p>Newfoundland and Labrador’s statutory language is similarly clear in terms of giving individual employees <a href="https://assembly.nl.ca/Legislation/sr/statutes/l02.htm#38">control over the tips they earn</a>. By contrast, some provinces do not regulate tips at all, meaning employers may do with them as they please.</p>
<p>While Ontario and British Columbia do regulate tips, they give employers large discretion over them. Both jurisdictions forbid employers from <a href="http://www.bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bclaws_new/document/ID/freeside/00_96113_01">taking tips to pay for business expenses</a>. But beyond that, the employer has nearly complete control over any tips and tip-sharing arrangements. This includes how much is to be collected, as well as administration over the redistribution process, and — to a very large extent — who is to be included in what’s known as the “tip-out pool.”</p>
<p>In Ontario, and under amendments introduced in B.C. in late April, proprietors are forbidden to participate in tip-out pools except under certain narrowly specified circumstances. Whether front-line managers can participate —and under what circumstances — is less clear. The inclusion of front-line managers in tip-out arrangements is a central focus for striking Rainforest Cafe workers and others.</p>
<h2>Tipping-out is the new battleground</h2>
<p>Tip-sharing is not a new phenomenon. It has been described as a means of remedying the pay inequity between serving and non-serving staff. This certainly sounds laudable and is perhaps appropriate in some circumstances. After all, some non-tipped workers (bussers, kitchen staff) may also face precarious conditions — low wages, uncertain hours — and they contribute to the ability of the serving staff to do the job for which they receive tips. </p>
<p>But employer control over tips is a new battleground for many hospitality workers. Servers object to unilateral increases to tip-out amounts and the extension of tip-out pools to previously excluded employees. They say it amounts to <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/restaurant-chains-increase-tip-outs-1.4517271">clawing back gains made through improved employment standards legislation</a>, notably minimum wage increases. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273632/original/file-20190509-183103-1bil265.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273632/original/file-20190509-183103-1bil265.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273632/original/file-20190509-183103-1bil265.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273632/original/file-20190509-183103-1bil265.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273632/original/file-20190509-183103-1bil265.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273632/original/file-20190509-183103-1bil265.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273632/original/file-20190509-183103-1bil265.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Who’s included in the tip-out pool can be contentious.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sam Truong Dan/Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Servers are concerned that tips are being funnelled to higher-paid or salaried employees as a means to maintain a particular compensation level for those employees; “<a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/restaurant-chains-increase-tip-outs-1.4517271">taking from Peter to pay Paul.</a>”</p>
<p>Employer control over the arrangement also makes it vulnerable to abuse. In Ontario, there is no real way to ensure that tips are being collected and redistributed in accordance with any employer policy or even in compliance with the law; the requirement to provide pay stubs, for instance, does <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/00e41#BK18">not extend to information about tips.</a> </p>
<p>This is concerning given revelations of <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/07/27/workplace-violations-widespread-in-ontario-government-report-says.html">systemic violations of employment standards</a> and Ontario’s recent <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2018/10/25/ministry-of-labour-puts-hold-on-proactive-workplace-inspections-internal-memo-says.html">cutbacks to proactive enforcement measures</a>.</p>
<h2>Strong legislation and strong unions</h2>
<p>The dispute at the Rainforest Cafe highlights both the need for strong employment standards legislation and strong unions. </p>
<p>Robust employment standards legislation is necessary if we’re serious about ensuring workers receive basic protections. For example, tip-sharing should be regulated, at a bare minimum by requiring transparency. </p>
<p>But even where employment standards are strong, rarely are individual workers able to enforce rights on their own; a tip-sharing policy that violates employment standards would not likely be rectified by an individual employee. Unions provide workers with effective grievance procedures, as well as expertise that individual employees cannot otherwise normally access.</p>
<p>Workers at the Rainforest Cafe decided to unionize in March 2018 <a href="https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/news-story/8363838-rainforest-cafe-workers-vote-to-unionize/">over the employer’s tip-sharing policy</a>. They wanted a say over both its substance and its administration. Nearly a year later, they are on strike against a highly profitable employer that is intent on redistributing servers’ tips in response to minimum wage increases. </p>
<p>How the dispute will resolve itself is still an open question, but the strike has brought attention to a gap in public policy that allows employers to “take from Peter to pay Paul.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116556/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alison Braley-Rattai does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The ongoing labour dispute at the Rainforest Cafe in Niagara Falls, Ont., highlights some dubious efforts by employers to take tips from hospitality workers due to minimum wage increases.Alison Braley-Rattai, Assistant Professor Dept. of Labour Studies, Brock UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1093682019-01-17T11:39:50Z2019-01-17T11:39:50ZWant better tips? Go for gold<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253954/original/file-20190115-152992-1ike1f5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Researchers studied whether subtly being exposed to different colors could change tipping behavior.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/leather-credit-card-folder-customer-billing-438243961?src=gAzvG8jCKLrx3D78NA8y0Q-1-33">Anutr Yossundara/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Although tipping is generally thought to be a voluntary payment meant to express gratitude to a service worker, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1053535704001027">the history of tipping</a> suggests that it originated as a way for people to flaunt their wealth.</p>
<p>But what if diners could be made to feel wealthy? Would they leave bigger tips? And could simple exposure to a color do the trick?</p>
<p>My colleagues and I recently completed <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11747-016-0508-3">a study</a> that explored how the color gold could affect tipping.</p>
<h2>Coloring consumer behavior</h2>
<p>Many studies have documented how colors influence consumer behavior. </p>
<p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/mar.4220090502">For example</a>, customers who shop in a store that’s decorated with blue, cool colors are more likely to linger longer, buy something and spend more than shoppers who frequent a store with red, warm-colored decor. <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/record/1984-10983-001">Some researchers</a> theorize that this happens because cooler colors make shoppers feel more relaxed and pleasant. Warmer colors, on the other hand, are more stimulating and arousing.</p>
<p>In a clothing store, these stimulating colors might hurt store sales because they could make customers feel rushed. But in a fast food restaurant – a business that wants customers in and out – stimulating colors like red, yellow and orange might hasten table turnover and increase customer traffic. There’s probably a reason <a href="https://www.nrn.com/sites/nrn.com/files/styles/article_featured_standard/public/uploads/2016/06/mcdsignlogopromo_1.jpg?itok=kh3mWjxw">McDonald’s</a>, <a href="https://c8.alamy.com/comp/DKXTW6/wendys-restaurant-sign-florida-usa-DKXTW6.jpg">Wendy’s</a>, <a href="https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/stltoday.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/0/fa/0faec5cc-2316-5e24-93a4-266c3927b10c/53b48476e7093.image.jpg?resize=400%2C266">Burger King</a>, <a href="https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/0b/ef/33/00/outside-sign.jpg">In-N-Out Burger</a>, <a href="https://2yvxip346v4g11b8zt1rvr1m-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Sonice-Drive-In-Sign.jpg">Sonic</a> and <a href="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/84/228744053_00e3a77d3a.jpg">Carl’s Jr.</a> all use similar red and yellow color schemes.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/254175/original/file-20190116-163265-c8umt0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/254175/original/file-20190116-163265-c8umt0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/254175/original/file-20190116-163265-c8umt0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/254175/original/file-20190116-163265-c8umt0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/254175/original/file-20190116-163265-c8umt0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/254175/original/file-20190116-163265-c8umt0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/254175/original/file-20190116-163265-c8umt0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fast food restaurants often use a red and yellow color scheme.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/adamwilson/5121992564">Adam Wilson/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A handful of studies have also looked at whether colors could influence the size of waitstaff tips. They found that the size of tips can be influenced by the color of the waitstaff’s <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1053535712000327">hair</a>, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1096348013504001?casa_token=vv5_F0hS_wYAAAAA%3AJe4NXe5Seo21fW23_g7panOi8rl5Pjj3HNfwAcDF2dfBUmYIlpVDiIlc726dMWHUJ9j2gEx3Ssn8">clothing</a> and even <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278431912000497">lipstick</a> (go for red, not pink).</p>
<h2>A golden rule for waitstaff?</h2>
<p><a href="https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article-abstract/20/3/478/1839014">Studies</a> have shown that tipping is more prevalent in countries where achievement or status is highly valued. And despite conventional wisdom that the amount of the tip is determined by the quality of service, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1053535700000627">several studies</a> have shown that there’s a weak relationship between the tip amount and the servers’ efforts. Instead, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article-abstract/20/3/478/1839014">a couple of studies</a> have found that the tipper’s socioeconomic status or mood has a meaningful relationship to tip size.</p>
<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11747-016-0508-3">In our study</a>, we gave diners their bill in either a gold folder or a black folder. When we compared the tip amounts, we found that customers who received their bills in the gold folder left, on average, 21.5 percent tips, whereas those who received the black folder left 18.9 percent tips. </p>
<p>Most bill folders are black. What if people simply tipped more because a gold folder was something novel? So we tested the impact of an orange-colored bill folder, only to find that this didn’t lead to bigger tips. </p>
<p>The effect of gold goes beyond the bill folder. We created a mock restaurant and found that customers who were seated at tables with gold tablecloths left larger tips than those who were seated at tables with white tablecloths. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253947/original/file-20190115-152971-l380in.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253947/original/file-20190115-152971-l380in.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253947/original/file-20190115-152971-l380in.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253947/original/file-20190115-152971-l380in.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253947/original/file-20190115-152971-l380in.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253947/original/file-20190115-152971-l380in.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253947/original/file-20190115-152971-l380in.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Feeling high status yet?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/place-setting-posh-restaurant-65937544?src=TkspjMxXrMPf09lKy2JpQA-1-40">Kondor83/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Why might this be the case? The color gold has long signified something special, precious and superior. It can subtly connote status, which is why companies will use gold when marketing their rewards programs – think Starbucks’ and American Express’ Gold Card. </p>
<p>It seems that mere exposure to the color makes customers feel like they’re in a restaurant that caters to high-status people. And when people feel like they’re wealthier, they tend to be more inclined to flaunt their wealth.</p>
<p>Of course, no amount of gold decor can make up for a messed-up order.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/109368/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Na Young Lee received financial support for her research in this article from Marketing and Supply Chain Management Department at the University of Tennessee - Knoxville. </span></em></p>Studies show a weak relationship between tip amounts and quality of service. But the color gold seems to have a way of making diners feel wealthier – and more generous.Na Young Lee, Assistant Professor of Marketing, University of DaytonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/886262017-12-11T18:09:23Z2017-12-11T18:09:23ZHow the war on tipping harms customers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198598/original/file-20171211-27674-scwdah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Companies with no-tipping policies can affect customer satisfaction.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pra Chid/Shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Some journalists and <a href="https://theconversation.com/with-the-holidays-upon-us-is-it-time-to-end-tipping-88141">other social commentators</a> have in recent years called for the <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2013/07/abolish_tipping_it_s_bad_for_servers_customers_and_restaurants.html">abolition of restaurant tipping</a>, primarily because they argue that it hurts workers. Several restaurateurs have even <a href="https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/american-restaurants-don-t-allow-tipping-usa-restaurants-banned-tipping">replaced tipping at their restaurants</a> with automatic service charges or inclusive pricing. </p>
<p>Another argument against tipping is that it detracts from customers’ dining experience. However, two studies I recently conducted – one published in the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278431917302074">International Journal of Hospitality Management</a> and another forthcoming at the Journal of Consumer Affairs – indicate that tipping actually benefits customers, while its elimination can harm them. </p>
<h2>Debate over tipping</h2>
<p>Opponents of tipping argue it pays workers <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/waiting-for-change-tipped-minimum-wage/">low and unreliable incomes</a>, <a href="http://web.uri.edu/quadangles/150-how-tip-based-pay-discriminates/">discriminates</a> against less attractive servers as well as servers of color and empowers customers to <a href="http://rocunited.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/REPORT_The-Glass-Floor-Sexual-Harassment-in-the-Restaurant-Industry2.pdf">sexually harass female servers</a>. </p>
<p>Some also believe that <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/life/culturebox/2013/08/tipless_restaurants_the_linkery_s_owner_explains_why_abolishing_tipping.html">it leads to poorer rather than better customer service</a> and satisfaction. That’s because it supposedly attracts younger, part-time and less professional workers to tipped occupations, undermines servers’ intrinsic motivations to care for their customers, discourages service enhancing teamwork among servers and encourages discrimination in service delivery against customers believed to be poor tippers. </p>
<p>A final argument against tipping is that it puts <a href="http://abc13.com/society/group-wants-you-to-stop-tipping-restaurant-workers/2103073/">unwanted social pressures</a> on people to part with money they would rather keep.</p>
<p>On the other side of the debate, proponents of tipping claim it <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/ive-got-tip-you-keep-tipping-wait-staff-494713">increases rather than decreases customer service and satisfaction</a>. Tips are supposed to be a reward for service, so advocates of the practice argue that it helps attract more competent workers to tipped occupations and motivates them to deliver better and more personalized service. </p>
<p>Another thing in tipping’s favor is that it allows restaurants to charge <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/redeye-no-tipping-policies-in-chicago-restaurants-20151116-story.html">lower menu prices</a>, which stingier tippers like because it reduces the costs of eating out.</p>
<p>For these reasons, most consumers in the United States say that they <a href="https://www.eater.com/2016/1/26/10835696/diners-against-eliminating-tips-study">prefer tipping</a> over automatic service charges or inclusive pricing. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198596/original/file-20171211-27698-1igivi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198596/original/file-20171211-27698-1igivi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198596/original/file-20171211-27698-1igivi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198596/original/file-20171211-27698-1igivi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198596/original/file-20171211-27698-1igivi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198596/original/file-20171211-27698-1igivi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198596/original/file-20171211-27698-1igivi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Girard, a French-inspired restaurant in Philadelphia, opened in 2014 with a no-tipping policy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Matt Rourke</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The Crab Shack experiment</h2>
<p>Both sides of this debate can point to anecdotal or <a href="https://static.secure.website/wscfus/5261551/3761429/pihrm2017-abandon-tipping.pdf">research evidence</a> supporting their positions. However, before my studies, we did not know which of these various effects on consumers were stronger than the others or what their combined, net effect on customer satisfaction was. </p>
<p>To answer this question, I got <a href="https://www.reviewtrackers.com/">ReviewTrackers</a>, a firm that monitors online reviews for companies, to provide me the reviews of numerous restaurants that I had identified as recently changing their tipping policies. I then analyzed the data to see if customers’ overall ratings of the restaurants were higher under tipping or its alternatives. </p>
<p><a href="https://static.secure.website/wscfus/5261551/7004903/jca-tipping-experiment-final.pdf">One study</a> focused on the restaurant chain <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/13/business/joes-crab-shack-tried-getting-rid-of-tips-it-didnt-last-long.html">Joe’s Crab Shack</a>. This chain replaced tipping with higher service-inclusive menu prices at 18 of its restaurants, only to reverse course six months later and bring tipping back at 14 of the locations.</p>
<p>I found customers rated Joe’s Crab Shack restaurants higher – by about a third of a point on a five-point scale – when they operated under tipping than when they used service-inclusive pricing. Statistical tests indicated that this effect was highly unlikely due to chance. </p>
<p>I also found that after switching to service-inclusive pricing, reviewers’ comments were more likely to mention tipping, the server or service and price. Moreover, these comments were generally associated with lower ratings. </p>
<p>These findings suggest that displeasure with the no-tipping policy, and with service and prices under that policy, decreased customers’ overall satisfaction with their dining experiences. </p>
<h2>Different tipping alternatives</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://static.secure.website/wscfus/5261551/7004898/ijhm-tip-policy-effects-final.pdf">second study</a> focused on 31 independent restaurants from across the U.S. that changed tipping policies within the past four years. I wanted to compare the impact of two types of tipping alternatives – automatic service charges, in which a tip is tacked on to all bills, and service-inclusive pricing.</p>
<p>Restaurants that replaced tipping with automatic service charges experienced about a quarter of a point drop in online ratings, while those that switched to service-inclusive pricing saw a decline of only about a 10th of a point. As with the first study, I found that these differences were unlikely due to chance. </p>
<p>The study’s data do not tell me why service charges decreased ratings more than did inclusive-pricing, but I suspect that it was because consumers hate being forced to tip more. Higher prices, on their own, are less objectionable.</p>
<p>Another interesting finding from the second study was that the negative impact of getting rid of tipping was related to how pricey or cheap the restaurant was. That is, less expensive restaurants suffered a greater hit to their ratings relative to classier joints. </p>
<p>This helps explain why the moderately priced Joe’s Crab Shack suffered a third of a point decline in its online rating after switching to inclusive pricing, while the average in the second study (which included more expensive restaurants) was just a 10th of a point. </p>
<p>It may also explain why most of the restaurants experimenting with different tipping policies are moderately to very expensive. Their wealthier customers, who are less sensitive to the added costs of service charges or inclusive-pricing, are less likely to punish them. </p>
<h2>Bottom line</h2>
<p>The results of these new studies provide evidence that tipping enhances restaurant customers’ overall satisfaction. Presumably this is because it increases both perceived and actual service quality and allows customers to determine the cost of that service. </p>
<p>This means that social commentators advocating the abandonment of tipping and restaurateurs considering eliminating it may want to rethink their positions. There may still be a case to be made against tipping, but it is not as simple or straightforward as commonly presented.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88626/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Lynn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Some observers say we should eliminate tipping in restaurants because of the negative impact on workers. But how do customers feel about that?Michael Lynn, Professor of Food and Beverage Management, Cornell UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/881412017-12-03T22:30:24Z2017-12-03T22:30:24ZWith the holidays upon us, is it time to end tipping?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197215/original/file-20171130-30896-1sf7izm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some restaurant-owners are grappling with abolishing tipping.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tipping in restaurants is a well-established social norm in North America. </p>
<p>With the holidays upon us and many of us dining out and celebrating, there’s an ongoing discussion about ending the practice of tipping. A recent survey of Toronto Star readers, although unscientific, suggested that more than <a href="https://www.thestar.com/life/food_wine/2017/11/10/star-readers-have-spoken-and-they-want-to-abolish-tipping.html">85 per cent preferred ending tipping</a> and instead hiking the wages of restaurant workers.</p>
<p>Some <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/earls-restaurant-mandatory-tipping-experiment-ends-1.3971409">restaurants have tried to switch to other models.</a> The highest-profile restaurant group to <a href="https://www.ushgnyc.com/category/blog/no-tipping/">abolish tipping</a> is Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group, but there have been many others in both Canada and the United States. </p>
<p>Results have been mixed with some restaurants returning to a tipping model.</p>
<h2>Why do we tip?</h2>
<p>Tipping is thought to have started in English public houses, now known as pubs. Patrons gave servers a coin at the beginning of service in an attempt to ensure good and prompt service. It’s even suggested that the word tip comes from “to insure promptitude.”</p>
<p>Tipping came to North America in the early 20th century and has become well-established here. Ironically, tipping is no longer a rigid social norm in its birthplace and across most of Europe.</p>
<p>There are several arguments put forward for tipping. The <a href="http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2017/11/anthony_gill_on_1.html">first argument</a> is that it ensures good service. Managers cannot be there for every interaction and each customer will have different needs and preferences. </p>
<p>Servers can, but don’t always, customize service for the individual consumers based on their specific cues. Since customers control the tip, servers are incentivized to deliver good service to every table.</p>
<p>Another argument is that it allows for <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3070338">price discrimination</a> or <a href="https://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-07/why-do-people-love-tip-waiters#page-2">risk-sharing</a>. These are essentially similar.</p>
<p>The price discrimination argument says that restaurateurs can keep prices lower by transferring the burden of paying servers to customers. </p>
<p>Customers who are willing to pay less for a meal tip less, those who are willing to pay more for a meal tip more, and overall demand is higher. The risk-sharing argument is that, with tipping, a customer transfers some of the risk of a bad experience to the server, whether or not they are to blame.</p>
<h2>Does tipping work?</h2>
<p>The evidence suggests that, for the most part, tipping does not meet those objectives. <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00036840601131813">Research</a> suggests that the relationship between service quality and the size of the tips is very small. </p>
<p>Different customers tip different amounts but most of us tip within a narrow range regardless of the level of service we receive. This leads to the conclusion that tipping is not the reason for high- or low-quality service. </p>
<p>The evidence on price discrimination and risk-sharing is less definitive. </p>
<p>Given the findings that the relationship between service quality and tipping is weak, one might infer that customers are not using tipping to mitigate the risk of a bad dining experience. On the other hand, the fact that different customers tip at different rates may suggest that the price discrimination argument is valid. </p>
<p>There is no research on this, but some anecdotal results suggest that the <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/12/pf/joes-crab-shack-ends-no-tipping-policy/index.html">number of customers decreased</a> in some restaurants when tipping was removed and service charges or price increases were implemented. </p>
<h2>Are there other factors?</h2>
<p>It’s clear that there are other outcomes associated with tipping that might cause concern. While there’s scant evidence of a relationship between the quality of service and the size of the tip, there is <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278431909000425">evidence</a> of a relationship between <em>expected</em> tip and quality of service.</p>
<p>That means that a server may use cues such as race, gender, age and attire to develop an expectation of tip, which then shapes the service they deliver. This means that customers who pay full menu rates are discriminated against because of the <em>perception</em> that they might be cheap tippers.</p>
<p>This is clearly a problem.</p>
<p>There is also evidence of “<a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15378020.2016.1215760">quota servers</a>.” A quota server is one who may have a particular dollar amount in mind for a total value of tips during a shift, and once that’s achieved, they mentally check out and service suffers. They work hard until the have achieved a particular target total (say $100) from all of their customers, and after that lose motivation to provide good service. This is not unique to servers and tipping. </p>
<p>This “<a href="https://www.citylab.com/environment/2014/10/why-new-yorkers-cant-find-a-taxi-when-it-rains/381652/">income targeting</a>” is a phenomenon that explains the difficulty in finding a taxi on rainy days in New York City or any big city. Researchers found that taxi drivers stopped working once they achieved a certain dollar figure, rather than continuing to work during what was clearly a busy and potentially profitable night. </p>
<p>This inconsistent service delivery, which is independent of the tip from a specific customer, is also clearly not in the best interest of either the restaurant or the customer. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197217/original/file-20171130-30896-132bm9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197217/original/file-20171130-30896-132bm9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197217/original/file-20171130-30896-132bm9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197217/original/file-20171130-30896-132bm9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197217/original/file-20171130-30896-132bm9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=594&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197217/original/file-20171130-30896-132bm9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=594&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197217/original/file-20171130-30896-132bm9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=594&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Server Macalyn Ahern attends to customers at the Earl’s 67 location Calgary, Alta., in 2016. The decision by Earl’s to eliminate tipping at a downtown Calgary restaurant and replace it with a mandatory 16 per cent ‘hospitality charge’ stirred controversy, and the restaurant later returned to tipping.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are also a number of <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15378020.2016.1215760">internal factors</a> that have been identified as causing problems for restaurant managers. These include inequities in pay between kitchen workers and servers, difficulty in succession planning, rivalry among servers and loss of control of quality management. </p>
<p>And there’s a suggestion that the tipping model draws transient employees attracted by high wages rather than developing professional servers. We’ve all heard the story of the actor, writer or filmmaker who is serving until their desired profession pans out.</p>
<p>Some will argue that if tipping disappears and servers earn less money, quality will suffer because those individuals will seek other employment. It is not clear, however, that this will happen automatically.</p>
<p>One factor in favour of tipping is that it reduces payroll taxes for restaurateurs. Given tips are separate income and are supposed to be declared by the server, restaurants do not need to pay the payroll tax on that portion of wages. That means the cost of removing tipping is higher than simply transferring tips to a service charge or higher prices, and then paying it out in wages.</p>
<h2>Time for a change?</h2>
<p>It’s no longer clear that tipping is producing the benefits that motivate the system. But change will be difficult. </p>
<p><a href="http://jayporter.com/observations-from-a-tipless-restaurant-part-5-sex-power-tips/">Some will argue</a> that there are those who will resist the loss of control — particularly men interacting with female servers. Some restaurants have tried and failed but others, like Canadian Amanda Cohen’s Dirt Candy in New York City, have <a href="http://gothamist.com/2017/10/19/danny_meyer_no_tipping.php">persisted through the challenges</a> in transitioning to a no-tipping model.</p>
<p>It won’t be easy, but as we all divide our bills over holiday restaurant meals this and try to figure out what to tip our servers, perhaps it’s time for a change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88141/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael von Massow does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Restaurant tipping came to North America in the early 20th century and has become well-established here even as the practice is less common in the U.K. and Europe. Is it time to rethink it?Michael von Massow, Associate Professor, Food Economics, University of GuelphLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/839322017-09-14T22:34:30Z2017-09-14T22:34:30ZPizza delivery by robot cars has arrived with big questions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186069/original/file-20170914-9029-zd94o5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ford and Dominos have teamed up to deliver pizza by driverless cars in a public test in Michigan. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Handout</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>People in Ann Arbor, Mich., are experiencing <a href="http://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2017/08/29/dominos-ford-self-driving-cars-ann-arbor/597329001/">home food-delivery without a driver.</a> </p>
<p>Domino’s Pizza and Ford have paired up in a pilot project that will look at how humans interact with driverless food-delivery cars. Ann Arbor is home to thousands of students, an age group not likely to view this new technology with suspicion. But it could turn into a <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/ford-self-driving-pizza-delivery-dominos/">fascinating social experiment</a> for the food industry.</p>
<p>Customers ordering through Domino’s will be able to track their delivery in real time by using a downloadable app on their smartphones. They receive a text message that gives them a four-digit code to use once the car arrives. </p>
<p>But it’s the final portion of the drive that could prove unpredictable for Domino’s. The driverless delivery vehicle could end up in the driveway, or near the curb. Customers may not want to go out to the car if it’s raining or snowing. Domino’s USA president Russell Weiner says these challenges are a major part of the experiment.</p>
<p>“We’re interested to learn what people think about this type of delivery,” <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/29/16213544/dominos-ford-pizza-self-driving-car">he said in a recent statement.</a> “The majority of our questions are about the last 50 feet of the delivery experience.”</p>
<h2>No tipping attractive to students</h2>
<p>Human behaviour can be difficult to predict at the best of times, especially when dealing with food. This will be the first time a food service or retail company has used driverless cars to interact with actual consumers.</p>
<p>The experience will certainly offer convenience for customers in a variety of ways. With the app, expectations will be managed, and quality of service — Domino’s key strategic focus — will be more consistent. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186072/original/file-20170914-8975-1mw0trs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186072/original/file-20170914-8975-1mw0trs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186072/original/file-20170914-8975-1mw0trs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186072/original/file-20170914-8975-1mw0trs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186072/original/file-20170914-8975-1mw0trs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186072/original/file-20170914-8975-1mw0trs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186072/original/file-20170914-8975-1mw0trs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186072/original/file-20170914-8975-1mw0trs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People can track their driverless pizza delivery with a smartphone app.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Handout</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>That’s because delivery times will be streamlined, fewer pizzas will be damaged in handling mishaps and the customer won’t have to deal with tips — at least not for now. No tipping will reduce price points, making delivered pizzas more affordable. For cash-strapped students, that’s key.</p>
<p>For Domino’s, the business case for a driverless fleet is unquestionably strong. Lower insurance costs, lower fuel consumption, consistent delivery times, no thefts, controllable temperatures to keep food safe for customers so therefore less waste — the list goes on. </p>
<p>Domino’s delivers more than a billion pizzas annually, and has more than 100,000 drivers. Running a driverless fleet could save the company millions. </p>
<p>Embracing the concept of <a href="https://www.recode.net/2017/1/18/14306674/starship-robot-food-delivery-washington-dc-silicon-valley">home food deliveries without having to hire drivers</a> cannot come soon enough for the food service industry, which is looking for ways to increase revenue beyond their regular foot traffic. </p>
<p>Restaurant operators won’t need to deal with the headache of hiring the right people for delivery, and delivery is an important means of expanding the brand outside their facilities.</p>
<h2>Home delivery can be dicey</h2>
<p>Most of us who have ordered home-delivered food have had mixed experiences. </p>
<p>Some drivers make convicted felons look like choir boys, causing customers to be hesitant about the food. But home delivery is no walk in the park for the drivers, either. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/pizza-delivery-horror-stories-delivery-drivers-reveal-naked-truths">Drivers in the U.S. have told</a> of finding themselves in unbelievably <a href="http://mashable.com/2017/08/03/deliveroo-awkward-experiences/#6alVgiJeHmqp">awkward situations,</a> including being tipped with weed, being asked to eat with the customer to offer company, showing up during domestic disputes and being greeted by a naked customer as the front door opens.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186073/original/file-20170914-8975-qts1zp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186073/original/file-20170914-8975-qts1zp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186073/original/file-20170914-8975-qts1zp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186073/original/file-20170914-8975-qts1zp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186073/original/file-20170914-8975-qts1zp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186073/original/file-20170914-8975-qts1zp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186073/original/file-20170914-8975-qts1zp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186073/original/file-20170914-8975-qts1zp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Domino’s and Ford are testing whether people will go to the driveway or curb to get their pizza.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Handout</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>There’s an endless list of unpleasant scenarios that would discourage anyone from contemplating home food delivery as a full-time job or even part-time job.</p>
<p>A humanless home food delivery experience, on the other hand, also offers a unique perspective on the market currency of convenience. </p>
<p>For years, price has been king. In study after study, price has trumped any other feature consumers were looking for in food service. </p>
<h2>Consumers crave convenience and privacy</h2>
<p>Younger generations, however, have a different take on convenience. Price remains a significant factor for higher revenues of course, but the constant quest for more convenience on both sides of the food continuum is now reaching the point of obsession. </p>
<p>Getting rid of delivery personnel is now a realistic approach. With driverless home food delivery, one could potentially get food delivered without seeing a single human being — a frightening thought for some, a reassuring one for others. </p>
<p>In the future, consumers could binge on their favourite junk food several times a week without the embarrassment of seeing the same delivery person.</p>
<p>No matter how you look at it, Domino’s and Ford are onto something. After all, driverless technologies are consistent with what Domino’s is all about. </p>
<p>The company has been successful over the years with its mastery of home delivery. Joining forces with Ford could make the company even more efficient.</p>
<p>Nonetheless not all of us needs Domino’s to get our food fix. Divorcing the human aspect from food is simply impossible for many food service companies — thousands of them, in fact. And thank goodness for that.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83932/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sylvain Charlebois does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Domino’s Pizza and Ford have teamed up to offer pizza delivery via driverless cars in Michigan. Is it the way of the future?Sylvain Charlebois, Professor in Food Distribution and Policy, Dalhousie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/428652015-06-26T10:07:01Z2015-06-26T10:07:01ZCan we teach restaurant servers to treat all customers equally, regardless of race?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/86325/original/image-20150624-31518-zafbs1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Expected tip size isn't the only thing that influences the quality of service.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/s/black+restaurant+customers/search.html?page=1&thumb_size=mosaic&inline=123179710">'Waitress' via www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Like most human behavior, tipping practices vary widely. </p>
<p>For instance, one customer may tip generously even after receiving poor service. Another may verbally praise a server for providing excellent service, only to leave the restaurant without tipping. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, restaurant servers do notice patterns. Since many in the United States rely on tips for most (if not all) of their income, the custom of tipping presents servers with a powerful economic incentive to anticipate and react to customers’ tipping tendencies. </p>
<p>This has an effect on how servers treat customers. <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027843191500002X">Research suggests</a> that servers tend to devote more attention and efforts to customers who are expected to tip well – and this comes at the expense of those who are expected to tip poorly. </p>
<p>But our <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/tsq.12093/abstract">recent findings</a> show that servers aren’t entirely motivated by their expected tips. This could change the way we interpret why servers treat certain customers the way they do, and could influence how they’re trained. </p>
<p>Let’s pick this apart a bit, with a focus on how it relates to race.</p>
<p>Countless observable <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278431909000425">customer and table characteristics</a> affect servers’ expectations for receiving a good or poor tip, whether it’s age, gender or attire.</p>
<p>Of these, research has identified skin color as a particularly salient cue, one that triggers servers’ stereotypical expectations of receiving an adequate (more than 15%) or inadequate (less than 15%) tip. </p>
<p>For instance, a <a href="http://tippingresearch.com/other_tipping_links.html">recent survey</a> of over 1,000 restaurant servers across the US found that nearly 70% of servers perceived blacks as below-average tippers, while 50% perceived Hispanics as below-average tippers. </p>
<p>In stark contrast, a mere 2% of servers perceived white customers to be below-average tippers. </p>
<p>This stereotype likely stems, in part, from servers’ actual experience. <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-behind-racial-differences-in-restaurant-tipping-35889">Research <em>does</em> show</a> that racial and ethnic minorities are less familiar with dominant US tipping norms, which denote 15%-20% of the bill as an appropriate tip size. For this reason, they tend to tip their servers less than their white counterparts, who are more familiar with this norm. </p>
<p>As a result, white customers are more likely to get better service in full-service US restaurants. </p>
<p>However, this statement necessitates an important caveat, one that is either absent or minimized in prior <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1475-682X.2011.00396.x/abstract">scholarly</a> and <a href="http://madamenoire.com/295787/dining-while-black/">popular</a> reports about how servers treat diners. </p>
<p>Specifically, just as humans are not motivated solely by economic concerns, restaurant servers are not motivated strictly by the desire to maximize tip earnings. For this reason, servers’ interactions with customers cannot be reduced to the tips that servers think their customers might (or might not) leave on the table. </p>
<p>For instance, a key finding from our recent research is that servers’ moral emotions and beliefs about how people deserve to be treated are as important – in some cases, more important – than economic considerations about customers’ tipping intentions. </p>
<p>Specifically, we found servers who have strong internalized moral convictions to treat all customers equally were less likely to report giving less effort when waiting tables of black and Hispanic customers. Notably, this held <em>especially true</em> among servers who perceived blacks and Hispanics to be poor tippers relative to whites. </p>
<p>In other words, for many servers, the moral motivation to provide equitable service to all clientele appears to effectively neutralize any economic motivation to discriminate against black and Hispanic customers, even when these servers stereotypically expect minority clientele to be poor tippers. </p>
<p>It’s important to note our findings indeed confirm what many already know from countless dining or serving experiences: that blacks, Hispanics and other customers of color are less likely than whites to receive optimal service while dining in full-service restaurants. </p>
<p>However, our research also provides some context to the dominant narrative on tipping. Because prior research indicates that blacks, on average, tip less than whites – and there’s the implication that servers are motivated only by economics – servers who put in less effort when waiting on tables of black customers are let off the hook. </p>
<p>But our research adds a layer to this. Yes, servers are motivated to maximize their tips. But they’re also motivated by deeply held emotions and beliefs about how customers deserve to be treated.</p>
<p>Our research thus suggests new potential solutions for eradicating race-based (and other) discriminatory service in the restaurant industry. </p>
<p>Some have called for <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2013/07/abolish_tipping_it_s_bad_for_servers_customers_and_restaurants.html">eliminating</a> the custom of tipping altogether, or <a href="http://cqx.sagepub.com/content/56/1/68.short">reducing group differences in tipping behaviors</a> by promoting awareness of the 15%-20% tipping norm. Both of these options currently seem unlikely (<a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/life/culturebox/2013/08/tipless_restaurants_the_linkery_s_owner_explains_why_abolishing_tipping.html">but not impossible</a>).</p>
<p>Instead, restaurant managers could also consider building upon existing <a href="http://cqx.sagepub.com/content/50/2/198.short">server training programs</a> by simultaneously appealing to servers’ economic and moral motivations. </p>
<p>For instance, in addition to highlighting the morally inappropriate nature of <a href="http://cqx.sagepub.com/content/53/4/274">discriminatory service</a>, programs might also underscore the illogical reasoning behind race-based service discrimination. </p>
<p>In other words, it’s unwise to treat tables differently, even if you’re expecting a lower tip. By providing the best possible service to everyone, servers can maximize their potential tipped income by increasing the chances of receiving an optimal tip from <em>every</em> customer – not just their white clientele. </p>
<p>Of course, striving to provide equitable service to all comes at a cost: it’s physically and emotionally exhausting to put on your best face for every customer. It can also be demoralizing when the same high-quality service is not consistently rewarded. </p>
<p>Fortunately, trying to offer the same high-quality service to every customer may be worth the effort. Servers will not only end their shifts with more money in their pockets, but they’ll also take comfort in knowing that giving all of their customers equally good service is the morally right thing to do.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/42865/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Blacks and Hispanics do tip, on average, less than whites. But research shows waiters aren’t only motivated by economics when they offer inferior service.Zachary Brewster, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Wayne State UniversityJonathan R Brauer, Assistant Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Nebraska OmahaMichael Lynn, Burton M Sack '61 Professor in Food and Beverage Management, Cornell UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.