來到美國最不習慣的事情之一就是付小費了，按照慣例，在美國的餐館用餐，午餐要付10%, 晚餐要付15-20%, 每次掏錢都好心痛, 所以我在MIT 消費者心理學就選了這個主題作為我的期末報告,以下就是我對美國人付小費行為的分析.
Why tips?
Jian-yu Ke
As an alien in US, I am very curious about the practice of tipping. People in US seem to be used to giving tips, which range from 10% to 20%, in some circumstances. Some questions come to my mind: for what reasons do people tip? Is it due to social norms or appreciation to the service? Why do people tip some service providers, e.g. waiters/waitresses in restaurants and hotels, taxi drivers, and barbers, but not other service providers, e.g. doctors, nurses, teachers, fire fighters, bus drivers, and postmen? In this article, I try to explain the behavior of tipping in US.
About the origins of the words “tip” or “gratuity”, some people believe that it’s an acronym for terms such as “to insure prompt service”, “to insure proper service”, “to improve performance”, and “to insure promptness”. However, Jesse Sheidlower, Principal Editor in North America for the Oxford English Dictionary, says that’s wrong, because acronyms weren’t popular in English until the 1920s. But the word “tip” began as a verb in the seventeenth century. By the early eighteenth century, the meaning included “to give a gratuity to a servant or employee”. George Foster, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at UC Berkeley, has conducted a study about them in 1972. He found that they evolved from “drink money” in various languages. This finding supports the idea that the practice began in eating circumstances. Foster theorized that tipping started with a desire to avoid envy on the part of the server and to send the message that the server should have a drink at the customer’s expense. [1]
After centuries, tipping becomes not only a practice but an expected social norm that some level of tip will be paid. For the servers, tips are nowadays a hygiene factor rather than a motivation factor. But the question is: why people tip some services providers but not other service providers? Let’s start from who are the frequent tip receivers and what’s the reason they are tipped.[2]
§ Waiters/waitresses in restaurants and hotels: In general, people tip when manual services are provided personally by a “low-paid worker” but the charge doesn’t cover the service. For examples, in restaurants, people pay for the food but tip for the service of bringing the food to the table; in hotel, people pay for the lodging but tips for the service of carrying luggage. Hence the low salary of waiters/waitresses is the first reason that they are tipped, and the second reason is that people don’t think the tariff include service charge. The latter is the important reason why people don’t tip in some countries because they think the tariff include service charge already. Why don’t US restaurants include the service charge in the tariff and increase waiters’ salary? I think the reasons are: 1) tips reward servers directly; 2) tipping is a social norm and the servers have viewed it as part of income; 2) Tip is also the means that customers used to control the service quality and feedback customer’s evaluation on service.
§ Barbers: For a haircut or salon service, it is customary to tip the barber or stylist from 15% to 20%. Obviously, the reason for tipping is not the exclusion of service charge in tariff because overall service is completed by single person. Judging from the full schedule of the barber at MIT Coop, a barber’s salary should be much higher than a restaurant waiter’s. The reason for tipping barbers may be that haircut is a customized service. Barbers provide service according to customers’ requirements, so customers tip to reward their efforts.
§ Taxi drivers: Same as barbers, taxi drivers are the only service provider in overall process and also provide customized service. Customized service may be the reason for their being tipped.
Comparing with above service providers, some other service providers are not tipped. I analyze the reasons as below:
§ Professionals: e.g. doctors, nurses, lawyers, accountants, professors, etc. The professionals would not be tipped because their salary is already high (hope MIT professors are adequately paid). In addition, tipping lawyers, accounts and professors would be potentially viewed as bribery. Doctors would also risk malpractice lawsuit if they required a tip to do their best.
§ Government workers: e.g. polices, fire fighters, postmen, etc. It is considered bribery to tip government workers under United States federal law. However, a non-monetary gift valued at $20 or less is allowed.
§ Chef: When people finish a delicious meal in restaurant, most tips go to waiters rather than chef. Even though the meal is prepared by the chef, the customers are not directly served by the chef. People feel less guilty if they don’t tip the chef. If the chef really needs the tips, maybe he has to show up or stand by the gate when customers are ready to pay the bill.
§ Bus drivers: There are some possible reasons that bus drivers are not tipped. First, the payment is before service, so it’s of little chance for passengers to make the second payment. Second, the service is public and not dedicated to specific person. People don’t tip public service.
From above arguments, I draw some conclusions as below:
1. Customized service providers are more likely tipped;
2. Customer’s perception on the exclusion of service charge in tariff will affect tipping decision;
3. The salary of servers is a concern in tipping decision;
4. When people have direct contact with servers, the servers are more likely tipped;
5. Social norms always affect tipping decision.
