Tipping morality: Interviews with chefs provide insight

Anyone who likes to visit his local cafe is familiar with the following landscape. On buying your lunch, a cashier replaces a payment screen towards you: “It will just ask you some questions.”

The buttons on the screen inspire you to leave a tip – perhaps a dollar or two, perhaps the percentage of the bill. But what if all the employees filled a cup with black coffee? What if you are with someone you want to impress with your generosity? When you are deciding what, and how much, what are the questions in your mind to tip for a service?

These general coincidences inspire Omar Shehrar, a marketing professor at Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship of Montana State University to research the moral and moral dimensions of tipping in the United States.

Shehrr conducted a study with colleagues of the University of Vermont. The resulting paper, “disadvantage up ethics: How the account for gratuity for chefs is” Published In Business ethics journal,

“Customers try to reduce the cost and maximize the profit under all circumstances, but the tipping changes that upside down,” Shehrr said. “Say that you are going to a bakery, and you pick up a $ 8 baguet, but then you are paying $ 2 more on that top. Economists are surprised by it. It doesn’t fit with their perspective how people work. So, we were trying to find out what people are trying to leave what the justified tips of the people are, or not.”

Shehrr said that while previous scholars have studied the attitude towards tipping, the study is the first center for the center on the visual view of the chef, who spoke to the dynamics of the customer seen over the years. Researchers interviewed the chef because, unlike the server and customers, they are not directly involved in tipping and therefore can talk more impartially to practice.

The study was made on an interview with 25 vermont-based chefs and restaurators, which had 471 years of cumulative in the industry. In short, interviews painted a picture of a tipping system that leaves a bad taste in the chefs, servers and customers’ mouths, but is very attached to changing easily.

Shehrr said one of the more amazing conclusions was that the chefs believed that many customers could not take the risk of eating in the restaurant if menu prices reflect the actual costs of food. By relying on tips to help the payment server, restaurants artificially reduce the price of food, and fear that any change in this system will leave the mentor with “sticker shock”, he said.

In paper, a chef commented that “the restaurant is being taken hostage. You either increase prices up to 30% and risk going out of business or what we are currently doing.”

The chef said that the patrons sometimes take advantage of their power, knowing the wages of a server is largely at their mercy. Previous research has also identified that the attraction, breed and gender of a server affect the tips that they receive, raising questions of equity.

The result is that “good” tippers are essentially subsidized to people. No matter how you feel about tipping, there are situations where the economic value is not included in the tag, Shehr said- for example, the delivery by drivers who work during bad weather, put their safety and risk their safety and individual vehicles.

A consumer who buys $ 15 burger, which comes up to $ 25 with delivery fees and tips, can be felt by Shehrar. However, if a person uses his time, car and fuel to get a burger, the cost can still be around $ 25.

Shehr said, “On the Onas customer, it is to accept that there are some values ​​they are paying.” “They think tipping is an extra, while, as an economist, you can see that tipping in that situation is not an extra.”

Nevertheless, Shehar said that whether people are morally bound to tip, it is an opinion – all researchers can do the picture of how the current system is working.

The study also touched how Kovid -19 replaced the tipping, including the arrival of “tip”. The epidemic stated that during the epidemic, performing the services that included direct human contacts, such as cutting hair, increased their tips, Shehr said. Additionally, some that do such services, for which people have not historically left, such as auto mechanics, began to provide the option to add gratuity to customers. At the same time, the tips for food distribution were reduced – researchers said that customers are disappointed with lockdown order and inflation, removing their anger on delivery drivers.

Shehrr stated that it would be interesting to study future studies to analyze the tip and analyze the causes of its consequences – such as how the requests for tips are affecting the increased consumer behavior.

In terms of policy recommendations for tipping, there is no easy answer, Shehr said. While the data shows that increased wages addresses some issues, a system overhaul will mean a huge change in cultural and economic norms.

“As the chef said, in America, tipping is just a tradition. This is what they are working. They have to find the most optimal way to run the business, while fundamentally not challenged why tipping exists,” Shehrr said.