The psychology of tipping: different thoughts behind how to tip
Story by Megan Guido | Illustration by Ethan Kimberling
This story is the second in a series about fair wage issues in the Idaho restaurant and beverage industry. Check out Part 1: Gratuity-Free in Idaho
How generous of a tipper are you? C’mon. Be honest. Is it 15%? 20%? Do you tip less when you think the service wasn’t up to par? The practice of tipping is as individualistic as each consumer who tips.
Tipping: An established American tradition but it wasn’t always
Kerry Segrave explains in the book “Tipping: An American Social History of Gratuities” that the history of tipping dates back to the Middle Ages, but the practice did not become widespread until the late 19th century. Americans initially rebuffed the practice, calling it unamerican, but the opposition faded. Now it’s an institution, particularly in the service industry.
“Tipping norms are not imposed by a central authority, so they must evolve out of the behavior of individual consumers and tippers,” says Michael Lynn, a professor of food and beverage management in Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration and author/researcher on the study of tipping in restaurants.
“Every week you have to go in embracing the unknown.” -Page Eberlee, server
Universal standards say the size of a restaurant's gratuity depends on how well someone is served, including whether their order is correct and the server checks on them after receiving their food. Even if the service is bad, it’s recommended to leave something, according to Bankrate.
Servers generally agree an expected tip to be 20% but they receive a variety of percentages.
Some restaurants in Idaho pay servers a sub-par wage of $3.50 an hour plus tips, which is just above Idaho’s minimum wage of $3.35 an hour for tipped employees. There is no guarantee the tips a server receives that week are going to pay the bills though.
“Every week you have to go in embracing the unknown,” said Page Eberlee, who worked as a server at Bloom, a brunch and lunch restaurant in Moscow, for four years. Bloom closed due to the lease at their location not being renewed in December 2021.
She said many of her customers at Bloom were regulars and tipped very well — sometimes more than 25% — but there were times Eberlee received low tips or was completely stiffed.
“You think you are providing the best service, nothing seems to be wrong and you are getting along really well with your customers but when you see a $4 tip on a $120 bill, it’s disheartening,” she said.
The psychology behind the tip
So how do servers help themselves get paid more consistently? A 2015 study published in the Journal of Economic Psychology found waitresses whose customers thought they were attractive tended to tip more. The other related piece: these customers tended to be women.
Another common perception is that tipping incentivizes workers to provide better service and gives the customer the opportunity to reward the worker. Michael Lynn, in his 2001 paper “Restaurant Tipping and Service Quality: A Tenuous Relationship,” highlights various ways restaurateurs rely on tips as a marker of server performance, but also says there is little to no correlation between tips and performance.
As one regular diner from northern Idaho says, “I want to be able to decide my own tip based on quality of service.” She said that she tips between 18% and 20% at restaurants where she is waited on more of a complete dining experience.
“But when it comes to coffee shops, fast food restaurants, where they are just doing minimal service, I would tip less if I tip at all,” she said.
“But when it comes to coffee shops, fast food restaurants, where they are just doing minimal service, I would tip less if I tip at all.” -A dine-in consumer, North Idaho
She does not like the tip to be automatically built into the bill. Nor does she like being verbally asked what percentage of tip she’d like to leave or being handed an electronic device by a server to choose a tip percentage.
“That’s not appropriate,” she said.
Another frequent diner and consumer of take-out food from northern Idaho also dislikes what he calls the “turn-around device,” when someone is “on the spot” to tip for, say, a cup of coffee.
“I honestly don’t know if I’m supposed to tip when I’m just picking up a bag of takeout,” he said.
He’s also noticing a trend that other service businesses like plant nurseries are including a tip line on their electronic devices when paying.
“My issue is why is the consumer responsible for solving society’s problems with the low wages the service industry pays,” he said. “They should pay their employees a fair wage to begin with.”
Reading the customer’s bubble
Levi Vixie has been working as a bartender and server in the Moscow, Idaho, area for years. He may even be called a “career” server. He is now doing consulting for restaurants on the Palouse and has worked with restaurants in Mullan and Wallace, Idaho, before.
Vixie said he is typically not stressed about getting tips because he enjoys his work and provides very good service. He said his customers appreciate his service, have a good experience and the “tips just come” to him.
“I’ve had good training,” Vixie said. “I understand the mechanics of service like taking the food order, having a good idea of what hospitality looks like, being empathetic, thinking ahead to what customers want.”
Vixie describes the “bubble” as the vibe the customers give off at their table -- whether they want to be left alone or whether they want to interact with the server.
“You have to read body language,” said Vixie. “You need to be aware of their ‘bubble,’ and being sensitive to that,”
Tips as part of compensation
Eberlee said some people just don’t realize how important tips are for servers.
Another server, who works in a wine tasting room in North Idaho, agrees.
“I know tips are part of a person’s wage,” she said. “I grew up waiting tables in Coeur d’Alene when I was a teenager and have worked in the industry, but not everyone thinks about it.”
This server describes herself as a “heavy-tipper” and attributes her habit to working in the industry herself.
She said peoples’ tips have been more generous since the pandemic because “they know we (in the service industry) took such a hit.”
Relying upon tips during the pandemic was rough, Eberlee said. She recalls her time working at Bloom during the pandemic when the restaurant had reopened with limited indoor seating.
“There were days where I walked away with $10 in tips,” she said.
Eberlee credits her boss with recognizing her servers were struggling financially during the pandemic. Her boss adjusted the pay to $8 an hour during this time.
