The process of getting Yogurtland is a rather simple one: You walk in, get the cup, pour the frozen yogurt, and then add toppings. Everything is done by the customer, and the customer only. When you’re finished, the cashier reads the weight of your order and collects payment. Easy, right? But wait. The cashier has flipped around the screen where there are four buttons for you to select: no tip, 10% tip, 15% tip, or 20% tip. Wait a minute- if you have done everything yourself since walking into the store, then why are you being asked to tip?

Recently, there has been a shift in the tipping culture of America. More frequently, consumers are being prompted to tip in places where they shouldn’t be.

Inflation has led businesses to search for alternative ways to increase profits, which could explain the increase in prompts to tip throughout the US. However, this increase has also been enabled through the digitization of transactions between the consumer and business. More and more, businesses are utilizing contactless forms of payment such as Apple Pay for the common transaction, even forbidding cash transactions. 

The problem with this technology is that it has made it easier for companies to persuade consumers to give tips, with an economic behavior called “the nudge.” In short, when a cashier flips the screen that asks for a tip, customers feel the pressure of having the cashier standing right there, and that could obligate them to tip when they normally wouldn’t.

Another problem with digital payments is that the consumer has no idea who they are actually tipping. Is it the cashier? The staff? Or is it a cash grab from greedy corporations? This ambiguity has made consumers tired of tipping, otherwise known as “tip fatigue.” Customers are starting to tip less, and for workers who rely on tips as a large part of their income, this is a massive problem. 

There is no easy solution given that tipping is so strongly ingrained into our culture. There’s no legislation that can be passed to ban tipping, and it would be unfair to those who rely on that extra income. Perhaps the solution would be to return to the ethic that tipping should only occur when a specific service has been provided. In this case, the first step back to “normal” is that we must start saying “no” when asked to tip when no actual service has been provided.