Tipping Dilemma in Restaurants’ Age of Automation: Exploring the Role of Social Obligations, Explicit Requests, and Their Timing

Despite the wide implementation of automated services (e.g. self-service kiosks and mobile checkouts) to optimize service efficiency, restaurant customers’ perceptions related to tipping in this context have received less attention. Two between-subject experiments were conducted among US consumers. The findings reveal that explicit tip requests increase unfairness perceptions when people feel more obliged to tip (Study 1), and for those who feel a higher obligation to tip, the unfairness perceptions are enhanced when the tip is requested before the service delivery (Study 2). This study enhances the existing literature on tipping behavior and service automation, additionally providing valuable insights for restaurant managers by offering guidelines for tip requests aimed at mitigating negative customer reactions such as perceptions of unfairness and decreased trust in the restaurant.