The science: why pre-service tipping backfires
Tipping fatigue is not irrational. A 2025 study by Demi Shenrui Deng
(Auburn University), Lu Lu (Temple University), and Ruiying Cai (Washington State
University) — published in the International Journal of Hospitality Management —
ran two online consumer experiments (N = 320 and N = 414) to measure how tipping requests
in “emerging tipping contexts” like coffee shops affect consumer emotions, perceived
tip deservingness, and decision satisfaction.
Temple’s summary of the paper puts it this way: pre-service tipping often triggers
negative emotions such as discomfort and uncertainty, especially when customers
cannot see the service being performed or when the request feels premature. Deng adds a
wrinkle: participants accepted being asked before the service, hoping the gesture would lead
to a good product, but were not ultimately satisfied with their decisions, particularly when
there was no visible service effort.
“
Customers need to justify their behavior. Asking for an additional expense without showing effort can lack legitimacy.
Lu Lu, Temple University, on the study (2025)
This fits an older finding in tipping research. Cornell University’s Michael Lynn
has studied tipping behavior for decades. His 2001 meta-analysis found that tips
correlate weakly with service ratings — an average correlation of just
r = .11, which he wrote means service ratings explained less than two
percent of the variation in a restaurant’s tip percentages. Screens add pressure on top:
Popmenu found 66% of consumers feel it when digital screens suggest amounts, especially
in front of employees. The evidence on being watched is mixed, though. Temple’s summary
says discomfort grew when participants sensed they were being watched, while Deng says the
team found no significant influence of an employee being present during payment.
The tip preset is not the only ask on that screen: it increasingly carries a charity round-up, which raises a
separate question about who pays
for a donation one person accepts on the table’s behalf.
The Deng, Lu, and Cai study also identified a remedy: visible service
efforts. When participants could see employees making drinks, the process
felt more open, and tipping prompts felt fairer. The
problem is not the tip itself — it is the timing. Being asked to evaluate
and reward a service that has not happened yet violates our basic sense of
transactional fairness. This connects to the same payment
anxiety that makes the check moment uncomfortable at sit-down restaurants.
Sources: Deng, Lu & Cai, “Rethinking tipping request,”
International Journal of Hospitality Management (2025), with findings as summarized by Temple University and Auburn University (2025);
Lynn, “Restaurant Tipping and Service Quality: A Tenuous Relationship,”
Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly (2001), figure as quoted by CNN (2015);
Popmenu (2025)
