Why Our Tipping Behavior Changed

Explained by behavioral economics, a new technological default changed our tipping behavior in restaurants and taxi cabs.

Why We Tip

Looking back and looking ahead at our tipping behavior, we can expect tips to remain a social norm that will increase.

Some Tips About Tipping

Because tipping behavior reflects a social norm, many of us know the amount we are supposed to leave but we don’t necessarily do it.

The Tipping Paradox

Disliked by many as discriminatory, inconvenient, and even embarrassing, tipping is a paradox because it refuses to disappear.

How Our Tipping Behavior is Changing

When we last looked at tipping, we said that it was a way to impress people (like Seinfeld’s George, below). Also we might be expressing altruism or just saying thank you for good service. But beyond all of the basics, our…