Name: 買一張椅子也要小費？！美國小費文化大失控，究竟怎麼了？(How Tipping Culture Took Over the U.S. | WSJ)
Uploaded: 2023-11-10T21:01:10.000Z
Duration: 5 min 24 s

現在進行式

I'm purchasing an office chair online and they're asking me if I want to leave a tip.

我在網上買了一把辦公椅，他們問我要不要給小費。

動名詞

Nowadays, you're asked for a tip nearly everywhere.

如今，幾乎所有地方都會向你索要小費。

購買運動衫要給 15%、20% 的小費。

如果你感到沮喪，你並不孤單。

A survey by Bankrate. Found that a third of people are annoyed by those pre-entered tip screens and think tipping culture has gotten...

Bankrate 的一項調查發現三分之一的人對那些預先輸入的小費螢幕感到惱火，並認為小費文化已經變得…

Businesses and cities have tried to move away from tipping, but...

企業和城市都曾試圖摒棄小費，但...

I don't see any kind of a future where tipping completely goes away.

我看不到小費完全消失的未來。

That's Mike Lynn, a Cornell psychologist who studies consumer behavior.

這位是研究消費者行為的康奈爾大學心理學家邁克林恩。

I've done more research on tipping than anybody else.

我對小費的研究比任何人都多。

And he'll help us explain why the US became so dependent on tipping, why it seems to be everywhere now and why we're probably not getting rid of it.

他會幫我們解釋為什麼美國會如此依賴小費、為什麼它現在似乎無處不在以及為什麼我們可能無法擺脫它。

Tipping really became popular after the Civil War.

內戰之後，小費才真正流行起來。

When formerly enslaved black Americans went into service positions like waiters and railroad porters.

當以前被奴役的美國黑人進入服務生和鐵路搬運工等服務職位，

And the railroad industry deliberately paid them low wages on account of their ability to work for tips.

由於他們有能力為小費工作，鐵路行業故意支付低工資。

And arguably it was this influx of service workers who were receiving low wages that contributed to the growth of tipping.

可以說，正是這些低工資服務人員的湧入，促成了 19 世紀初小費的增長。

By the early 1900s, as minimum wages were being established, tipped workers were initially excluded,

到 1900 年代初，隨著最低工資的製定，小費工人最初被排除在外，

until 1966 when tipped workers were given their own minimum wage. It was raised to $2.13 in 1991 where it stayed ever since.

直到 1966 年，給小費的工人自己的最低工資。 1991 年，價格上漲至 2.13 美元，此後一直保持不變。

Consumers in this country are aware that servers make a substandard minimum wage and that contributes to their willingness and desire to tip them.

這個國家的消費者知道服務員的最低工資低於標準，這有助於他們給小費的意願和願望。

Some states require employers to pay just that tipped minimum wage to workers where some states like California and Minnesota require them to pay workers the full minimum wage and then tips are added on to that.

有些州要求雇主只向工人支付小費的最低工資，而加州和明尼蘇達州等一些州則要求雇主向工人支付全額最低工資，然後再加上小費。

And those minimum wages affect how people tip.

這些最低工資會影響人們給小費的方式。

I was able to get data from credit card payment system providers on charge sales and charge tips in restaurants across states.

我從信用卡支付系統提供商那裡獲得了各州餐館收費銷售額和收費小費的數據。

And what I find is the smaller the wages, servers are paid the higher the percentage tip.

我發現，服務員的工資越低，小費的比例就越高。

In other words, he found that people know their tips are how workers get paid.

換句話說，他發現人們知道小費是工人獲得報酬的方式。

So they tip more when they know workers are being paid less.

所以當他們知道工人的工資較低時，就會給更多的小費。

In that same Bankrate survey, 41% of people said businesses should pay their employees better rather than relying so much on tips.

在同一項 Bankrate 的調查中，41% 的人表示，企業應該提高員工工資，而不是過分依賴小費。

但實際上，人們並不喜歡這樣。

I've done the research where I give people hypothetical menus.

我曾做過一項研究，給人們提供假設的菜單。

One where they have regular prices, and at the bottom, it says a customary tip of 15 to 20% is appreciated.

其中一份菜單上的價格是正常的，底部寫著 15% 到 20% 的小費是可以接受的。

One where they say tipping is not allowed, you can't tip but their menu prices are 15% higher.

另一份菜單寫不允許給小費，你不用給小費，但他們的菜單價格要高出 15%。

He then asked people how expensive they thought the restaurant was.

然後，他問大家覺得這家餐廳有多貴。

People overwhelmingly thought the menu with the 15% higher prices was more expensive than a menu where they would tip 15% or more anyway.

絕大多數人認為，價格高出 15% 的菜單比他們會給 15% 或更多小費的菜單更貴。

Other menus that stated in 18% or 15% gratuity would be automatically added were also viewed as more expensive.

其他註明自動加收 18%或 15% 小費的菜單也被認為更貴。

We're not rational, we're cognitive misers.

我們不理性，我們是認知錯誤者。

We don't like to add all of the factors together and make logical rational comparisons.

我們不喜歡把所有因素加在一起，進行合乎邏輯的理性比較。

我們採用快速、骯髒的啟發式方法。

You see it with hotel listings or concert tickets with all kinds of fees tacked on at the end.

你可以在飯店列表或音樂會門票上看到，最後都會附加各種費用。

Partitioning prices often makes things seem less expensive than if you were to build all of the cost and be upfront in one big price.

將價格分割開來，往往會讓人覺得比把所有成本都算在一個大價格裡更便宜，

Which is one of the reasons you're seeing tipping just about everywhere now.

這也是你在任何地方都能看到小費的原因之一。

Post-COVID, we've experienced inflation and full employment and service establishments have to compete for employees which means paying them more,

新冠疫情之後，我們經歷了通貨膨脹和充分就業，服務機構必須爭取員工，這意味著要向他們支付更高的工資，

but paying them more requires them to raise prices and customers are already facing inflation, and so what's a business to do?

但支付更多費用需要他們提高價格，而客戶已經面臨通貨膨脹，那麼企業該怎麼辦呢？

And I think that tipping is a way to address that problem, a good faith effort on the part of businesses to say, I need to pay my employees more, but I don't want to raise my prices too much on you guys.

我認為給小費是解決這個問題的一種方法，是企業的善意努力，我需要向我的員工支付更多的工資，但我不想對你們提高太多的價格。

So, are people really tipping 20% for self-service or counter-service?

那麼，人們真的會為自助服務或櫃檯服務支付 20% 的小費嗎？

According to that Bankrate study, the vast majority of people are still always tipping servers or waitstaff at a sit-down restaurant.

根據 Bankrate 研究，絕大多數人仍然總是在餐廳裡給服務生或服務生小費。

From what we've learned from Dr. Lynn's studies, probably in part because they know those workers depend on tip.

部分原因可能是他們知道這些工人靠小費為生。

But when getting coffee, not as many; when picking up take out, even fewer.

但在買咖啡時，就沒那麼多了，以及取外帶餐點時，給的小費就更少了。

So just because someone's asking for a tip doesn't mean it's customary, doesn't mean everyone else is giving.

因此，有人要求小費並不意味著這是慣例，並不意味著其他人都會給小費。

The new technology kind of hides from us what the actual behavioral norms are.

新科技向我們隱藏了實際的行為規範。

Tipping was seen as un-American even in the 1800s.

即使在 1800 年代，給小費也被視為非美國人的行為。

In the 1900s, polls showed Americans wanting to get rid of tipping.

1900 年代，民調顯示美國人希望取消小費。

Today, two-thirds of Americans have a negative view of tipping, but it's so ingrained into American price models and policies that tipping is probably here to stay.

現今，三分之二的美國人對小費持負面看法，但小費在美國的價格模式和政策中根深蒂固，所以小費可能會一直存在。

But where and how much you tip is still up to you.

但在哪裡給小費、給多少小費，還是由你自己決定。