Ethics of Transformation: Interviews with Chefs Provide Insights

Anyone who likes to visit a local cafe is familiar with the following scenarios: When you buy lunch, the cashier turns the payment screen towards you. “This just requires a few questions.”

The buttons on the screen ask you to leave a hint. Maybe a dollar or two, maybe part of the bill. But what happens when all employees fill their cups with black coffee? What if you are with someone who wants to impress your generosity? What questions do you have when deciding whether to tilt for service and how much?

These general conundrums are inspiration for Omar Sherier, a marketing professor at the Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship at Montana State University, studying the ethical and moral aspects of transformation in the United States.

Shehryar conducted research with colleagues from the University of Vermont. The resulting paper, “To Strive Morality: How Chefs Explain Your Giveaway,” is published in the Journal of Business Ethics.

“Customers try to minimize costs and maximize profits in all situations, but the chips turn it upside down,” Sherier said. “You say you’re going to the bakery and get an eight-dollar baguette, but you’re paying another $2 on top of it. This is baffling, and it doesn’t fit into the perspective of how people do things.

Shehryar said that while previous scholars had studied attitudes towards transition, the study was the first to focus on chefs’ perspectives, speaking to client dynamics they’ve observed over the years. The researchers interviewed the chef. Because unlike servers and customers, they are not directly involved in the chip, allowing them to speak to practice more objectively.

The study was built on interviews with 25 Vermont-based chefs and restaurateurs who had accumulated in the industry for 471 years. In short, the interviews painted pictures of chip systems that leave a bad taste in the mouths of chefs, servers and customers, but are too seeped to easily change.

Shehryar said one more surprising finding was that many customers believed they could not afford to eat at a restaurant if the price on a menu reflected the actual cost of a meal. By resorting to tips to help servers pay, restaurants artificially lower food prices, he said, and fears that changes to the system will leave customers with a “sticker shock.”

In the paper, one chef commented, “Restaurants are being held hostages. You can raise prices by 30% and risk going out of business or do what we are doing now.”

The chef said that, knowing that servers’ wages depend primarily on mercy, patrons sometimes exploit their power. Previous research has also identified server appeal, race, and gender influencing the hints they receive and raising questions about fairness.

The result is that “good” tippers subsidize things that are essentially “bad.” No matter how you feel about tips, there is a situation in which a service has economic value that is not included in the price tag, Shehryar said that, for example, drivers working during bad weather deliveries, putting safety and personal vehicles at risk.

Shehryar goes on to say that consumers who purchase the $15 burger that comes out on $25 with delivery fees and tips may intensify the rift. However, if a person uses their time, car and fuel to get a burger, it can realistically cost around $25.

“This responsibility lies with the client to acknowledge that it’s worth it,” Sheryard said. “They think that conversion is an extra thing, but as an economist, you know that conversion in that situation isn’t an extra thing.”

Still, Shehryar said the question of whether people are morally required to tip is a matter of opinion. What researchers can do is gather information that portrays how the current system works.

The study also touched on how Covid-19 changed the transformation, including the emergence of “chip forced.” During the pandemic, people who perform services that include direct human contact, such as cutting their hair, have seen their hints increase, Shehryar said. Additionally, some people who run services that have not historically taken chips, such as automechanics, have begun offering the option of adding rewards to their customers. At the same time, hints for food supply have decreased. Researchers theorize that customers who are unhappy with lockdown orders and inflation are removing anger at delivery drivers.

Shehryar said it would be interesting to do future research analyzing the causes and consequences of chip forced. These include how the demand for tips affects consumer behavior.

According to Sherier, there is no easy answer when it comes to policy recommendations for transition. The data shows that wage increases address some issues, but overhauling the system means a major shift in cultural and economic norms.

“As the chef said, in the US, chipping is just a tradition. That’s what they work for. They don’t fundamentally challenge why chips exist, but they have to find the best way to run their business,” Sherier said.