The Wall Street Journal - 07.03.2020 - 08.03.2020

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Are Screens That ‘Suggest’ Tips Too Pushy?

Tablet-based checkouts make it easy to add a gratuity, but many people feel shamed into giving too much

KIERSTEN ESSENPREIS (2)

THAT’S DEBATABLE

WE’VE ALL BEEN THERE—you pick up some-

thing as simple as a $3 energy bar or a $5

latte at the counter of your local coffee shop.

At checkout, the clerk, someone you see all

the time, spins the point-of-sale tablet around

to display your tipping options, ranging from a

buck to two or even three. You feel bad deny-

ing a friendly face but did the clerk’s efforts

really rise to a level that merits a gratuity,

let alone one of 60% or even 100%?

If you feel put out by the nerve of these

machines, join the crowd. The proliferation of

point-of-sale tablets from brands like Square

and Clover has made coffee shop and other

small business checkouts easy, but it’s also in-

troduced awkward scenarios like the above.

“The main concern is when these devices

wind up nudging people toward a level of tip

that they wouldn’t otherwise be comfortable

with,” said Lior J. Strahilevitz, a University of

Chicago Law Professor who has written about

these “dark patterns” in user interface design.

When the most generous tipping option says

18%—standard by most modern rules of eti-

quette—that’s one thing. But when the op-

tions rise to 30% or higher, you might feel

guilted into overtipping, especially if the “ser-

vice” you’re acknowledging amounted to

pressing a few buttons and asking roboti-

cally if you want a bag.

Then there’s the pressure factor: When

the clerk is waiting, and you feel the eyes of

the customer behind you on the back of your

head, you might hastily punch in your gratuity

without thinking about it. “What really worries

me about these digital interfaces,” said Mr.

Strahilevitz, “is that in some instances, con-

sumers might just be bad at math, and they

may not realize that they left as large of a tip

as they did.”

YES

TIPPING IS ABOUTshowing appreciation for

someone who spends a little extra time or

thought considering your needs, but it can

also help build relationships with the staff at

places you frequent. (Being greeted with a

nod as someone starts your drink before you

arrive at the counter can be a nice daily

perk). And since digital tipping screens

make it quicker and easier to tip the ex-

act amount you want, what’s to hate

about them?

These touch screen devices actually give

you more, not less, control in the matter (“no

tip” and “custom tip” are typically options),

and can be quicker than tabulating a gratuity

in your head and scrawling it out on a paper

receipt or scrounging through your pockets to

find the amount of change you want. Accord-

ing to etiquette expert Diane Gottsman, any

friction we feel when confronted with a tablet

is self-imposed: The person behind the coun-

ter didn’t design that point-of-sale app, after

all, and isn’t likely to be offended or notice if

you skip the tip on simple purchases.

“We need to have the wherewithal to know

that tips aren’t obligatory, even when there

are several options on a screen,” said Ms.

Gottsman. You have the power and “can

always hit the box that says ‘no tip.’” Con-

sider whether staff are hourly employees

(as in most coffee shops) or working largely

for gratuities (restaurant servers). And if you

don’t like the auto-generated tipping percent-

ages—you should feel confident in tapping the

convenient “custom tip” option and typing in a

figure you feel comfortable with.

“You need to approach tipping with confi-

dence—take two seconds to consider it, and

then boom, you’re gone,” said Ms. Gottsman.

“It’s like taking a shot.” —Jesse Will

NO

RUMBLE SEAT/DAN NEIL

Coronavirus Puts Global

Auto Shows in Peril

THE PLAN WASto fly into London,

pick up a right-hand-drive McLaren

GT at Woking, in Surrey, then drive

to Geneva for the annual auto

show’s press days, scheduled to be-

gin Monday, March 2. Later I had ar-

ranged to take a Ferrari GTC4Lusso

over the Alps to Maranello, Italy, for

a tour of Ferrari’s new design studio

with ace penholder Flavio Manzoni.

I had also booked some seat time in

the new Roma coupe at the com-

pany’s test track at Fiorano.

I got as far as Woking when word

came: The 90th Geneva Interna-

tional Motor Show was canceled and

Italy closed, in an effort to stem the

spread of coronavirus. It was cer-

tainly the right thing to do; even in

non-plague years, the Geneva show

is where East meets West, microbi-

ally—a seamy cesspool of unwashed

hands and unavoidable handshakes.

But I was bummed. There would

have been wonders to behold, like

Christian von Koenigsegg’s visionary

Gemera(above): a lavishly uphol-

stered four-seat, mid-engine ult-

racar with 1,670 hybrid-electric hp,

built around athree-cylindergaso-

line engine ventilated with Koenig-

segg’s own digitally actuated valves.

At the unfinished VW stand at

Palexpo, the company was preparing

to reveal the production version of

theID.4, one of dozens of new EVs

to be built on the MEB platform,

upon which hangs the survival of

the company and the continued

prosperity of Lower Saxony.

Other can’t-miss premieres in-

cluded theMercedes-Benz E-Class,

in a sedan, wagon, and a tall-wagon

variant, a body-style MB calls “All

Terrain.” Meanwhile, we learned,

Hyundai staffers were buffing up a

concept car called theProphecy

(below), an astonishing glassbown

shape embodying a form language

they call “Sensuous Sportiness.”

Lastly, I just had to see theBMW

Concept i4, a near-production ren-

dering of its would-be Tesla Model 3

competitor. Here the brand’s twin-

kidney grille has morphed into what

looks, in the pictures, like enlarged

nostrils. BMW: If the future is elec-

tric, we’re blowing rails.

Isatbythefireinmyhotel’s

drawing room, watching rain lash

the windows and listening to the

tumbling thunder, like oil drums

rolling down the golf course. Now

what? It seemed a propitious mo-

ment to ruminate....

Auto shows are dying, fast and

hard. Attendance at the biennial

Frankfurt show fell from 931,000 in

2015 to 550,000 in 2019, according

to its organizers, the German trade

group VDA. Those numbers likely

reflect German car buyers’ sour

mood, post-Dieselgate.

The malaise was mutual. A score

of auto makers skipped Frankfurt in

2019, according to the newspaper

Automobilwoche, including giants

like Citroën, Fiat-Jeep, Mazda, Nis-

san, Peugeot, Toyota and Volvo. For

2021, the German industry’s home

show will move to Munich.

Some shows are trying to rein-

vent themselves, post-Peak Car. De-

troit’s annual show dwindled for

years, in both attendance and news-

makers, until finally the event was

rescheduled, from January to June,

and from dreary Cobo Center to a

new riverfront venue with other at-

tractions. That should help.

For various reasons, Geneva has

remained an exception. It is a

smaller show, more compact—exclu-

sive, if you like. And since Switzer-

land is where many UHNWI keep

their money, the tire-kickers go ex-

ceptionally well-heeled. Among the

exotic wares missing their moment

this week were the newAston Mar-

tin V12 SpeedsterandVantage

Roadster;theBentley Mulliner Ba-

calar(left); andMcLaren 765LT.

Geneva had been the last bastion

of auto-show ballyhoo—silk-sheet

reveals with dancers and deafening

EDM, heroic brand montages on

screens five-stories tall. I’ve seen

Cirque du Soleil acrobats flying over

the aisles, flame-swallowers, wan-

dering molecular chefs, magicians,

marching bands, and every raccoon-

eyed waif and gamine between the

Algarve and Lombardy.

Auto makers discovered there

were cheaper, easier ways to reach

the multitudes—Instagram, for in-

stance. In an effort to stay ahead of

social media, PR departments began

releasing auto show materials early,

days or even weeks before the show,

under embargoes that were more of-

ten observed in the breach.

This has only made press days

even more redundant, more an exer-

cise in group stenography.

What happened next was unex-

pected but, in retrospect, inevitable

and sort of wonderful, like the spon-

taneous mutation of an organism

whose environment had radically

changed. Before my tea was cold I

got a notice from GIMS organizers

saying that, in light of the circum-

stances, they had arranged a Virtual

Press Day. They had asked exhibitors

to video record or live stream their

press conference presentations and

premieres at their home studios.

These long-form videos are available

online (gimsvirtualpressday.ch).

Brilliant! That means, dear

reader, that we can still walk

through the Geneva show together,

hand in hand and you don’t even

need Purell. As a bonus, many of the

live streams include thoughtful and

relaxed Q&As with designers, engi-

neers and executives, amounting to

better access than one could expect

on the day of the show.

There’s a certain accidental logic

to the outcome. In every corner of

the globe, the auto industry is being

compelled to address sustainability

and reduce carbon emissions. Given

that, how much sense does it make

for hundreds, even thousands of

journalists and media to fly to Swit-

zerland, producing millions of

pounds of carbon pollution, just so

the industry can tout its greener

technologies? May all your press

days be virtual.

Autoshowsaredying,fast

andhard,asattendance

plummetsworld-wide.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: KOENIGSEGG; BENTLEY; AUDI; HYUNDAI

GEAR & GADGETS

Koenigsegg Gemera Bentley Mulliner Bacalar

Audi e-tron Sportback

Hyundai Prophecy concept

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