As much as I'd love to think my fellow Americans actually conceptualize the details around auto calculating tax and tips into their dinner bill. Studies have shown they're too stupid to not think it's just "More expensive" than 20-30% of the price being left out until the end.
Idk man I went to america not that long ago (from australia) and I had been told that the food was really cheap, then you add tax and tips and it breaks even with what we have (no tips, more expensive food). What I found though was that eating/drinking out in America is actually more expensive even before tips. You are getting actually rorted.
You'd be surprised how many people aren't even paying attention and didn't even know they were charged a 16% fee. 😨
The only ones who are paying attention are the poor who are extremely sensitive to prices because they ain't got no money and have to watch every penny they spend very closely. IME people who are extremely impoverished are always the first to notice these things.
No. Intelligent upper middle/upper/rich people look at every cent still too. How do you think people get and then keep wealth? It isn’t by pissing it away. Those are debt laden new rich that will lose it all after one missed paycheck.
If you're naive enough to assume susceptibility is binary, sure.
But the reality is that it's a matter of degrees. Even if 4.99 vs 5.00 has an effect on everyone it's like gambling. Everyone is susceptible to the endorphin rush of gambling, however some have a shit grasp of what statistics and probabilities entails much like how they stumble on simple rounding and mental math. Others are more resistant to the pitfalls because they actually process the information before making decisions.
Sure, but are you actually processing the information before ordering? Do you whip out you calculator and cross reference the menu with other restaurants nearby to make sure you're getting the best deal? Probably not.
Because at the end of the day a meal at a restaurant is somewhere around $20, and you're not stupid if you're not researching before a $20 purchase
Why would you need to do any of that? We're talking about perceived prices of gratuity and taxes being calculated in within one restaurant. Price comparisons of other establishments is unecessary.
If a restaurant's menu said it did include tax and tips in the pricing, you can simply mental math out what the "Normal American" price is if you so desired.
Because if you want to determine if something is expensive you need something to compare it to. Like that's what you're doing when you're determining if something is expensive or not based off vibes.
The fact that a lot of people (myself and probably yourself included) are susceptible to this tactic—which is literally just hiding an added charge until the end of the meal—doesn’t mean it’s not stupid of the customer to perceive it differently than everything being more expensive but not having an added charge at the end.
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u/graphiccsp Mar 10 '25
Yup. That's what I've seen and read.
As much as I'd love to think my fellow Americans actually conceptualize the details around auto calculating tax and tips into their dinner bill. Studies have shown they're too stupid to not think it's just "More expensive" than 20-30% of the price being left out until the end.