商家可以在不改变服务质量的情况下，改变你给出的小费金额。以下是他们采取的十种方法。
英文原文
Businesses can change how much you tip without changing the service. These are ten ways they do it.技巧一：旋转屏幕
第一种方法：旋转屏幕。你点了一杯六美元的咖啡。收银员把屏幕转过来，上面显示着一美元、两美元或不给小费的选项。前一秒你还在买饮品，现在你却要在制作饮品的人正站在你面前时，决定自己要显得多么大方。你依然可以点击零，但那感觉往往更像是当着对方的面拒绝。
英文原文
Number one: the swivel. You order a six-dollar coffee. The cashier turns the screen around, and it offers you one dollar, two dollars, or no tip. A moment ago, you were buying a drink. Now you're deciding how generous to look while the person who made it stands right there. You can still tap zero. It just feels rather more like saying it to someone's face.屏幕将原本相对私人的决定置于他人注视之下。但这种压力可能会产生反效果。研究人员分析了三万六千笔交易并进行了一系列实验，发现被注视并不能稳定地带来更高的小费；而感到被注视的顾客确实表示再次光顾或推荐该商家的意愿更低。对一家咖啡店来说，这是一场奇怪的赌博：让今天的消费变得尴尬，给了顾客明天去别处买咖啡的理由。
英文原文
The screen has brought an audience into what used to be a fairly private decision. But that pressure can backfire. Researchers examined thirty-six thousand transactions and ran a series of experiments. Being watched didn't reliably produce bigger tips. Customers who felt watched did report being less willing to return or recommend the business. For a coffee shop, that's an odd gamble. Make today's purchase uncomfortable, and give someone a reason to buy tomorrow's coffee somewhere else.技巧二：自助结账机索要小费
有时甚至不需要收银员来制造尴尬。第二种方法：自助结账机小费。你找到了瓶装水，自行扫码装袋，现在机器询问你是否想留小费。显然，你自己的工作做得很出色。有些自助结账系统确实会在顾客自行处理完购物后索要小费。无需任何人当面恳求，该请求直接内置在你离开前必须通过的最后一个屏幕上。
英文原文
And sometimes, there isn't even a cashier to make the request awkward. Number two: the self-checkout tip. You've found your bottle of water, scanned it and put it in a bag. Now the machine asks whether you'd like to leave a tip. Apparently, you've done an excellent job. Some self-checkouts really do ask for tips after the customer has handled the purchase. Nobody needs to make a personal appeal. The request is built into the last screen you have to get through before leaving.它还借用了一种熟悉的场景。在餐馆里，小费界面是在有人照料你之后出现的；将类似的屏幕搬到机器上，相同的选项就能让给小费看起来像是正常的下一步，即便背后付出的劳动截然不同。商家并不需要每位顾客都同意，只要有足够多的人加上一美元，提出这种要求就是划算的。在2023年皮尤研究中心的一项调查中，百分之七十二的美国人表示，期望给小费的场所比五年前更多了。索要小费的机会已经扩散到人们不再清楚自己究竟为何支付小费的情境之外。
英文原文
It also borrows something familiar. At a restaurant, a tip screen comes after someone has looked after you. Put a similar screen on a machine, and the same options can make tipping look like the normal next step, even though the work was different. A business doesn't need every customer to agree. If enough people add a dollar, asking can be worthwhile. In a 2023 Pew survey, seventy-two percent of Americans said tipping was expected in more places than five years earlier. The opportunity to ask had spread beyond the situations where people knew what they were tipping for.技巧三：三档按钮的设计
一旦屏幕上出现了那个问题，接下来的决定就是提供哪些选项。第三种方法：三个按钮。支付屏幕提供了百分之二十、百分之二十五和百分之三十的选项。你选择了百分之二十。因为它是屏幕上最低的百分比，所以感觉像是个克制的选择。但这个区间的起点是由他人设定的。
英文原文
Once that question is on the screen, the next decision is which answers to offer. Number three: the three buttons. A payment screen offers twenty, twenty-five and thirty percent. You choose twenty. It's the lowest percentage on the screen, so it feels like the restrained option. But someone else chose where that range began.纽约的出租车为研究人员提供了一个观察其作用的实用场景。在某套支付系统中，十五美元以下的车费推荐的小费为两美元、三美元或四美元；一旦超过十五美元，屏幕便切换为百分之二十、百分之二十五和百分之三十。跨过该车费门槛，最低的推荐小费就从两美元跳升至约三美元。行程本身并未发生任何特殊变化，屏幕只是更改了它对“小额小费”的定义。
英文原文
New York taxis gave researchers a useful way to see what that does. On one payment system, fares below fifteen dollars came with suggested tips of two, three or four dollars. Above fifteen dollars, the screen switched to twenty, twenty-five and thirty percent. Cross that fare threshold, and the cheapest suggestion jumps from two dollars to about three. Nothing special has happened to the ride. The screen has simply changed its idea of a small tip.一项针对超过一千三百万次行程的研究发现，在分界线处，平均小费上涨了百分之十以上。更高的推荐金额也导致更多人在刷卡时不留小费，因此推高数字本身是有代价的。这些按钮简化了支付流程，同时也让商家有机会挑选那些你认为合理的数字。
英文原文
A study of more than thirteen million rides found that average tips rose by over ten percent at the cutoff. Higher suggestions also made more people leave no tip on their card, so pushing the numbers up had a cost. The buttons make payment easier. They also give the business a chance to choose the numbers you'll treat as reasonable.技巧四：将税费计入小费基数
即便这些数字保持不变，底层的计算方式也可以改变。第四种方法：对税费计算小费。假设晚餐花费五十美元，税费增加五美元，你决定给百分之二十的小费。餐费的百分之二十是十美元；而餐费加税费总额的百分之二十则是十一美元。按钮上显示的完全相同，收取的金额却多了一美元。
英文原文
And even when those numbers stay the same, the calculation underneath can change. Number four: tipping on tax. Suppose dinner costs fifty dollars, and tax adds another five. You decide to leave twenty percent. Twenty percent of the meal is ten dollars. Twenty percent of the meal and the tax is eleven. The button can say exactly the same thing while taking another dollar.纽约出租车同样存在这种情况。两套支付系统显示了相同的推荐百分比，但其中一套系统将税费和过桥过路费计入了计算小费的总额中，另一套则将其排除在外。数据分析师本·灵顿（Ben Wellington）估计，这种差异每年累积产生约五百二十万美元的额外小费。每位乘客所做的都是相当寻常的决定：选择一个百分比，付款，然后下车。很少有人坐进出租车是为了去审计其支付软件。正因如此，百分比背后的计算基数至关重要。屏幕可以在不要求你选择更高比例的情况下，增加你支付的美元小费金额。
英文原文
New York taxis had a version of this too. Two payment systems displayed the same suggested percentages, but one included taxes and tolls in the amount used to calculate the tip. The other left them out. Data analyst Ben Wellington estimated that the difference added up to about five point two million dollars in extra tips a year. Each passenger was making a fairly ordinary decision. Pick a percentage, pay and get out. Very few people get into a taxi hoping to audit its payment software. That's why the amount underneath the percentage matters. The screen can change the dollar tip without asking you to choose a higher rate.技巧五：预先勾选的小费
第五种方法：已经预选好的小费。你正在预订行程，核对日期、乘客姓名以及特价航班起飞时间是否合适。而在付款摘要的某个角落，一笔五美元的小费已经被默认开启了。你并没有主动添加它；为了避免支付这笔费用，你必须留意到它并手动取消。
英文原文
Number five: the tip that's already selected. You're booking a trip, checking the dates, the passenger names and whether the cheap flight leaves at a civilized hour. Somewhere in the payment summary, a five-dollar tip is already switched on. You haven't added it. To avoid paying it, you have to notice it and remove it.旅游应用程序 Hopper 就曾使用预选小费。2026年，其背后的公司就涉及此类费用及其它收费的联邦指控，达成了三千五百万美元的和解协议。美国消费者保护机构联邦贸易委员会（FTC）表示，Hopper 自身的测试表明，如果这些费用清晰展示且初始状态为关闭，大多数顾客都会拒绝支付。这一点很重要，因为保持设置不变比重新做决定要容易得多。你当时正全神贯注于旅行计划，一笔小额额外费用之所以能够留存下来，仅仅是因为它不是你当时核对的重点。将其称为“自愿选择”并不能说明结账流程是否便于做出选择，有时这只意味着你被允许去发现它而已。
英文原文
Travel app Hopper used preselected tip fees. In 2026, the companies behind it agreed to a thirty-five-million-dollar settlement over federal allegations involving those fees and other charges. The Federal Trade Commission, a US consumer protection agency, said Hopper's own testing showed that most customers would decline the fees if they were clearly displayed and started switched off. That matters because leaving a setting alone is much easier than making a fresh decision. You're already concentrating on the trip. A small extra charge can survive simply because it wasn't the thing you were checking. Calling it optional doesn't tell you whether the checkout made it easy to choose. Sometimes it means you were allowed to find it.技巧六：服务费下方保留小费签名栏
第六种方法：服务费下方带有小费栏。晚餐总价一百美元，餐厅加收百分之二十的服务费，账单达到一百二十美元。随后它递给你一张留有小费填写空格的收据。你可能会把那行空白解读为自己仍需完成的项目；再加上二十美元，你现在支付的金额就比餐费多出了四十美元。
英文原文
Number six: the service charge with a tip line underneath. Dinner comes to a hundred dollars. The restaurant adds a twenty-percent service charge, bringing the bill to a hundred and twenty. Then it hands you a receipt with a space for a tip. You might read that empty line as something you still need to complete. Add another twenty dollars, and you've now paid forty dollars above the meal price.棘手之处在于，“服务费”这几个字本身并不会告诉你这笔钱流向了何处。根据餐厅的不同，它可能用于支付工资、福利或其它成本，并不自然意味着为你服务的员工收到了这笔钱作为小费。因此，收据留给了你两个疑问：我是否已经额外付过款了？以及为我服务的人是否拿到了这笔钱？这两者的答案可能并不相同。询问该费用包含哪些内容，比试图对着一行空白进行推测更为有用。收据可以给你的金钱留足空间，却不会给解释留下多少空间。
英文原文
The difficult part is that the words “ service charge” don't, by themselves, tell you where the money went. Depending on the restaurant, it may support wages, benefits or other costs. It doesn't automatically mean your server received that amount as a tip. So the receipt leaves you with two questions: have I already paid extra, and has the person who served me received it? Those can have different answers. Asking what the charge covers is more useful than trying to work it out from a blank line. A receipt can leave plenty of room for your money without leaving much room for an explanation.技巧七：结账时附赠薄荷糖
第七种方法：结账单附带薄荷糖。账单送来时附带了一颗小甜糖。这是一个令人愉悦的小举动，且正好发生在你决定给多少小费之前。在一项餐厅实验中，结账时收到巧克力的用餐者留下了更多的小费。研究人员还改变了赠送糖果的方式：当服务员先给每位顾客一块，然后又额外拿出一块作为心意时，小费增幅最大。
英文原文
Number seven: the mint with the check. The bill arrives with a small sweet. It's a pleasant little gesture, and it happens just before you decide how much to leave. In a restaurant experiment, diners given a chocolate with their bill left larger tips. The researchers also changed how the sweets were offered. The biggest increase came when the server gave each diner one, then offered a second as an extra gesture.额外给出的巧克力会让人觉得很有人情味。有人为你做了善意的举动，而小费为你提供了立刻回报这份善意的方式。这种回报人情的冲动有助于解释为何一份廉价的礼物能够影响一笔大得多的支出。你是在对被赠予某物做出反应，而不是在计算一块巧克力的成本。如果这颗糖只是以三美元的价格列在账单上，你大概会有疑问；若先送给你，你可能就会决定自己多加点钱。一份小礼物可以让慷慨大方感觉像是你自己的主意。
英文原文
The extra chocolate can feel personal. Someone has done something nice for you, and the tip gives you an immediate way to return the favor. That urge to return a favor helps explain why a cheap gift can affect a much larger payment. You're responding to being given something, rather than working out what a chocolate costs. If the sweet were simply listed on the bill for three dollars, you'd probably have questions. Give it to you first, and you may decide to add more money yourself. A small gift can make generosity feel like your own idea.技巧八：自我介绍姓名
第八种方法：姓名自我介绍。想象一下，你的服务员走过来，微笑着说：“嗨，我是萨拉（Sarah），今天由我为您服务。”现在，端上晚餐的人有了一个可以关联的名字。当你向她道谢或有所要求时，这种互动会让人感觉更亲近一些。在一项餐厅实验中，女服务员在报出自己的名字后，每桌收到的小费增加了近两美元，而她的其它问候语保持完全相同。
英文原文
Number eight: the name introduction. Imagine your server walks over, smiles and says, “ Hi, I'm Sarah. I'll be looking after you.” You've now got a name to attach to the person bringing dinner. When you thank her, or ask for something, the exchange feels a little more personal. In one restaurant experiment, a waitress received nearly two dollars more per table when she gave her name. The rest of her greeting was the same.这并不意味着每次热情的自我介绍都是一场骗局；受到热情对待正是人们享受外出就餐的一部分。但这确实表明，用餐开始时的一个微小改变，可以影响到用餐结束时留下的小费数额。试想一下在一桌坐了一个小时后尝试评估服务：你并没有拿秒表去记录每一次续杯，你记住的是一个人以及整个晚上的感受。一次友好的自我介绍可以成为这种印象的一部分。服务员报出名字或许只花了两秒钟，但当你签署账单时，你可能依然在为此做出回应。
英文原文
That doesn't make every friendly introduction a con. Being treated warmly is part of what people enjoy about going out. It does show how a small change at the beginning of a meal can affect the money left at the end. Think about trying to judge the service after an hour at the table. You aren't keeping a stopwatch for every refill. You're remembering a person and how the evening felt. A friendly introduction can become part of that impression. The server's name may have taken two seconds to say. You can still be responding to it when you sign the bill.技巧九：手写感谢语
第九种方法：感谢便条。这种举动出现在用餐的另一个节点。账单背面手写着“谢谢”，因此你在选择小费前读到的最后一件事是一条个人留言。在某项实验中，一位女服务员在写下这些字句后，其平均小费从百分之十六上升到了百分之十八。在六十美元的一餐中，这种差距就是一美元二十美分。
英文原文
Number nine: the thank-you note. This gesture arrives at the other end of the meal. The bill has a handwritten thank-you on the back, so the last thing you read before choosing a tip is a personal message. In one experiment, a waitress's average tip rose from sixteen percent to eighteen percent when she wrote those words. On a sixty-dollar meal, that difference would be a dollar twenty.并没有点任何额外的东西，这条留言改变的是呈现付款要求的方式。你可以将同一张账单视为一种索款凭据，也可以将其视为服务人员感谢你光临的小小表示。第二种版本会让多留一点小费感觉像是为这次交流画上圆满句号的愉快方式。而且由于便条是随账单一起送来的，它不需要在你的记忆中留存太久，就在你手握笔的那一刻出现在眼前。留言可能是真诚的，但它依然能影响你在它下方写下的数字。
英文原文
Nothing extra had been ordered. The message changed the way the payment was presented. You could receive the same bill as a demand for money, or with a small sign that the person serving you appreciates your visit. The second version can make leaving a little more feel like a pleasant way to finish the exchange. And because the note arrives with the bill, it doesn't have to survive in your memory for very long. It's there at the moment you're holding the pen. The message may be sincere. It can still affect the number you write beneath it.技巧十：托盘上的信用卡标志
第十种方法：信用卡标志。这几乎完全不像是一种要求。你的账单被放在印有信用卡标识的托盘上送来，这种细节你通常会视而不见。在一项实验中，某家餐厅使用普通托盘时的小费平均约为百分之十六，而在带有卡片标识的托盘上则为百分之二十。在另一处地点，即便那里的所有人均使用现金结账，托盘上出现标识时顾客留出的小费依然更多。
英文原文
Number ten: the credit card symbol. This one barely looks like a request. Your bill arrives on a tray carrying a credit card logo, the sort of detail you'd usually ignore. In an experiment, tips at one restaurant averaged about sixteen percent on plain trays and twenty percent on trays with card logos. At a second location, customers also tipped more when the logos were present, even though everyone there paid cash.因此，这种差异不能单纯归因于人们转而使用刷卡支付。一个与花钱相关联的熟悉标志，似乎影响了他们留下多少现金。没有人需要开口多要一美元，托盘上的一个细节就足以改变该实验中的结果。这也是在付款前将百分比折算回实际金额的一个实用理由。在四十美元的订单上给百分之二十五是十美元。想象从钱包里掏出一张十美元钞票并递过去，你可能完全乐意这么做；但这比在另外两个按钮衬托下挑选那个看似适度的按钮，要清晰得多。慷慨的小费可以是一种深思熟虑的选择，认清还有什么因素在对其产生影响会有所帮助。想要了解在小费屏幕出现之前改变你花销的各种花招，请观看《定价心理学：商店对你使用的所有招数》（Pricing Psychology: Every Trick Stores Use on You）。