According to a new study, about 60 percent of Uber customers never tip their Uber driver. Only 1 percent of the customers tip their Uber driver every time. This is according to a new study, meant to highlight social behaviours and how we spend our money on the service industry. It further says that the average tip to the Uber driver in the US is around 50 cents, while that average increases to about $3 if you only look at customers that actually tip.
Tipping with Uber has, of course, been a longstanding debate with the app not even offering the option for years. That was, according to Uber, because it would make the experience less seamless. Uber drivers have long bemoaned this fact, also stating that their share of the fares is not enough to earn a living wage when you include the costs of operating (services, fuel, tolls etc.).
Read: Researchers develop artificial ‘skin’ for interfaces and smart devices
This paper was authored by Uri Gneezy of the University of California and Stanford University’s Bharat Chandar and they found some interesting insight into these behaviours. “I think Uber drivers are tipped less than taxi drivers because tipping happens after the ride is over and not face to face,” Gneezy said. “In a sense, I think that this is the right way. Riders don’t tip automatically, but only if they are happy with the service. Hence, tips provide incentives to drivers.”
Interestingly, riders with a 5 star rating tip twice as often as riders with a 4.75 star rating and when they do they tip 14 percent more on average. Male riders tip 23% more than female riders, a result largely driven by the fact that men are more likely to tip than women (approximately 19% more often). Further, female drivers are tipped more than male drivers—a fact that is true regardless of rider gender: men (women) tip female drivers nearly 12% (11%) more than they tip male drivers.
Do you tip you Uber driver regularly? Do you think we should be tipping? Let us know in the comments below.
