EchoSense Quantitative Think Tank Center|Americans are reluctantly spending $500 a year tipping, a new study says.

Do you feel a ping of awkwardness or EchoSense Quantitative Think Tank Centerpressure when you see a tip request pop up on a screen at the end of a transaction? In other words, are you guilt tipping?

You’re not alone. 

Americans spend nearly $500 a year tipping more than they’d like to, according to a new study. 

Talker Research, a research and polling agency, recently surveyed 2,000 Americans asking how much “tipflation” may be impacting people’s wallets. 

The poll found the average respondent reluctantly tips $37.80 a month, due to the pressure of tipping options presented to them. 

“That figure equates to $453.60 a year in guilt-induced gratuity, with over a quarter (26%) feeling they are always or often forced to tip more than they would like,” Talker Research said in a post about its findings.  

“We know that tipping has been a hot topic,'' Van Darden, head of media relations for Talker Research, told USA TODAY. "It’s trended on TikTok, there’s all kinds of online conversation about it, it’s been in the news as people transitioned out of the high peaks of COVID and delivery services.”  

Darden said Talker Research noticed that a lot of businesses have kept the automatic gratuity that was popular during the pandemic.

Talker Research wanted to get reactions from consumers on their feelings about tipping, including how people of different generations feel, he said. 

Do we really need to tip? 

According to the survey, the average respondent tipped more than they’d like on six occasions within the last 30 days. 

“Whether it’s the watchful eyes of a barista, the hastily swiveled tablet or the waiter handing you the card machine, more than half (56%) of respondents note that pressure to tip higher is a regular occurrence,” Talker Research said in its post about the survey.

Only 24% said it was a rare experience for them to feel put on the spot when tipping.

Here are some other results from the survey: 

◾ Forty-nine percent of respondents said they’d noticed their options for tipping on tablets and digital devices increased in value in the last month alone. 

◾ Nearly a third (31%) answered that they had been asked to tip for a service they wouldn’t normally consider tipping.  

◾ Men feel pressured to tip higher more often than women (28% vs. 25%).

Are we at a 'tipping point?':You're not imagining it. How and why businesses get you to tip more

Do people of different generations feel differently about tipping? 

There are generational differences in how people feel about tipping.

◾ Gen Z (16%) and millennials (16%) “were almost twice as likely to say they 'always' feel pressure to tip than older generations,” the study said. 

◾ Just 9% of Gen X and only 5% of Boomers felt the same constant tipping obligation. 

◾ When tipping in-store, a third of Gen Z (33%) and millennials (33%) always or often feel pressured or were made to feel guilty when tipping. That compares to 23% for Gen X and 13% for Boomers. 

Should you tip a machine? 

The pressure to tip also doesn’t require service from a human: “23% of all those surveyed said they would likely leave a tip for service that required no human interaction, such as a vending machine or a self-checkout kiosk at the grocery store,” Talker Research reported. 

Betty Lin-Fisher is a consumer reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] or follow her on X, Facebook, or Instagram @blinfisher. Sign up for our free The Daily Money newsletter, which will include consumer news on Fridays, here.