In Canada, almost everyone pays by debit or credit card instead of cash. What has happened in the last few years is that the tipping function has been enabled on debit/credit terminals at many more businesses than it used to be, including many fast food chains. On the machine it pops up with recommended tip percentages like 15%, 18%, 20%, which are all calculated on the final total post-tax (which isn’t how it should be done but results in higher tips). So you could argue that this is just the digital equivalent of a tip jar (since many people don’t carry cash), but by presenting it in this way (with recommended percentages) it creates the implication that tipping is normal, and you don’t want to be the jerk who doesn’t leave a tip. So that’s why there’s this outrage (at least in Canada) about “tip creep.” It may be similar in the U.S. for people who pay by card vs. cash.
I have seen the tip buttons on those terminal screens before in America and Canada, but have never felt any obligation at all to tip through them. Same deal as terminals in supermarkets asking for charity donations, pressing the "No" button is just muscle memory and I don't even think twice about it. If anything those screens make it easier to not tip, since you're interacting face-to-screen instead of face-to-face.
I don't think tipping on those screens is considered soft-obligatory in America, but maybe I'm guilty of a few social faux pas in Canada..
It’s basically a “dark pattern,” especially when the UI gives different presets and highlights one as “recommended” even though that amount isn’t actually normal to locals. If nothing else it’s taking advantage of visitors who don’t actually know the correct local customs, or trying to subversively change the norm by guilt-tripping the customer into thinking the workers depend on tips the way restaurant waitstaff do. I think that’s the root of the feedback reflected in the original survey.
