Related, but has anyone else noticed the “default” tip amounts (on registers and such) are higher now, too? In the past I would see 15-18-20% as kind of the standard options, and now I don’t seem to see anything lower than 20% on those preset options. I saw one the other day that had 35% as a default option.
Yeah, it's ridiculous, but that's why other -> 0% is always a valid option. I'll tip if I'm paying after eating a meal or if someone delivered some food to me, otherwise miss me with that shit.
You might be thinking of anchoring. Some restaurants have a couple of outrageously expensive wines on top of the menu for that reason - everything else looks cheaper in comparison, since the first thing you saw is "anchored" in your mind and used as a point of reference.