Perceptions of Fairness in Technology-Mediated Marketplaces

Consumers increasingly interact with workers through technologymediated marketplaces (TMMs)-environments where third-party companies manage interactions, control information, and constrain behavioral choices. We argue that opacity in how TMMs operate can make it difficult for consumers to judge what is fair when interacting with other economic actors. To better understand how consumers perceive and act on fairness in TMMs, we examine the practice of tipping-a consumer behavior in the United States that is strongly associated with assessments of fairness. Through interviews with consumers, we find three distinct ways that consumers discuss fairness in tipping in third-party food delivery: fairness as supporting a living wage, fairness as reciprocity, and fairness in distribution of payments. We discuss how TMMs codify economic interactions and change consumers' social meaning of a tip, how consumers perceive an obligation to tip drivers differently in TMMs, and how TMMs alter information consumers use to determine accountability.

• Human-centered computing → Human computer interaction (HCI); Empirical studies in HCI.