Let $\mathcal{A}$ and $\mathcal{B}$ be two $2$-categories and $F : \mathcal{A} \to \mathcal{B}$ be a lax $2$-functor. Given $1$-cells $(f_{i})_{0 \leq i \leq n}$ of $\mathcal{A}$ such that the composition $f_{n} \circ f_{n-1} \circ \cdots \circ f_{0}$ makes sense, this data together with the structural $2$-cells of $F$ give many paths of $2$-cells going from $F(f_{n}) \circ F(f_{n-1}) \circ \cdots \circ F(f_{0})$ to $F(f_{n} \circ f_{n-1} \circ \cdots \circ f_{0})$, for instance
$$
F(f_{n}) \circ F(f_{n-1}) \circ \cdots \circ F(f_{0}) \Rightarrow F(f_{n} \circ f_{n-1}) \circ F(f_{n-2}) \circ \cdots \circ F(f_{0}) \Rightarrow \cdots $$
$$\Rightarrow F(f_{n} \circ f_{n-1} \circ \cdots \circ f_{0})
$$ 
and 
$$
F(f_{n}) \circ F(f_{n-1}) \circ \cdots \circ F(f_{0}) \Rightarrow F(f_{n}) \circ F(f_{n-1}) \circ \cdots \circ F(f_{1} \circ f_{0}) \Rightarrow \cdots $$
$$\Rightarrow  F(f_{n} \circ f_{n-1} \circ \cdots \circ f_{0})
$$
which correspond to  what one gets by "parenthesizing on the left" and "parenthesizing on the right" respectively. It seems to seem obvious that it follows from the definition of lax functor that the $C_{n}$ ways to parenthesize the left hand side all give the same $2$-cell 
$$
F(f_{n}) \circ F(f_{n-1}) \circ \cdots \circ F(f_{0}) \Rightarrow F(f_{n} \circ f_{n-1} \circ \cdots \circ f_{0})
$$
Since I need this property for a text I am writing, I would like to provide a reference. My question is the following:


>Where is this result rigorously stated, and where is it rigorously proved? Hopefully, the two references will be the same.

Edit: I am aware that this result is "obvious". In addition, it is certainly classical, by which I mean that all the people working with lax functors use it routinely. However, if one wants to state it and prove it, the question arises as to what is the best way to state the result, which I think turns out *not* to be completely trivial. Furthermore, writing a rigorous proof certainly *does* require some work. I am sure there are some people here who have already used this result. How do they state it? To which reference do they point? Or is the reader assumed to find this fact so obvious that no one ever cares to provide a proof or a reference?