Mystery shopping (related terms: mystery shopper, mystery consumer, mystery research, secret shopper and secret shopping and auditor) is a method used by marketing research companies and organizations that wish to measure quality of sales and service, job performance,

regulatory compliance In general, compliance means conforming to a rule, such as a specification, policy, standard or law. Compliance has traditionally been explained by reference to the deterrence theory, according to which punishing a behavior will decrease the viol ...

, or to gather specific information about a market or

competitors Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indivi ...

, including products and services. Mystery shoppers typically mirror common

consumer behavior Consumer behavior is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and all the activities associated with the purchase, use and disposal of goods and services. Consumer behaviour consists of how the consumer's emotions, attitudes, and pr ...

s to test the consistency of the habits deemed important to a specific brand or industry. Mystery shoppers, who primarily operate as

independent contractor Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...

s or gig workers, submit detailed reports and

feedback Feedback occurs when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of a chain of cause-and-effect that forms a circuit or loop. The system can then be said to ''feed back'' into itself. The notion of cause-and-effect has to be handled ...

about their experiences.

Industries and common usage

Mystery shopping assessments and reports range from simple questionnaires to audio and video recordings. This type of market research can be used in any industry, from B2C and B2B, although B2B is rare. Mystery shoppers interact with and report on a wide range of businesses and services, including gas stations, automotive dealerships, transportation services, real estate and property management firms, movie theaters, health and fitness clubs, insurance products, roadside assistance, health care products and providers for both humans and pets, assisted living facilities, and funeral homes. However, the most common industries that utilize this research method are retail, hospitality and travel, restaurants and fast-food chains, banking, and e-commerce.

Growth

The mystery shopping industry had an estimated value of nearly $600 million in the United States in 2004, according to a 2005 report commissioned by the Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA). Companies that participated in the report experienced an average growth of 11.1 percent from 2003 to 2004, compared to average growth of 12.2 percent. The report estimates that more than 8.1 million mystery shops were conducted in 2004. The report represents the first industry association attempt to quantify the size of the mystery shopping industry. The Independent Mystery Shoppers' Coalition reports there are 1.5 million mystery shoppers in the United States alone. Similar surveys are available for European regions where mystery shopping is becoming more embedded into company procedures. As a measure of its importance, customer/patient satisfaction is being incorporated more frequently into executive pay. A study by a U.S. firm found more than 55% of hospital chief executive officers surveyed in 2005 had "some compensation at risk," based on patient satisfaction, up from only 8% to 20% a dozen years ago." In the United Kingdom, a ''Mystery Shoppers Practitioners' Group'' has been established under the auspices of the Market Research Society. Additionally, since 2010, mystery shopping has become abundant in the

medical tourism Medical tourism refers to people traveling abroad to obtain medical treatment. In the past, this usually referred to those who traveled from less-developed countries to major medical centers in highly developed countries for treatment unavailable a ...

industry, with healthcare providers and medical facilities using the tool to assess and improve the customer service experience. A 2011 survey by

American Express American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...

found a clear correlation between a company's attention to customer service and customers' willingness to pay more for good service.

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's news magazine program ''

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'' ran a segment on this topic during a January 2001 episode.

Ethics

Mystery shopping organizations advise that their research should only be used for employee incentive programs and that punishment or firing is an inappropriate use of mystery-shopper data. However, stories of employees being fired as a direct result of negative mystery shopper feedback are not uncommon. The Trade Organization for Mystery Shopping Providers, MSPA has defined a Code of Professional Standards and Ethics Agreement for Mystery Shopping Providers and for Mystery Shoppers. Other organizations that have defined standards for Mystery Shopping are

ESOMAR ESOMAR is a membership organization for market, social, and opinion researchers that was founded in 1947. The name ESOMAR is an abbreviation of their original name, the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research, which reflects the orig ...

, MRS and MRA. The most widely used set of professional guidelines and ethics standards for the Market Research industry is

ISO ISO is the most common abbreviation for the International Organization for Standardization. ISO or Iso may also refer to: Business and finance * Iso (supermarket), a chain of Danish supermarkets incorporated into the SuperBest chain in 2007 * Iso ...

. In the state of Nevada, mystery shoppers must be licensed by the PILB board and work under a company that has a private investigators license in order to perform mystery shopping jobs. Unlicensed mystery shoppers may face fines. In June 2008, the

American Medical Association The American Medical Association (AMA) is a professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. Founded in 1847, it is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was approximately 240,000 in 2016. The AMA's state ...

's Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs released a recommendation on the use of "secret shopper patients". The Recommendation: "Physicians have an ethical responsibility to engage in activities that contribute to continual improvements in patient care. One method for promoting such quality improvement is through the use of secret shopper 'patients' who have been appropriately trained to provide feedback about physician performance in the clinical setting." However, in 2009, the council decided to withdraw the report "in light of further testimony heard at the 2008 Interim Meeting

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Research

When used in published research, mystery shopping is known as a simulated patient research methodology. The Checklist for reporting research using simulated patient methodology (CRiSP) should be used when reporting these research.

UK Examples

The

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Crown Commercial Service The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) is an executive agency and trading fund of the Cabinet Office (United Kingdom), Cabinet Office of the UK Government. The CCS is responsible for managing the government procurement, procurement of common goods a ...

operated a mystery shopper scheme from February 2011 to November 2018, whose remit was to provide a route for suppliers to raise concerns about public procurement practice in England. The service was re-branded as the "Public Procurement Review Service" in November 2018 responding to feedback from suppliers and public bodies that the "mystery shopper" title did not properly reflect the role of the service. Section 40 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 created a statutory basis for some aspects of the review service. Also in the UK, mystery shopping is increasingly used by local authorities, and other

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

s such as

housing association In Ireland and the United Kingdom, housing associations are private, Non-profit organization, non-profit making organisations that provide low-cost "Public housing in the United Kingdom, social housing" for people in need of a home. Any budge ...

s and churches, to provide feedback on user satisfaction.

References