Mystery Shopper Research Articles

How “quality” determines customer satisfaction

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to develop a research framework to explain the relationship between overall restaurant quality and customer satisfaction.Design/methodology/approach– To test this model, the authors deploy 48 mystery shoppers to evaluate 496 Taiwanese restaurants. Further, the authors performed two different regression models and performing the Baron and Kenny (1986) procedure to test the hypotheses.Findings– This study investigates whether restaurants are susceptible to the quality and level of restaurant service, and the restaurant’s physical atmosphere. Further, this study investigates whether these two constructs are likely to improve customers’ perception of restaurant quality, and whether such a strategy may also lead to customers’ satisfaction and facilities word-of-mouth recommendations.Practical implications– The evidence suggests that the construct of “restaurant service” and “physical atmosphere” are strong determinant of improving customers’ perception of overall quality of restaurant. That is, there is a tendency to innovate when restaurant managers prioritize customers’ satisfaction. Further, managers who believe that service and physical atmosphere issues are top priorities will also improve the overall quality in their restaurants.Originality/value– Measuring the relationships between Michelin star evaluation criteria via a large observation sample is rare in the present literature. As far as the authors know, this is the first paper to exam the relationships between Michelin star evaluation criteria.

Enhance your practice's success through mystery shopping

Mystery shopping is about testing systems, protocols, and ultimately, customer service. Carrying out a mystery shop in your dental practice will help highlight any areas that you may need to improve on

The Mystery Shopper Technique as a way of improving hotel gastronomy services

The Mystery Shopper Technique as a way of improving hotel gastronomy services

Parametric Approach to the Assessment of Service Quality Attributes of Municipal Passenger Transport in Moscow

The paper presents the results of research of passenger transport services in the city of Moscow by public transport. The research method is based on assessing the quality by using Mystery Shopper observation method. The peculiarity of the method involves the use of parametric indices outlined by researchers and affecting quality of the provided transportation service. These parameters include cleanliness, ticket-selling speed, presence of cellular signal, etc. The obtained results demonstrate that, given the existing features of automatic vending machines, they still cannot completely replace traditional ticket offices. The results of the research demonstrate that the applied method does not allow relating the presence of a particular inspected parameter to service quality perception by consumers. The researchers see the future direction of their work on the revision of the applied methodology in the part for calculation the level of satisfaction, for example, based on a special index. In particular, inclusion of the parameters of perceived quality, use of a multi-stage or stratified sampling to improve the representativeness of the research results, use of frequency measurement - 4 times per year to account for the seasonality factor.

Etyka w sprzedaży produktów finansowych

The author examines the existence of unethical behaviour of the employees of financial institutions. This paper is based on studies carried out with the aid of the ‘mystery shopper’ method in Warsaw. Based on the survey, the author wanted to check whether a client is well informed about the real costs of credit and whether a client is asked for an opinion about credit insurance. The outcomes have been compared with the findings of Robert Rogowski published in ʿThe moral dimension of the economic crisis’.

Mystery Shopping: An Innovative Method for Observing Interactions With Scientists During Public Science Events

ABSTRACTThis article documents the development and use of a mystery shopper protocol for observing scientists’ interactions with the public within the context of science festival expo booths. A team of field researchers was trained to act as members of the general public and approach scientists participating in a science festival. After visiting each booth, the mystery shoppers documented their experiences; 192 booths were observed and data were compared with those from 186 intercept surveys collected from members of the public attending the expo. Descriptive statistics document the range of booth logistics and scientist interactions captured, and inferential statistics explore the relation between protocol items and event ratings. The results indicate that mystery shopping is an effective way to document scientists’ interactions with the public, providing a unique perspective that serves as a measure of quality control when compared with best practices. The utility and implications of mystery shopper data are discussed in relation to evaluation of and research on public science events in particular and informal learning institutions overall.

Dispensing Practice of Prescribed Medicines in the Private Pharmacies in Urban Areas of Tanzania.

A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to assess quality of dispensing and knowledge of dispensers in 206 private retail pharmacies. The study was conducted in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania between September 2011 and April 2012. Patient simulation (mystery shopper) approach was used to assess dispensing skills of drug dispensers for prescription only medicines. In assessing dispensing skills, a 7-days course of metronidazole tablets was bought from each pharmacy. The knowledge of drug dispenser's regarding dispensing of prescription only medicines was assessed through focus group discussions and interviews. Majority (70.4%) of drug dispensers were not trained pharmaceutical personnel. The level of dispensing skills ranged from low (25.7%) to medium (70.4%). Majority of drug dispensers had low (11.4%) to medium (83.2%) levels of knowledge about dispensing of 'prescription only' medicines. From these findings, it is recommended that the national Pharmacy Council should ensure that prescription only medicines are dispensed by trained pharmaceutical personnel. On job training and continuing professional development should also be emphasized to build capacity of drug dispensers.

Permissive, Aggressive or Apathetic? Indonesian Telemarketing Customer

Abstract The resistance of telemarketing in Indonesia is currently mounting but the brand owner using this marketing channel seems not to worry about their brand image. This research study was aimed to fill in the research gap to provide better understanding on the dynamic of telemarketing in Indonesia and provide solutions for the brand owner. The method that used in this research included netnography, mystery shopping and in-depth interview and followed-up with questionnaire survey to 122 respondents. This study found that there are three types of customer-response toward telemarketing: Permissive, Apathetic and Aggressive. Permissive type is not dominant and the brand owner has to realize that. The understanding of various customers groups behavior and their attitude toward telemarketing in Indonesia has great significance for industry, brand owner, and also for government as a regulator in better and more correctly handling and facing the problem of resistance on telemarketing.

Thursday 26 February: SW Scotland

Local practice forum event, ’Sale of P medicines: would you and your staff pass the Which? mystery shopper test and GPhC Premises Standards Inspection?’ In collaboration with the University of Aberdeen. Gailes Hotel, Marine Drive, Irvine, Ayrshire KA11 5AE . Member-only event with invited staff. Event 7pm-9pm, buffet 6.15pm. Book via South West Scotland LPF website.

Quality Control of Provided Services by Mystery Shopping Method

Personal selling is the interpersonal process characterized by direct interaction between seller and customer. Its main objective is to persuade the customer to buy the product and achieve his satisfaction. This process is really pretentious on the professionalism of staff and the level of their expert knowledge and skills. Assessing the level of the customer service in a discreet and professional way is allowed by Mystery Shopping Method. The aim of the study was to review the level of the quality of provided services through mystery shopping method, with a focus on personal selling of the three largest telecommunications services providers on the Slovak market, in the regions of Zvolen and Banská Bystrica. The research was carried out in selected stores within two phases – time before Christmas and ordinary day. The conclusion provides information about achieved results, and at the same time, makes recommendations for personal contact with the customer, addressed to service providers in general.

Improving the quality of customer service by using the technique of mystery shopping

Improving the quality of customer service by using the technique of mystery shopping

Quality of medicines commonly used in the treatment of soil transmitted helminths and giardia in ethiopia: a nationwide survey.

BackgroundThe presence of poor quality medicines in the market is a global threat on public health, especially in developing countries. Therefore, we assessed the quality of two commonly used anthelminthic drugs [mebendazole (MEB) and albendazole (ALB)] and one antiprotozoal drug [tinidazole (TNZ)] in Ethiopia.Methods/Principal FindingsA multilevel stratified random sampling, with as strata the different levels of supply chain system in Ethiopia, geographic areas and government/privately owned medicines outlets, was used to collect the drug samples using mystery shoppers. The three drugs (106 samples) were collected from 38 drug outlets (government/privately owned) in 7 major cities in Ethiopia between January and March 2012. All samples underwent visual and physical inspection for labeling and packaging before physico-chemical quality testing and evaluated based on individual monographs in Pharmacopoeias for identification, assay/content, dosage uniformity, dissolution, disintegration and friability. In addition, quality risk was analyzed using failure mode effect analysis (FMEA) and a risk priority number (RPN) was assigned to each quality attribute. A clinically rationalized desirability function was applied in quantification of the overall quality of each medicine. Overall, 45.3% (48/106) of the tested samples were substandard, i.e. not meeting the pharmacopoeial quality specifications claimed by their manufacturers. Assay was the quality attribute most often out-of-specification, with 29.2% (31/106) failure of the total samples. The highest failure was observed for MEB (19/42, 45.2%), followed by TNZ (10/39, 25.6%) and ALB (2/25, 8.0%). The risk analysis showed that assay (RPN = 512) is the most critical quality attribute, followed by dissolution (RPN = 336). Based on Derringer's desirability function, samples were classified into excellent (14/106,13%), good (24/106, 23%), acceptable (38/106, 36%%), low (29/106, 27%) and bad (1/106,1%) quality.Conclusions/SignificanceThis study evidenced that there is a relatively high prevalence of poor quality MEB, ALB and TNZ in Ethiopia: up to 45% if pharmacopoeial acceptance criteria are used in the traditional, dichotomous approach, and 28% if the new risk-based desirability approach was applied. The study identified assay as the most critical quality attributes. The country of origin was the most significant factor determining poor quality status of the investigated medicines in Ethiopia.

Prevalence estimates of substandard drugs in Mongolia using a random sample survey.

To determine the prevalence of substandard drugs in urban (Ulaanbaatar) and rural (selected provinces) areas of Mongolia, samples of 9 common, therapeutically important drugs were collected from randomly selected drug outlets in Ulaanbaatar and 4 rural provinces by “mystery shoppers”. Samples were analyzed by visual inspection, registration status, and biochemical analysis. Samples failing to meet all Pharmacopeia quality tests were considered substandard.In the rural provinces, 69 out of 388 samples were substandard, giving an estimated prevalence of substandard drugs of 17.8% (95% CI: 14.1-22.0). There were 85 unregistered samples, giving a prevalence estimate of unregistered drugs of 21.9%. (95% CI: 17.9-26.3). In the urban Ulaanbaatar districts, 112 out of 848 samples were substandard, giving an estimated prevalence of substandard drugs of 13.2% (95% CI: 11.0-15.7). There were 150 unregistered samples, giving a prevalence estimate of unregistered drugs of 17.7% (95% CI: 15.2-20.4).In the rural provinces, 35 out of 85 (41.2%) unregistered samples were substandard; whereas 34 out of 303 (11.2%) registered samples were substandard. (p < 0.0001) In the urban districts, 18 out of 150 (12.0%) unregistered samples were substandard, whereas 94 out of 698 registered were substandard. (13.5%) (p = 0.6).The prevalence of substandard and unregistered drugs is higher in rural provinces. There is a significant association between substandard and unregistered drugs in the provinces but not in the urban districts. The underlying causes for substandard drugs need to be further investigated in order to help formulate strategies to improve pharmacovigilance and the drug supply quality in Mongolia.

Australian pharmacies prevent potential adverse reactions in patients taking warfarin requesting over-the-counter analgesia.

The objective of this article was to assess if Australian pharmacy staff prevent potential adverse reactions in warfarin patients requesting over-the-counter (OTC) analgesia. Mystery shoppers entered 170 pharmacies across Australia to request OTC analgesia for a hypothetical patient with a wrist injury who currently takes warfarin following a heart valve replacement. The request was made to the first pharmacist or non-pharmacist staff member to approach the mystery shopper. The interaction was audio-taped and assessed by a pharmacist. The OTC analgesic recommended was assessed for the potential to cause an adverse bleeding event. The quality of advice given with the OTC analgesic was assessed against determined criteria. Results were compared with scenarios of similar request type where the hypothetical patient was not taking warfarin. Mystery shoppers enquiring about taking OTC analgesics concomitantly with warfarin had access to the pharmacist in 97.0% of cases. All 170 pharmacies recommended OTC analgesics that were less likely to cause adverse events when taken with warfarin. The advice given and the communication between pharmacy staff and mystery shoppers were of high quality. Australian pharmacies support the quality use of medicines by patients taking warfarin by providing expeditious access to the pharmacist, appropriate recommendations of OTC analgesics, high standards of quality of advice and they communicate in a way to ensure ease of understanding by the consumer. The protocols used by pharmacy staff help prevent potentially serious adverse drug events.

Community hospitals, geriatric teaching, adolescent violence, and mystery shopping.

> Yonder: a diverse selection of primary care relevant research stories from beyond the mainstream biomedical literature ### Community hospitals Across the world, policymakers are considering options to reorganise the geography of healthcare delivery, renewing focus on community hospitals as a safe and efficient alternative for acute admissions. In a rural district in Norway, GPs have for many years been referring acutely ill patients to a local community hospital, and, in Social Science and Medicine , researchers gathered the views of patients, clinicians, and local authorities about perceived quality of this facility.1 The results were overwhelmingly positive. Patients valued the homelike atmosphere and friendly relationship with staff. Clinicians and administrative staff appreciated the chance to practise in a holistic and interdisciplinary way, cooperate with specialist services at nearby hospitals, and deliver continuity of care. The …

Advice on Weight Management: Are Pharmacy Staff Getting It Right? Results from a Mystery Shopper Study

The ability of patients to understand pharmacotherapy information is critical to the successful use of medications. One of the risk factors that may predispose the patient to non-adherence is the low retention of verbal information. Thereby, one way to facilitate the understanding of patients regarding prescribed pharmacotherapy is to incorporate pictograms to transmit information in a clear, expeditious, and simple manner.To evaluate literature on the use of pictograms for health professionals and assess their impact on helping patients increase the understanding of and compliance with medical instructions.Searches were conducted from February to March 2012. We searched articles in databases, using the keywords: “pictograms,” “health,” “health care professionals,” “medication” and “pictorial representation.” After this step, we performed a manual sorting, evaluating titles and abstracts. The articles were carefully examined according to the following variables: (1) geographic location and setting of the studies; (2) study design; (3) number of pictograms used; (4) education; (5) sample size; (6) age of participants; (7) function of pictograms; (8) limitations described in the literature evaluated.The research identified 136 published studies. After the exclusion process, 24 studies met inclusion criteria and from those, 50% were conducted in Africa, and 51.4% were considered effective. In the evaluation of the function of the pictograms, to verify their utility, 23 studies used to educate patients on the use of medications. The translation and cultural adaptation of pictograms was performed in five studies, and one study considered this process as validation.In this review, the literature contained only a few studies employing pictograms by health professionals, and most of these were meant for the use of medications. Moreover, the specific results reinforce the need for more studies in this area to provide a more complete approach about pictograms in the heath care.

Effective restaurant rating scale development and a mystery shopper evaluation approach

Dining is a major attraction for tourists visiting Taiwan. In 2008, the Taipei City Government commissioned a project to produce a list of recommended restaurants in Taipei for tourists. To facilitate the selection process, we developed a restaurant rating scale using a mystery shopper approach. This study entailed 20 questions that covered all elements of the consumers’ dining experience in a table-service restaurant setting, as well as a comprehensive mystery shopper training program to ensure consistency of quality in the evaluation process. This research involved the top 500 restaurants in Taipei. The findings revealed that our rating scale achieves internal consistency, validity and model fit. This study provided an important tool for further industrial applications and research opportunities. Further, this study proposes future research directions.

The Implication of Mystery Shopping Program in Chain Restaurants: Supervisors’ Perception

This research primarily explores current mystery shopping practices and branch manager perceptions of service quality measurement via mystery shopping program in chain restaurants. Data were collected by using a questionnaire distributed to chain restaurants. In total, 183 samples were obtained. Statistical techniques employed include descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, cross-tabulation and analysis of variance. The results revealed the analysis of current mystery shopping practice and competitive mystery shopping in chain restaurants, and branch manager perceptions of the effectiveness of mystery shopping as a tool for assessing service quality and preferred mystery shopping programs. Finally, practical implications, direction of future research, and research limitations are proposed.

Druggists and pharmacists as gatekeepers: Sales routines and compliance with sales protocols for over-the-counter naproxen 275 mg medicines in the Netherlands

ObjectivesSince for the sales of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, prescribing physicians are not involved, and written instructions on/in the medicine boxes are inefficient, druggists and pharmacists are important gatekeepers in preventing customers’ accidents. In this study we investigated the sales routines, and compliance with sales protocols, in order to evaluate that gatekeeper's function. MethodsBy means of the mystery shopping method, 228 pharmacies and drugstores in The Netherlands were visited and a naproxen 275mg medium-risk medicine was requested for a (fictitious) patient who was suffering from severe back pains. According to the sales protocols the vendors should never sell the requested medicine, because the mystery shoppers only gave an answer to one of the four mandatory sales protocol questions. Furthermore, the requested medicine is not the right or best choice for back pains. Four different scenarios were used in a 2×2 design (8-year-old patient vs. 25-year-old patient, and 1 box with 12 pills vs. 3 boxes with 12 pills). ResultsOf the drugstores and pharmacies only 16.7% complied with the sales protocols and did not sell the specific (or comparable) medicine, after asking all four mandatory questions (or already after one, two or three questions). Most vendors (83.3%) did not comply and sold the requested medicine, a comparable medicine, or even a more risky medicine after no question at all (or after asking some or even all four questions). Although both score low, pharmacists show better compliance (23.9%) than druggists (10.1%). ConclusionsWhen it comes to OTC medicines, druggists and pharmacists largely commit sloppy sales. The expected gatekeeping function of pharmacists and druggists is very limited, and customers might be in danger of inappropriate medicine selection, quantity and usage. We call for thorough evaluation of the over-the-counter system, improvement of the educational programs for medicine providers, and national campaigns to inform the public.

Management of dry eye in UK pharmacies.

To investigate the ability of pharmacy staff in the United Kingdom (UK) to diagnose and treat dry eye. A mystery shopper technique to simulate a patient with presumed dry eye was used in 50 pharmacy practices in major towns and cities across the UK. Pharmacies were unaware of their involvement in the study. With the exception of a predetermined opening statement to initiate the consultation, no further information was volunteered. Questions asked, diagnoses given, management strategy advised and staff type was recorded immediately after the consultation. The mean number of questions was 4.5 (SD 1.7; range 1-10). The most common question was the duration of symptoms (56%) and the least common was whether the patient had a history of headaches (2%). All pharmacy staff gave a diagnosis, but the majority were incorrect (58%), with only 42% correctly identifying dry eye. Treatment was advised by 92% of pharmacy staff, with the remaining 8% advising referral directly to the patient's GP or optometrist. Dry eye treatments involved topical ocular lubrication via eye drops (90%) and lipid based sprays (10%). However, only 10% gave administration advice, 10% gave dosage advice, 9% asked about contact lens wear, and none offered follow up although 15% also advised GP or optometrist referral. There is a need for improved ophthalmological training amongst pharmacists and pharmacy staff and establishment of cross referral relationships between pharmacies and optometry practices.