Casual Dining Mystery Shopping News

What is Mystery Shopper Interview Bias?

Aug 26, 2009 by Elaine Buxton

Businesses considering mystery shopping services sometimes ask us about “interview bias,” or the concern that the mystery shopper will sway the employee to behave in a certain way or that the mystery shopper will bring opinions to the shop visit which might affect the outcome of the research.

Mystery shopping requires human interactions. Perfection is not possible. However, steps can be taken to ensure that interviewer bias is minimized so that mystery shopping value is maximized.

Decide what to test. Mystery shopping is performance research. In order to compare how each location is performing, it is important to decide what that performance should be. It is impossible to ask a mystery shopper to test performance without telling the shopper what the test is. Thus, the all-important first step is to determine what can and should be tested. Without requiring that each shopper approach the shop the same way, the results will be a hodge-podge of random events, reported on a meaningless survey form.
Here are some examples of how random experiences can be categorized into “tests” so that mystery shop results can be reasonably compared:

  • Banking. Instead of sending in mystery shoppers to inquire about opening “an account”, send in shoppers to ask about opening the same type of account. This allows comparisons of service descriptions when shoppers present the same scenario.
  • Restaurants. Send mystery shoppers during specific meal time windows. Units are more likely to be staffed similar, selling similar product and enjoying about the same amount of customer traffic.
  • Retail stores. Send mystery shoppers to look for specific product categories or departments.
  • Automotive services. Send mystery shoppers for the same type of vehicle service.

Inform mystery shoppers of required observations, not expectations. Mystery shoppers should be given enough information to conduct their visits and gather the appropriate information and observations without biasing them with the client goals, expected outcomes, etc. Granted, the required observations and survey questions will, to some extent, provide the mystery shoppers with a clue about what is considered to be acceptable. However, a mystery shopping program that over-educates the mystery shoppers will assure interview bias. Our firm has found that keeping the scoring invisible to the mystery shoppers reduces bias. Telling the mystery shopper that a question weighs heavily in the program will serve to discourage the mystery shopper from reporting a negative observation.

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Mystery Shopping for Revenue Generation: Maximize the ROI of Your Mystery Shopping Program

Sep 04, 2009 by Elaine Buxton

Mystery shopping usually means measuring customer experiences as they relate to specific performance expectations for service delivery. This means that mystery shoppers are typically reporting on behaviors and conditions that affect the usually means measuring customer experience .

It’s beneficial to take this thinking further. Setting sales goals for your staff, using mystery shoppers to see that they are working toward them and then rewarding success creates revenue generation opportunities.

What if your mystery shopping program also produced an immediate pop in revenue? For an example of this in action, visit
Confero’s case study on up selling; “Revenue Generation via Upselling”

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