PROJECT:Mystery Shopping Observational Field Study and Analytical Report

The basic objective of the research is to use the individual's experiences in mystery shopping invisibility to develop and describe methods to evaluate overall quality, customer service and factors affecting customer satisfaction. By displaying knowledgeability, physical exposure, perceptual abilities, availability of information, and motivation, students will function as effective informants.Your report will describe specific research objectives, research designs and implementation, together with findings, insights and marketing implications, as well as the limitations and biases of the research.

Each student will select and visit two different locations offering different merchandise from each other. This may be a retail establishment, hospitality site, hotels, restaurants, resorts property management, banking/financial service center, gas station and convenience store, entertainment, travel, utilities, business-to-business, or medical institution. The two different sites will be visited on more than one occasion, to avoid biases of timing, service availability, etc. Before he or she visits the site, the party will develop a written plan for the approach e.g., aspects that will be observed: arrangement of furnishings, customer amenities, music, service personnel greetings, samples and literature, queuing , parking, dress of personnel,interaction of customers, etc. to be included in your report.

In each visit the student will blend in and present himself or herself as an ordinary customer or consumer. Using qualitative skills, and techniques of participant observation, the student will carefully observewatch, peer, observe, check, audit, discover, overhear, find traces and note details of the environment in which you are immersed. Note variations in customer service quality between different employees in their service encounters. One unpleasant service experience can undermine overall quality perception.The student will observe exterior physical signs, expressive movement, physical location, language behavior and time duration of events.

Your report also should summarize what is known in the literature about mystery shopping, and what you have learned about the research process involved, as well as substantive findings.

Include recommended future research in a written analytical report of a 5-10 pages. Also include relevant outside references and field notes with observations as an appendix.Also, refer to Peters, Kevin, "How Mystery Shopping Helped Spark a Turnaround," HBR Nov 2011, 89(11), 47-50.