MYSTERY SHOPPING STUDIESESOMAR WORLD RESEARCH CODES & GUIDELINESMYSTERY SHOPPINGSTUDIESESOMAR WORLD RESEARCH CODES & GUIDELINESMYSTERY SHOPPING STUDIESAll ESOMAR world research codesand guidelines, including latest updates,
are available online at www.esomar.org

Copyright © ESOMAR 2005

ESOMAR WORLD RESEARCH CODES & GUIDELINES

Last revised: 2005
Latest reprint: 2005

MYSTERY SHOPPING STUDIESESOMAR WORLD RESEARCH CODES & GUIDELINESMYSTERY SHOPPINGSTUDIESCONTENTSIntroduction

2Basic considerations

2General requirements for mystery shopping studies

4Additional requirements for mystery shopping research

5ESOMAR WORLD RESEARCH CODES & GUIDELINESMYSTERY SHOPPING STUDIESESOMAR WORLD RESEARCH CODES & GUIDELINESMYSTERY SHOPPINGSTUDIESINTRODUCTION
The purpose of mystery shopping
studies is to help focus the attentionof business management on customer
service improvement by providing
information on the operations and thequality of service it is providing.
Mystery shopping studies can comprisethe simple factual observation of points
of sale or services focusing particularly
on signage, cleanliness, waiting time,
response time, commercial signage, thestate of equipment in use, adherence tothe company’s standards etc. It mightalso extend as far as making a purchaseor enquiry, where the evaluator acts as
if he or she was an actual or potential
customer, on the basis of a simple ormore complicated scenario.
Mystery shopping studies involve theuse of mystery shoppers who aretrained and/or briefed to observe,
experience and measure any customer
service process by acting as a prospective customer and undertaking a seriesof pre-determined tasks to assess
performance against speciﬁc criteria,
reporting back on their experiences in acomparable and consistent way.
Mystery shopping studies may cover:•the client’s own organisation,

2ESOMAR WORLD RESEARCH CODES & GUIDELINES• intermediate agents (retailers/distributors, independent ﬁnancialconsultants/advisors, etc.),• competitors.
Mystery shopping techniques used mayinclude:
••
•
•
•

mystery observation,
mystery visits,
mystery telephone calls,
mystery mail or fax,
mystery e-mail/website visits.

BASIC CONSIDERATIONS
A key characteristic of mystery shopping
studies is that the data subjects arenormally not aware at the time that they
are participating in a study since theirawareness of this might lead to atypicalbehaviour which would invalidate theﬁndings of the study.
Provided that they are carried out
professionally and with appropriate
safeguards for data subjects’ rights,
mystery shopping studies are a valid
and legitimate activity.
Researchers carrying out mystery
shopping studies must take every
care to ensure as far as possible that
individual privacy is respected and that

MYSTERY SHOPPING STUDIES

data subjects will not be disadvantaged
or harmed as a result of this work.
Mystery shopping studies must always
conform to applicable data protection
legislation. There must be adequate
security arrangements in place both at
the client and at the research company
level to ensure that any personal data
are secure and not accessible byunauthorised parties.
In all cases it is essential to observe
any applicable legislation and jurisdiction
which may govern the ways in which aparticular mystery shopping technique(e.g. telephone or e-mail contact) maybe used.

data collected will be treated as fully
conﬁdential and used only for research
purposes. In the second type suchanonymity is not provided because thedata will be used to approach the data
subjects individually for purposes otherthan scientiﬁc research. Different legal
provisions may be applied to both typesof mystery shopping studies.
In cases where any personal datacollected are to be treated as fully
conﬁdential and are not to be used
for any purpose other than scientiﬁc
research the study falls under thedeﬁnition of market research and can be
described as mystery shopping research.

Mystery shopping studies which would
be used as a method of boostingproduct distribution or sales by creating
an apparent consumer demand fora product or a service must not be
undertaken. Nor must the ﬁndings ofmystery shopping studies be used
for the purposes of disciplining orotherwise disadvantaging individuals
involved in the study.

If the personal data collected are not tobe treated as fully conﬁdential and may
also to be used for purposes other thanscientiﬁc research – for example in connection with staff training, reinforcement of sales efforts or the operation ofa bonus system – then the study does
not fall exclusively under the deﬁnitionof market research and must not be
described as mystery shopping research
but as a mystery shopping project.

Two different types of studies may be
carried out under the general termof mystery shopping studies. In theﬁrst type the data subjects’ anonymity
will be safeguarded, and all personal

Whatever scenarios are used for
mystery shopping studies they must be
safe in that the mystery shoppers are
not asked to do anything which is illegal
or which puts them under any physical
3

ESOMAR WORLD RESEARCH CODES & GUIDELINESMYSTERY SHOPPING STUDIESGENERAL REQUIREMENTS
FOR MYSTERY SHOPPINGSTUDIES• whether audio, video, electronicor other recording of observations
or interviews will be carried out(including adequate information
regarding purpose, recipients andstorage of the recording),• if consideration will be given tomaking good any losses of salary
resulting from time spent in dealing with
mystery shoppers (in cases where staff
remuneration to any extent depends oncommission or bonuses).

Researchers have to conform to thefollowing general requirements whencarrying out mystery shopping studies.
These apply both to studies which are
to be qualiﬁed as mystery shopping
research as well as to studies which
are not to be qualiﬁed as such:(b) Mystery shopping studies on theclient’s own organisation must always
be carried out in a transparent manner.
The client shall be made aware of
any time and other operational costs
involved in the study and agree to thesein advance.

(a) When carrying out mystery shopping
studies on the client’s own organisation
the client must have notiﬁed the staffconcerned previously and also anyrelevant staff organisation (workscouncil etc.). Notiﬁcation must include:(c) The client’s agents or authorised
distributors (as well as any organisations which are responsible to acompliance authority) should be treatedin the same way as the client’s ownorganisation providing that they havea similar direct relationship with theclient or compliance authority. The staff
should in particular, be given similar
information as if they were working forthe client’s own organisation. However,where there is no formal relationshipof this kind then such organisations

risk or threatens their personal safetye.g. as a result of locality, disability,gender, ethnicity. Care must be taken
to protect mystery shoppers from any
adverse implications of carrying out anevaluation such as possible effects on
their personal credit references.

• that this activity will take place
within a future time period,• what the objectives and generalnature of the study are,• whether data subjects will beidentiﬁed or not,
4ESOMAR WORLD RESEARCH CODES & GUIDELINESMYSTERY SHOPPING STUDIESshould be treated in the same way ascompetitors’ or other organisations.
(d) In the case of mystery shopping
studies on competitors’ or otherorganisations it is important that thetime and other demands created bysuch an activity are reasonable andkept to a minimum level. Mystery shopping studies on competitors’ or otherorganisations must therefore only beconducted if it can be assumed thatno substantial disadvantage will result
from this for the persons observed orinterviewed or for their organisation.
This applies in particular to selfemployed or professional people etc.,
where time spent on an interview may
literally cost them (lost) money.
(e) In situations where no purchase ofa product or service is made, the lengthof time spent should be reasonable inrelation to the nature of the market andthe type of inquiry. The time should be
kept as short as possible and should
not waste the data subjects’ resourcesin any way other than a normal customer
inquiry might do. The acceptable lengthof time which should be spent withmembers of staff may be determinedby local practice.
(f) If the mystery shopping study
is one where part of the evaluation

involves some follow-up work by theorganisation called on (e.g. provisionof a brochure etc.), this should also be
kept to a minimum.
(g) If the mystery shopping study
involves making a booking or reservation,or asking for provision of any otherfollow-up service or action which does
not form part of the main mystery
shopping task, this should be cancelled
or withdrawn as quickly as possible
after completing the interview.
(h) Adequate security measures must
be in place to insure against unauthorizedprocessing, loss and destruction ordamage of the collected data.
(i) Recordings shall not be retained forlonger than is necessary for the original
purpose of the mystery shopping study.
Disclosure of recordings to the client orother third parties shall only be madewith the consent of the data subjects
and used for the agreed purposes only.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR MYSTERYSHOPPING RESEARCH
In addition to the above general requirements researchers have to conform tothe following additional requirements
5ESOMAR WORLD RESEARCH CODES & GUIDELINESMYSTERY SHOPPING STUDIES

when carrying out studies which areto be qualiﬁed as mystery shopping
research:(a) The individual data subjects mustnot be revealed or be identiﬁable.
(b) The interviews must not berecorded electronically or by other means
if this could endanger the anonymity ofdata subjects and if it is impossible toobtain their agreement to this.
(c) If the client receives a list of theplaces (stores etc.) used for theobservations or interviews, the resultsmust be given in a form only which
does not lead to the identiﬁcation of anindividual person.
(d) However, if the identity of individual
data subjects might possibly become
known to the client because there
is only one relevant staff member at
the point where a mystery shopping
observation or visit is known to havebeen carried out or the day and hour ofobservation or visit as set by the clientmeans that this may be discoverable
the study must not be described as
mystery shopping research.

6ESOMAR WORLD RESEARCH CODES & GUIDELINESMYSTERY SHOPPING STUDIESESOMAR
Vondelstraat 172
1054 GV Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Tel +31 20 664 2141
Fax +31 20 664 2922

ESOMAR WORLD RESEARCH CODES & GUIDELINESMYSTERY SHOPPING STUDIESESOMAR is the world organisation forenabling better research into markets,consumers and societies.
With 4000 members in 100 countries,
ESOMAR’s aim is to promote the valueof market and opinion research inilluminating real issues and bringing
about effective decision-making.
To facilitate this ongoing dialogue, ESOMAR
creates and manages a comprehensive
programme of industry-speciﬁc andthematic conferences, publications
and communications as well as actively
advocating self-regulation and theworldwide code of practice.

www.esomar.org

ESOMAR WORLD RESEARCH CODES & GUIDELINES