15/06/2022

International Business and Intelectual Capital Group’s Seminar: Nick Zubanov (University of Konstanz)

“Mystery Shopping as a Strategic Management Practice in Multi-Site Firms”

Wednesday, June 15th at 12.00h (CEST)

SEMINAR IN MIXED MODALITY

PRESENCIAL:  Seminar Room 3.1 of the Faculty of Business Sciences and Tourism of Ourense

ONLINE: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86976559479?pwd=ZUVZd3Vhd1lDeFNKMmRpYjBRd0lVQT09

  • Room ID: 869 7655 9479
  • Access Code: 173675

More information about the speaker

Anonymous and unannounced site inspections known as “Mystery Shopping” (MS) are common in multi-site service firms, but little is known about the strategic importance of this practice. We conceptualize MS as a tool firms use to implement the optimal allocation of site resources between sales- and service-related activities in the presence of cross-site reputation spillovers, which is to maximize sales while maintaining service standards. Consistent with this strategy, data from three retail chains reveal (i) low variation in MS scores, (ii) little correlation of MS scores with sales, and iii) high correlation of sites’ MS scores with the likelihood of their supervisors receiving incentive bonuses. These findings are robust to different estimation specifications and shed a new light on a ubiquitous yet little-studied management practice.

Anonymous and unannounced site inspections known as “Mystery Shopping” (MS) are common in multi-site service firms, but little is known about the strategic importance of this practice. We conceptualize MS as a tool firms use to implement the optimal allocation of site resources between sales- and service-related activities in the presence of cross-site reputation spillovers, which is to maximize sales while maintaining service standards. Consistent with this strategy, data from three retail chains reveal (i) low variation in MS scores, (ii) little correlation of MS scores with sales, and iii) high correlation of sites’ MS scores with the likelihood of their supervisors receiving incentive bonuses. These findings are robust to different estimation specifications and shed a new light on a ubiquitous yet little-studied management practice.