Second To None

Customer Experience Execs: Are Your Mystery Shops ‘Constructively Negative’?

By Kerry Colligan

A study published in the November Journal of Marketing attempts to answer two important questions applicable to mystery shopping programs:

1. Are shoppers who expect to evaluate service delivery inclined toward "constructively negative" evaluations regardless of the actual experience?
2. What can be done to reduce the negative bias of survey respondents?

In brief: 1) No. 2) Give them something to think about.

According to the study, when cognitive loading precedes the customer experience it reduces negative bias. We know that when customers expect to complete a survey after visiting a store, they have a natural tendency to focus on negative aspects of the experience in part because those aspects are more easily identified. It's easier to conclude "My coffee is cold" than it is to conclude "The associate far exceeded the service standard."

However, when shoppers are asked to pay attention to specific details about an experience beforehand, they are less likely to identify negative aspects of the experience when they occur. Their focus is more positive.

What's more, the study found that "shoppers do not 'fabricate' negative evaluations just to comply with their task... [T]hey report such evaluations only if they are able to gather supporting evidence during the shopping experience."

Consider the impact of cognitive loading on:

Shopper training and preparation. Well-trained mystery shoppers should arrive on-site with a high degree of cognitive load that results in a more balanced evaluation. Conversely, poorly trained or unprepared mystery shoppers are more likely to over-report the negative in an effort to fulfill their obligation to report. Thus, 'constructively negative' evaluations should be more prevalent among poorly trained shoppers.

Customer experience program goals. Shoppers are more likely to identify negative aspects of the experience if their brains aren't busy processing shop scenarios and service procedures. If your goal is improved training and employee appreciation (eg. incrementally positive outcomes), you'll want shoppers loaded to identify the subtle differences between four-star and five-star service.

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[1] Ofir C, Simonson I, and Yoon S. "The Robustness of the Effects of Consumers' Participation in Market Research: The Case of Service Quality Evaluations." Journal of Marketing 73 (2009): 105-114. Print.

Mystery Shopping