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Mystery shopping: A tool to develop insight into customer service provision

Author

Listed:
  • Hesselink, M.
  • van Iwaarden, J.D.
  • van der Wiele, A.

Abstract

Reaching service excellence through a focus on the customer, demands more than just measuring customer satisfaction by means of questionnaire surveys. Nowadays, it is not sufficient anymore to have service excellence in services, processes and relationships. Now is the time to create excellence in customer experiences, as the only way to create competitive advantage in the market. Organisational change should then be driven by a broader focus on customers’ expectations and multiple ways of measuring customers’ satisfaction. The case of a service company in The Netherlands (a temporary employment agency) illustrates the way to service excellence as an organisational change process. The case supports the need for a broad focus on measurements in order to be able to monitor and to direct organisational changes. Customer satisfaction data based on surveys are needed, however, they will not be sufficient for continuing the change process over time. To achieve that, other measurements like mystery shopping may give more stimuli to change. Therefore, this research argues that mystery shopping can be a useful instrument in addition to the more often-used survey methods.

Suggested Citation

  • Hesselink, M. & van Iwaarden, J.D. & van der Wiele, A., 2004. "Mystery shopping: A tool to develop insight into customer service provision," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2004-082-ORG, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    • Handle: RePEc:ems:eureri:1737
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. van der Wiele, A. & Hesselink, M. & Boselie, J.P.P.E.F., 2002. "The Importance Of Customer Satisfaction In Organisational Transformation," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2002-60-ORG, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    2. Colin Shaw & John Ivens, 2002. "Building Great Customer Experiences," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-55471-9, December.
    3. Boselie, J.P.P.E.F. & Hesselink, M. & Paauwe, J. & van der Wiele, A., 2001. "Employee Perception on Commitment Oriented Work Systems," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2001-02-ORG, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
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    Cited by:

    1. I. Eskytė, 2019. "Disabled People’s Vulnerability in the European Single Market: The Case of Consumer Information," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 42(4), pages 521-543, December.
    2. Alessandro Bonadonna & Simona Alfiero & Massimo Cane & Edyta Gheribi, 2019. "Eating Hamburgers Slowly and Sustainably: The Fast Food Market in North-West Italy," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-14, April.
    3. Rachel J. C. Chen & Clayton W. Barrows, 2015. "Developing a Mystery Shopping Measure to Operate a Sustainable Restaurant Business: The Power of Integrating with Corporate Executive Members’ Feedback," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(9), pages 1-16, September.
    4. Matthews, Lindsay & Lynes, Jennifer & Riemer, Manuel & Del Matto, Tania & Cloet, Nicholas, 2017. "Do we have a car for you? Encouraging the uptake of electric vehicles at point of sale," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 79-88.

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    JEL classification:

    • L2 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior
    • M - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics
    • M10 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - General
    • M39 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Marketing and Advertising - - - Other

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