Public Transport: The Role of Mystery Shopping in Investment Decisions

Justin Gutmann and Alan Wilson

This paper looks at London Underground's use of mystery shopping as an input to investment decisions relating to the improvement of the travel environment.
  

Public Transport: The Role of Mystery Shopping in Investment Decisions

Alan WilsonUniversity of Strathclyde andJustin GutmannLondon Transport

Introduction

In the UK, mystery shopping research is used extensively by organisations in financial services, retailing, motor dealerships, hotels and catering, passenger transportation, public utilities and government departments. The provision of mystery shopping services is a major industry with between 20 and 30 million being spent on the technique in the UK during 1996 (Wilson 1998).

The research technique, a form of participant observation, uses researchers to act as customers or potential customers to monitor service delivery...

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