The mystery shopper is some sort of spy, according to a research

GfK Romania made a national study to verify the degree of knowledge related to the Mystery Shopping among Romanians and their perception towards this activity.

At national level, 21% of people interviewed heard of “mystery shopping”, with 33% among people that offer to others opinion or recommendations saying they know about this activity. Most people that know about mystery shopping live in Bucharest (32%) or other big towns, are young (18-34y.o.), with high education, eployed and with family incomes over RON 2,000.

Although only 2% of population worked or works as mystery shopper, 11% of people interviewed said they would like to do that in the future. Most people that already worked as mystery shopper or intend to do that are rather young (aged max 40 y.o.) and live in big towns.

In what concerns the meaning of mystery shopping, 36% said this is a technique used by companies to spy on their employees in order to either fine or recompensate them. Also, a quarter say that this is also a way a company can spy on competition or through which evaluates its own services with help from professionals “acting” as ordinary clients.

Those results on mystery shopping were gathered via an GfK Omnibus study, significant at national level. During the research, 1,029 people from rural and urban areas were questioned, during face to face interviews, in August 2012.

GfK Romania runs Mystery Shopping studies since 2004 for clients active in sectors such as Auto, Financial, FMCG, Pharma, Retail, telecom and services. Starting 2012, GfK Romania is member of MSPA (Mystery Shopping Providers Association) and has a Mystery Shopping specialized division