Mystery shopping in libraries – are we ready?

Abstract

This paper will provide insight into theoretical background of mystery shopping techniques and show its transfer from the business sector to successful implementation in non-profit institutions, primarily focusing on libraries. Literature review will cover main researches related to implementation of mystery shopping in libraries, as well as a pilot research from the authors where theoretical assumptions were subjected to real world conditions. In the end, the authors will try to give recommendations and guidelines for future implementations of mystery shopping in libraries. The research will try to show in what extent are librarians ready for increasingly competitive field of providing information services by adopting business methods of service evaluation and how mystery shopping technique can be implemented together with other standard methods, such as surveys or interviews, in order to increase customer satisfaction and improve standards of library service.