Effective restaurant rating scale development and a mystery shopper evaluation approach

Dining is a major attraction for tourists visiting Taiwan. In 2008, the Taipei City Government commissioned a project to produce a list of recommended restaurants in Taipei for tourists. To facilitate the selection process, we developed a restaurant rating scale using a mystery shopper approach. Thi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of hospitality management 2014-10, Vol.43, p.53-64
Main Authors: Liu, Chih-Hsing Sam, Su, Ching-Shu, Gan, Bernard, Chou, Sheng-Fang
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Mystery shopper
Restaurant
Restaurant rating
Scale development
Service quality
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Summary:Dining is a major attraction for tourists visiting Taiwan. In 2008, the Taipei City Government commissioned a project to produce a list of recommended restaurants in Taipei for tourists. To facilitate the selection process, we developed a restaurant rating scale using a mystery shopper approach. This study entailed 20 questions that covered all elements of the consumers’ dining experience in a table-service restaurant setting, as well as a comprehensive mystery shopper training program to ensure consistency of quality in the evaluation process. This research involved the top 500 restaurants in Taipei. The findings revealed that our rating scale achieves internal consistency, validity and model fit. This study provided an important tool for further industrial applications and research opportunities. Further, this study proposes future research directions.
ISSN:0278-4319
1873-4693
DOI:10.1016/j.ijhm.2014.08.002