Mystery Shop Programs to Reduce Underage Alcohol Sales
Problems addressed
Juvenile delinquency
Effectiveness

Effective

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Effective

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Life periods served
Children (4 to 13 years)
Teenagers (14 to 17 years)
Where the program was applied
Community (streets or community centers)
Country of application
United States
Description

This is an intervention to encourage the control of ID documents pertaining to young customers by employees of establishments that sell alcoholic beverages. The objective is to improve control of the rules restricting the sale of alcoholic beverages and prevent consumption among adolescents.
The intervention consists of sending young people of legal age to buy alcoholic beverages in the establishments and verifying the document control policy applied by the sales team.
After the purchase attempt, the young incognito buyer comments to the employees on the behavior adopted and offers instructions on the correct conduct, in addition to informing about the penalties applicable to establishments that sell alcohol illegally.

Impact evaluations

Impact evaluation studies show mixed results on the effectiveness of the program to identify underage drink purchasers. One study showed a statistically significant increase in age verification rates of beverage purchasers [1], while a second study found no significant increases in those rates. Overall, the results suggest that the intervention influenced verification and identification rates [2].

Bibliographic reference

[1] Krevor, B. S., Grube, J. & DeJong, W. (2017). Mystery Shop Programs to Reduce Underage Alcohol Sales. https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/grants/251090.pdf

[2] Grube, J. W., DeJong, W., DeJong, M., Lipperman-Kreda, S. & Krevor, B. S. (2018). Effects of a responsible retailing mystery shop intervention on age verification by servers and clerks in alcohol outlets: A cluster randomised cross-over trial. Drug and Alcohol Review, 37(6), 774–781. https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.12839

Information source