Identity and the Availability of Emergency Contraception from Pharmacies in Istanbul

Emergency contraception (EC) has been and remains available in Turkey without prescription since 2002. This study attempted to determine the availability of emergency contraception from pharmacies in Istanbul, Turkey and whether the identity of the purchaser had any impact on availability. More specifically, we sought to understand if young women feel shamed or denied access to EC. This study employed a mystery patient/shopper approach where mystery patients attempted to purchase emergency contraception from a random sample of 352 pharmacies in Istanbul. Mystery shoppers, ages 18-22, were trained and provided a standard scenario and identity. The identities included: conservative/ religious female; secular/modern female; and male. After each pharmacy visit, the mystery patients recorded the details of their attempts to purchase EC. In 95.4% of visits mystery shoppers were able to purchase EC. Despite the availability of several types of EC, little choice was given to shoppers. Male mystery shoppers were given more choice of EC than their female counterparts and were more often able to purchase the less expensive form of EC. In the majority of transactions, pharmacists offered no medical instructions or recommendations. EC is widely available from pharmacies in Istanbul but lack of choice and information from pharmacists result in a less than ideal health care experience.

What agro-input dealers know, sell and say to smallholder farmers about pesticides: a mystery shopping and KAP analysis in Uganda

Background Pesticides can have negative effects on human and environmental health, especially when not handled as intended. In many countries, agro-input dealers sell pesticides to smallholder farmers and are supposed to provide recommendations on application and handling. This study investigates the role of agro-input dealers in transmitting safety information from chemical manufacturers to smallholder farmers, assesses the safety of their shops, what products they sell, and how agro-input dealers abide by laws and recommendations on best practices for preventing pesticide risk situations. Methods Applying a mixed-methods approach, we studied agro-input dealers in Central and Western Uganda. Structured questionnaires were applied to understand agro-input dealers’ knowledge, attitude and practices on pesticides (n = 402). Shop layout (n = 392) and sales interaction (n = 236) were assessed through observations. Actual behavior of agro-input dealers when selling pesticides was revealed through mystery shopping with local farmers buying pesticides (n = 94). Results While 97.0% of agro-input dealers considered advising customers their responsibility, only 26.6% of mystery shoppers received any advice from agro-input dealers when buying pesticides. 53.2% of products purchased were officially recommended. Sales interactions focused mainly on product choice and price. Agro-input dealers showed limited understanding of labels and active ingredients. Moreover, 25.0% of shops were selling repackaged products, while 10.5% sold unmarked or unlabeled products. 90.1% of shops were lacking safety equipment. Pesticides of World Health Organization toxicity class I and II were sold most frequently. Awareness of health effects seemed to be high, although agro-input dealers showed incomplete hygiene practices and were lacking infrastructure. One reason for these findings might be that only 55.7% of agro-input dealers held a certificate of competency on safe handling of pesticides and even fewer (5.7%) were able to provide a government-approved up-to-date license. Conclusion The combination of interviews, mystery shopping and observations proved to be useful, allowing the comparison of stated and actual behavior. While agro-input dealers want to sell pesticides and provide the corresponding risk advice, their customers might receive neither the appropriate product nor sufficient advice on proper handling. In light of the expected increase in pesticide use, affordable, accessible and repeated pesticide training and shop inspections are indispensable.

Digital Customer Experience Mapping in Russian Premium Banking

The purpose of this study is to identify, in an era of extensive digitalization, the major opportunities and threats that influence the experiences of digital premium banking customers at key stages of their banking interactions. This study’s conceptual research model combines the content of online questionnaires, completed by a representative sample of 3629 customers, in-depth interviews with heads of premium banking departments, and an audit of customer experiences conducted via Mystery Shopping in 13 Russian banks. The authors formulate four research hypotheses, substantiated by the empirical data and highlight key barriers preventing premium banks from effective digital interactions with their customers. Key opportunities for improving customer experiences are also identified. The theoretical contribution of the research includes the adaptation of an axiological approach to studying digital customers in premium banking. Practical contributions include the Premium Digital Customer Experience Map, designed by the authors as a ready-made tool for planning and improving premium banking services and a tool for performance comparison between competing banks. This study also discusses the authors’ definition of a “digital customer”. It presents a new approach to the Mystery Shopping methodology, including the recruitment of Mystery Shoppers following the three premium banking customer portraits: “saver”, “spender”, and “saver–spender”.

Childcare Matters: Female Business Owners and the Baby-Profit Gap

The previous literature documents that female-owned businesses are less profitable than male-owned businesses, including microenterprises that make up the majority of firms in developing countries. In this paper, we uncover an overlooked gendered constraint for these businesses: childcare. We collect field data through unannounced visits to a sample of microentrepreneurs in select areas of Uganda, combining surveys of business owners and real customers, as well as purchases by confederate buyers (i.e., mystery shoppers). We document that childcare duties in businesses are highly gendered: 37% of female owners bring small children to work, compared with 0% of men. Childcare duties are correlated with a “baby-profit gap,” as businesses where children are present earn 48% lower profits than even other female-owned businesses where a child is not present. Using our rich data, we analyze potential reasons why childcare obligations may affect profits. We find that prices, product quality, and other explanations are not robustly correlated with the presence of a baby. However, we find that women with children in the store are more likely to run out of stock than both men and women who do not have children in the store. Although we caution that our analysis is not causal, we consistently find that childcare duties are associated with profitability and may relate to the wider gender gap in business performance.

Sales of cigarettes to pseudo-underage mystery shoppers: Experiences from Stockholm County

Aims: There is an 18 years age limit for cigarette purchase in Sweden and in order to implement this law outlets need to perform ID checks. This study investigates the rate of cigarette sales and ID checks when pseudo-underage mystery shoppers attempted to purchase cigarettes. It explores possible factors associated with sales outcomes. Design: Nine mystery shoppers (6 females and 3 males) attempted to purchase cigarettes without providing ID. The mystery shoppers were 18 years old but had a younger appearance as judged by an expert panel. During each attempt, the adolescents worked in pairs (shopper and observer). A total of 320 outlets in 13 municipalities in Stockholm County were randomly selected based on an outlet type stratum (i.e., gas station, convenience store, kiosk, grocery store). Effects of variables on sales outcomes were analysed using Pearson’s chi-square and binominal regression analysis. Results: In 25.4% of the purchase attempts (total n = 287), cigarettes were sold although the pseudo-underage mystery shopper did not provide a valid ID. In 82.6% of the attempts, the shopper was asked to provide ID, and cigarettes were sold in 9.7% of these cases. The rate of sales was significantly higher among female mystery shoppers (29.5%) compared to male (15.0%). Age limit signs were observed in 89.5% of the outlets but they were not significantly associated with the success rate in a regression analysis. Conclusions: The results of the present study indicate that cigarettes could potentially and frequently be sold to underage adolescents by outlets within Stockholm County. Therefore, routines established for checking IDs clearly need to be improved. For example, strategies to improve adherence to the legal age limit on the purchase of cigarettes, such as compliance checks using mystery shopping with feedback to retailers, are needed.

Mystery Shopping a Tool for Sales Processes Evaluation in the Hospitality Facilities

Mystery shopping can be characterized as a marketing method used for anonymous and objective evaluation of the quality of provided services. The method helps the owner of the company, where the mystery shopping is applied, to gain better images of processes in the company, information about employee behavior towards customers, quality of provided services, environment, atmosphere, etc. It is realized by mystery shoppers who give the owner the information about used services gained by secret purchases. The aim of the paper is to examine the use of the mystery shopping method as a tool for evaluating the sales process in hospitality facilities. We research the use of mystery shopping from two points of view. On one hand, based on the structured interviews with managers of mystery shopping agencies and, on the other hand, based on structured interviews with managers of hospitality facilities that use mystery shopping method. All researched companies agreed on the statement that mystery shopping is very good primary impulse for changes in the company but ction devoted work of the management and all its employees is necessary.

MARKETING MONITORING OF COMPANY COMPETITIVE OPPORTUNITIES IN THE NON-FOOD MARKET

The article describes the standardized process of marketing monitoring of the company's competitive opportunities in the non-food market of Ukraine. The concept of "marketing monitoring of the company's competitive capabilities" is defined, which specifies the areas of application and summarizes the main modern functions of the process. Moreover, trends in the development of the non-food market in Ukraine have been studied. The research determined by the problem of maintaining a high level of competitiveness in the company is one of the most important today, so this monitoring process satisfies the need for facilitation and standardization for non-food market representatives. The concepts of competitiveness, monitoring and their types analyzed by domestic and foreign scientists provided the basis for the development of a unified scheme of the monitoring process. Further research may be aimed at the introduction of this standardized process in the activities of firms representing the non-food market and analysis of the results that will be obtained after its development. The standardized process of marketing monitoring of the company's competitive opportunities has been tested on the example of Carlo Pazolini, which owns a network of shoe and accessory stores. The main stages of the process are described and the allocation of a separate subprocess for direct marketing monitoring of competitors with the involvement of company employees as mystery shoppers is substantiated. The developed process of marketing monitoring of the company's competitive capabilities allows: to increase the level of competitiveness due to a detailed study of the strengths and weaknesses of the company and major competitors; to introduce the best and most effective technologies and methods to increase consumer loyalty to the brand; clearly delineate the areas of responsibility of employees and monitor the implementation of the process; evaluate the company's performance compared to major competitors and increase the level of competitiveness. Prospects for further research are to develop a process of marketing monitoring of the company's competitive opportunities in the food market.

Factors impeding the supply of over-the-counter medications according to evidence-based practice: A mixed-methods study

Objective Despite the positive attitudes pharmacists have toward evidence-based practices (EBPs), its application in community pharmacies in Saudi Arabia is lacking. Therefore, this study aimed to explore and assess EBPs by community pharmacists in Saudi Arabia when they dispense over-the-counter (OTC) medications for three minor ailments: diarrhea, cough, and the common cold. Research design and methods We used a mixed-methods approach consisting of two study parts. The first was a quantitative investigation that used mystery shoppers. Four researchers, posing as mystery shoppers, visited 214 randomly selected pharmacies in the Riyadh region of Saudi Arabia. They used 14 questions from a standardized checklist to examine EBPs by community pharmacists. The qualitative part of the study entailed three focus-group discussions with 13 pharmacists from different community practice settings and explored factors that affected the application of EBPs when supplying OTC medications from the pharmacists’ point of view. Results The analysis indicated that 40% of pharmacists dispensed OTC medications according to EBPs. Logistic regression analysis showed that one question, "Describe your symptoms", predicted the correct supply of OTC medications (p = 0.021). The qualitative section of the study identified nine factors that affected EBP. Some of these factors facilitated EBP, such as established patient-pharmacist relationships, some acted as barriers such as conflicts between available evidence, while other factors could either facilitate or hinder EBPs, such as the health literacy of the patient. Conclusion Given that dispensing OTC medication is a core function of pharmacists, this study uncovered low adherence to EBPs by community pharmacists in Saudi Arabia when dispensing OTC medication for three minor ailments: diarrhea, cough, and the common cold. Furthermore, this study identified a number of explanatory factors for this low adherence. Targeting these factors could help change the behavior of pharmacists and decrease undesirable outcomes.

Alcohol policy in the Netherlands in a National Prevention Agreement: results of three studies

Introduction On 23 November 2018 in the Netherlands more than 70 organizations signed the National Prevention Agreement. This document had been set up by the Dutch government aiming to create a healthy generation in 2040. It focuses on alcohol, next to overweight and tobacco control. Participants are a.o. NGO's, the sports sector, insurance companies, municipalities but also the alcohol industry and retailers. Methods Three studies were performed aiming to map how alcohol use might be reduced. 30 days without alcohol: the IkPas (No Thanks) campaignAlcohol screening and interventions for patients in General HospitalsPrioritizing alcohol enforcement and prevention efforts by combining prevalence and success-rate for minors purchasing alcohol. Respectively a quantitative survey among adult alcohol users (n = 15.947), qualitative interviews among health professionals (n = 21), a quantitative survey among youngsters (n = 510) and purchase attempts (n = 1.373) of alcohol by mystery shoppers were performed. Results Beside on youth, in the Prevention Agreement priority has been laid on elderly, pregnant women, members and visitors of sports clubs and students. Also important are measures in primary and secondary health care and health policy in industrial companies. Measures are proposed in the field of the 'three best buys' (higher prices, lesser advertisement and restrictions in availability). The three studies showed that participants of the IkPas campaign feel fitter, sleep better, lose weight and drink less after 6 months follow-up. Furthermore, implementation of alcohol screening and interventions for patients in Dutch hospitals is still in its infancy. Lastly, bars/cafes/discos should be given priority for enforcement and prevention. Conclusions The question that will be discussed is whether the Netherlands by this agreement really do make a step forward in developing a healthy alcohol policy. Will the ambitious goals formulated in the agreement be reached in 2040? Key messages Alcohol policy measures are needed to reach a healthy population in 2040. Campaigns, screening and brief interventions, and alcohol enforcement are promising.