Monitoring vendor compliance with tobacco sales laws: payment vs no payment approaches.

Mystery Shopping and Alcohol Sales: Do Supermarkets and Liquor Stores Sell Alcohol to Underage Customers?

“…In the supermarkets, they would then only buy the potato chips; in the liquor stores, they would buy nothing. No real purchases of alcohol took place, but the unambiguous selling intentions were used as indications of real alcohol sales, which is justified by a study of Cummings et al [32]. After the store visit, the mystery shoppers joined the research assistants and immediately filled out an extensive checklist ( Table 1).…”

YOUTH ACCESS TO TOBACCO: Policies and Politics

“…Since that review at least 21 studies directly measuring the ability of minors to purchase tobacco have been published, are in press, or are under review. In general, these studies found that girls have a higher success rate than boys; purchase success is associated with age of buyer; purchase rates are highest in gas stations and convenience stores; purchase rates are higher from vending machines than from over-thecounter sources; minors are more likely to be able to purchase when tobacco is presented in self-service displays compared to behind a counter; and clerks who ask for age identification are less likely than those who don't ask to sell to minors (7,11,18,20,22,24,25,29,33,35,37,45,51,56,65,75,82,100,106,129). One study that systematically varied ethnicity of buyer along with age and gender found that black underage buyers were sold cigarettes more often than were Latinos or whites (129).…”

“…To avoid placing underage buyers in legal jeopardy, buyers in some studies are instructed not to complete the purchase, and a purchase attempt is defined as successful if the sale is entered into the register by the sales clerk (7,16,45,100). Cummings et al (35) compared results of purchase attempts where stores were randomly assigned to either payment (completed purchase) or no payment (purchase not completed if the clerk was willing) condition. No differences in purchase success were found between the two conditions when the same buyer was used at each outlet, providing evidence that these two types of purchase attempts can be compared.…”

Off limits. The effectiveness of age limits in reducing underage sales

“…In the supermarkets, they would then only buy the potato chips; in the liquor stores, they would buy nothing. No real purchases of alcohol took place, but the unambiguous selling intentions were used as indications of real alcohol sales, which is justified by a study of Cummings, Saunders-Martin, Clarke, and Perla (1996). After the store visit, the mystery shoppers joined the research assistants and immediately filled out an extensive checklist (Table 1).…”

“…If the vendor was willing to sell or rent the DVD or game, which he or she signaled by recording the amount and/or mentioning the price, the mystery shopper would act surprised and say that he or she did not bring enough money. No real purchases took place, but the unambiguous selling intentions were used as the indications of real sales, as is justified by a study by Cummings et al (1996). After the store visit, the mystery shopper joined the research assistants and immediately filled out an extensive checklist, containing all the above-mentioned variables on shop floor compliance.…”