BackgroundRetailers routinely use security tags to reduce theft. Presently, however, there has been no attempt to systematically review the literature on security tags. Guided by the acronym EMMIE, this paper set out to (1) examine the evidence that tags are effective at reducing theft, (2) identify the key mechanisms through which tags are expected to reduce theft and the conditions that moderate tag effectiveness, and (3) summarise information relevant to the implementation and economic costs of tagging.MethodsIn this mixed-methods review, we performed systematic keyword searches of the published and unpublished literature, hand searched relevant journals, conducted forward and backward citation searches and consulted with four retailers. Studies were included if they reported an explicit goal of reducing the theft or shrinkage of items through the use of security tags in retail environments.ResultsWe identified 50 eligible studies, eight of which reported quantitative data on the effectiveness of tags in retail environments. Across these eight studies, five showed positive results associated with the introduction of tags, but heterogeneity in the type of tag and reported outcome measures precluded a meta-analysis. We identified three mechanisms through which tags might plausibly reduce theft—increase the risks, reduce the rewards, increase the effort—which were found to vary by tag type, and their activation dependent on five broad categories of moderator: retail store and staff, customers (including shoplifters), tag type, product type, and the involvement of the police and criminal justice system. Implementation challenges documented in the literature related mainly to staffing issues and tagging strategy. Finally, although estimates are available on the costs of tagging, our searches identified no high-quality published economic evaluations of tagging.ConclusionsThrough applying the EMMIE framework this review highlighted the complexity involved in security tagging in retail environments, whereby different kinds of tags are expected to reduce theft through different casual mechanisms which are dependent on a distinctive configuration of conditions. Based on the available evidence it is difficult to determine the effectiveness of tags as a theft reduction measure, albeit there is suggestive evidence that more visible tags are associated with greater reductions in theft than less visible tags.

中文翻译：

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对标记作为减少零售环境盗窃的方法的系统评价

背景零售商经常使用安全标签来减少盗窃。然而，目前还没有尝试系统地回顾关于安全标签的文献。在首字母缩略词 EMMIE 的指导下，本文着手 (1) 检查标签可有效减少盗窃的证据，(2) 确定标签有望减少盗窃的关键机制以及降低标签有效性的条件，以及 ( 3）总结与标签的实施和经济成本相关的信息。方法在这个混合方法的审查中，我们对已发表和未发表的文献进行了系统的关键字搜索，手动搜索了相关期刊，进行了前向和后向引文搜索，并咨询了四家零售商。如果研究报告明确目标是通过在零售环境中使用安全标签来减少物品的盗窃或缩水，则纳入研究。结果我们确定了 50 项符合条件的研究，其中 8 项报告了有关零售环境中标签有效性的定量数据。在这八项研究中，五项显示与标签的引入相关的积极结果，但标签类型和报告的结果测量的异质性排除了荟萃分析。我们确定了标签可能通过其合理地减少盗窃的三种机制——增加风险、减少回报、增加努力——发现这些机制因标签类型而异，它们的激活取决于五类主要的调节器：零售店和员工、顾客（包括扒手）、标签类型、产品类型、以及警察和刑事司法系统的参与。文献中记录的实施挑战主要与人员配备问题和标记策略有关。最后，尽管可以对标签成本进行估算，但我们的搜索并未发现对标签的高质量已发表经济评估。结论通过应用 EMMIE 框架，本次审查强调了零售环境中安全标签所涉及的复杂性，因此预计会出现不同类型的标签通过不同的偶然机制减少盗窃，这些机制依赖于独特的条件配置。根据现有证据，很难确定标签作为减少盗窃措施的有效性，