Should Consumers Request Cost Transparency? Cost Transparency in Consumer Markets

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a viewpoint about the role of cost transparency in consumer markets and whether or not consumers should request cost transparency from sellers, in light of the article by Antonis et al. (2015). Design/methodology/approach – Research in the area of cost transparency, pricing and related theoretical domains is analysed to understand the potential role for buyers and sellers in consumer markets. Findings – Although there are an increasing number of examples of greater operational transparency in supply chains, cost transparency in consumer markets is not widespread. Increased cost transparency represents an important product attribute for consumers, enhancing fairness perceptions and affective evaluations. For sellers, it is a potentially powerful complement to price moves and, through enhancing trust among consumers, can positively influence brand value(s). Research limitations/implications – Operational and cost transparency holds much promise as an emerging area in marketing but research into cost transparency in consumer markets is in its early stages and the limited number of field examples reduces the scope for empirical work. However, using carefully controlled lab experiments, much can be done to understand the generalisability and boundary conditions to its effect. Originality/value – This paper takes a balanced view about value to consumers and the implementation of cost transparency in consumer markets, highlighting key mechanisms through which greater transparency may influence consumer product evaluations and concluding with some caveats in relation to its practice