Antecedents and consequences of cost information usage in decision making

The value of a cost-management initiative rests on its ability in producing new and/or more accurate cost information for decision making. As such, insights on antecedents and consequences of using different types of cost information in decision making are important in evaluating cost-management initiatives. Behavioral research paradigm offers researchers a framework to interpret relationships between uses of different types of cost information and individuals’ behaviors. This chapter presents a review of behavioral studies on cost information usage in decision making published in 1998–2007. Findings of the review shows that using different types of cost information in decision making have significant impacts on individuals’ behaviors and uses of cost information are likely to be moderated by various human, system, and market factors.