Consumer trust is a valuable and unpredictable asset, and blockchain technology (BT) could emerge as a powerful ally for retailers as well.
A study entitled What you see is what you get: the impact of blockchain technology transparency on consumers, carried out by Matilde Rapezzi, Gabriele Pizzi and Gian Luca Marzocchi of the University of Bologna and published in Marketing Letters, investigates how the transparency offered by blockchain can influence consumer perceptions and behaviors.
The research, based on three experiments involving a total of 1995 participants, explores an as yet untrodden path: the impact of blockchain transparency on consumers’ future intentions toward retailers. The findings are surprising and offer valuable insights for academics and practitioners alike.
The first experiment, in which 400 U.K. participants were involved, revealed that the transparency offered by blockchain significantly increases perceptions of product quality, trust in the retailer, and consumers’ future intentions.
These effects were found to be independent of the level of interactivity of the information, suggesting that it is the transparency itself, and not the way it is presented, that makes the difference.
But what makes blockchain transparency so effective? The mediation analysis performed by the researchers provides an illuminating answer: transparency acts as a powerful quality signal that, in turn, increases trust in the retailer. This ripple effect translates into greater future consumer intentions, such as repurchase and positive word of mouth.
The second experiment, again involving 400 participants, introduced a moderating variable: the amount of information provided. The results showed that when the amount of information is low, blockchain transparency has a significant effect on perceived quality. However, this effect disappears when the amount of information is already high. This suggests that blockchain transparency and information quantity may act as substitute quality signals.
The third experiment, with 395 participants, compared the effectiveness of blockchain with that of corporate-owned tracking technologies. The results confirmed the superiority of blockchain: participants perceived the tracking information as more secure and the retailer as more transparent when blockchain was used.
These findings have crucial implications for the retail sector. In an environment where consumers are increasingly concerned about the origin and quality of products, blockchain offers retailers a powerful tool for building trust and loyalty. Transparency is no longer just an ethical issue but becomes a strategic asset.
Yet, the study also raises important questions. For example, what would happen if the data recorded in the blockchain were incorrect or falsified? And how would the dynamics change if the blockchain revealed that a retailer’s private label supply chain was inferior to the brands available in store?
In summary, this research opens up new frontiers in understanding the role of blockchain technology in retail and is worth consulting in its full version.
Indeed, as the industry moves toward greater transparency, blockchain is emerging as a key tool for retailers who want to build lasting trust-based relationships with their customers. But, as always in research, every answer begets new questions, paving the way for future studies in this fascinating field of intersection between technology and consumer behavior.
