The application of product costs in pricing in British manufacturing industry

This paper uses a questionnaire to identify which types of product cost are used in pricing decisions, and interviews to assess how product costs are used in pricing decisions. The results indicate that operating units using cost-plus pricing use product costs to assist in determining selling prices, but consider market-based factors by adjusting the cost-plus price for these factors. Operating units that use the market to price products, use product costs to calculate the contribution or profit / loss on product sales. Although product costs are generally used in pricing decisions, the extent to which they are used is dependent on the extent to which the market influences prices.