{
  "title": "Opportunity cost: what the budget alone cannot show",
  "url": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/cout-opportunite-ce-que-le-budget-ne-suffit-pas-a-montrer-en",
  "language": "en",
  "datePublished": "2026-06-10",
  "publisher": {
    "name": "SHR — Swiss Human Resources",
    "url": "https://www.shr.swiss",
    "address": "Esplanade de Pont-Rouge 9A, 1212 Lancy, Suisse"
  },
  "summary": "An expenditure can fit the budget without being the best use of resources. Research invites us to examine what a decision prevents us from doing elsewhere.",
  "section": "Research",
  "topic": "Decision-making",
  "place": {
    "name": "Zurich",
    "region": "Zurich",
    "country": "CH"
  },
  "keyPoints": [
    {
      "heading": "What the literature establishes",
      "point": "Shane Frederick, Nathan Novemsky, Jing Wang, Ravi Dhar and Stephen Nowlis (2009, Journal of Consumer Research) show, in consumer choice experiments, that participants do not consistently consider alternative uses of their money."
    },
    {
      "heading": "What makes the trade-off visible",
      "point": "Stephen Spiller (2011, Journal of Consumer Research) examines the conditions under which consumers consider opportunity costs."
    },
    {
      "heading": "The premature conclusion",
      "point": "One might conclude that listing the projects being sacrificed is enough to improve any decision."
    },
    {
      "heading": "What the evidence does not allow us to transfer directly",
      "point": "These studies concern consumer choices, not investment decisions in Zurich-based companies."
    },
    {
      "heading": "A practical check in Zurich",
      "point": "Within SHR’s « [Decision-making](/formation/prise-de-decision/zurich) » programme, an exercise applicable to financial services, insurance, tech and the European headquarters of international groups in Zurich is to add a section to proposals submitted for a decision over one month."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "authors": "Nowlis",
      "year": "2009",
      "source": "Journal of Consumer Research"
    },
    {
      "authors": "Spiller",
      "year": "2011",
      "source": "Journal of Consumer Research"
    }
  ],
  "wordCount": 398,
  "image": "https://www.shr.swiss/img/blog-editorial-2026-06-10-en.jpg?v=4",
  "translations": {
    "fr": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/cout-opportunite-ce-que-le-budget-ne-suffit-pas-a-montrer",
    "en": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/cout-opportunite-ce-que-le-budget-ne-suffit-pas-a-montrer-en",
    "de": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/cout-opportunite-ce-que-le-budget-ne-suffit-pas-a-montrer-de",
    "it": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/cout-opportunite-ce-que-le-budget-ne-suffit-pas-a-montrer-it"
  },
  "relatedPages": {
    "programme": "https://www.shr.swiss/formation/prise-de-decision/zurich",
    "city": "https://www.shr.swiss/formations-ville/zurich",
    "blog": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog"
  },
  "citationPolicy": "Citation autorisée avec mention « SHR — Swiss Human Resources » et lien vers l'article."
}