Making the Invisible Visible: Digital Transparency and Consumer Trust in Natural Cosmetics

This article examines how behind-the-scenes (BTS) digital storytelling shapes perceived transparency and consumer trust in the natural cosmetics sector. Drawing on an exploratory qualitative study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with thirteen Tunisian consumers who regularly use natural or organic cosmetics and follow at least one natural cosmetics brand on social media. Using short BTS clips from Floraison, a Tunisian natural cosmetics brand, as elicitation material, the analysis identifies three interrelated themes: process-based storytelling as a basis for “making production visible”, the role of clarity, detail, and cross-channel coherence in evaluating disclosure, and the emergence of a calibrated form of trust that remains conditional and reflexive. The findings show that consumers do not passively receive transparency claims but actively interpret narrative, visual, and contextual cues to decide whether BTS content constitutes meaningful openness or merely another branding device. Perceived transparency functions as a narrative pathway through which beliefs about brand competence, integrity, and benevolence are constructed, yet trust remains fragile when curation and selectivity are made salient. The study contributes to research on digital storytelling, perceived transparency, and brand trust by conceptualizing BTS videos as narrative disclosure and by foregrounding consumers’ interpretive work in a credence-driven category