What is referred to as the real cost of changing a listed price?

The correct answer is "menu cost" because it specifically refers to the costs associated with changing prices. This concept arises from the idea that businesses incur various expenses when they adjust prices, such as printing new menus, updating website prices, or retraining employees to communicate new prices to customers. These costs are often viewed in terms of time and resources, and they can influence a firm's pricing strategy, particularly in an inflationary environment where frequent price adjustments might be necessary.

Understanding menu costs is important in macroeconomics as they illustrate how price rigidity can occur. If the costs of changing prices are too high, businesses may choose to maintain their existing prices even when conditions suggest they should be altered. This can contribute to overall economic phenomena like stickiness in prices.

The other concepts, while related to costs in economics, do not specifically capture this notion of changing a listed price in the same way. Adjustment costs refer to costs incurred when changing the level of production for a good, markup cost pertains to the difference between the cost of producing a good and its selling price, and transaction costs generally involve costs incurred in making an economic exchange or market transaction but do not focus specifically on price changes.