<p>Anomalous electron transport in Hall thrusters is traditionally viewed as detrimental to thruster performance due to the power consumption associated with electron back-flow. The electron back-flow can significantly increase when the magnetic barrier near the acceleration region is deteriorated. However, enhanced cross-field transport in the near-anode or plume region, which contributes less to the total resistivity across the space, can potentially control thruster operation while minimizing known detrimental effects. In this work, we explore how enhanced cross-field transport in such regions affects various aspects of Hall thruster operation and explore the potential applications of artificially enhanced cross-field transport using a radial-axial 2D hybrid particle-in-cell simulation. We report that, in certain cases, even though electron back-flow increases, induced changes in plasma formation and ion acceleration due to manipulated anomalous transport can occur favorably, overall improving thruster performance. This finding motivates further comprehensive studies focused on the control of cross-field electron transport.</p>