You need to set pricing for a new product. You run surveys asking "What would you pay for this?" The responses are all over the map. You're more confused than when you started.
Pricing research fails when it asks hypothetical questions to people with no buying intent. The answers bear no relationship to actual purchasing behavior.
After conducting pricing research for three B2B product launches and advising on dozens more, I've learned that useful pricing research doesn't ask what people would pay—it reveals what they actually value and what trade-offs they're willing to make.
Here's how to run pricing research that actually informs decisions.
Start With Value Understanding, Not Price Anchoring
The biggest mistake: leading with price questions before understanding value.
Begin with value discovery conversations. Before asking about pricing, understand:
- What problem does this solve for them?
- What's the cost of not solving it (time, money, risk)?
- What alternatives are they considering?
- How do they currently budget for solutions like this?
These questions establish the value context that makes pricing research meaningful.
Map current spending on alternatives. If prospects spend $50K annually on a combination of tools and manual processes, that's your budget anchor—not some hypothetical willingness-to-pay number.
Identify the economic value you create. If your product saves a team 20 hours per week at a $100 blended rate, that's $104K annual value. Your pricing should capture a fraction of that value created.
Value understanding gives you boundaries for pricing research.
Use Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity Meter
When you do ask about price, use methodology that accounts for psychological anchoring.
The Van Westendorp approach asks four questions:
- At what price would this be so expensive that you wouldn't consider it? (Too expensive)
- At what price would you consider it expensive but still consider buying? (Expensive)
- At what price would you consider it a bargain? (Cheap)
- At what price would it be so cheap you'd question the quality? (Too cheap)
Plot the responses to find:
- Optimal price point (intersection of "too expensive" and "too cheap")
- Acceptable price range (between "expensive" and "cheap")
- Price sensitivity by segment
This reveals psychological price thresholds better than "what would you pay?" questions.
Run with 50-100 qualified prospects. Need statistical significance. Survey people who actually match your ICP and have budget authority.
Test Willingness to Pay Through Feature Trade-Offs
Better than asking about price: ask about feature-price trade-offs.
Use conjoint analysis or discrete choice modeling. Show respondents product configurations with different features at different price points. Ask them to choose.
Example choices:
- Option A: Basic features at $500/month
- Option B: Advanced features at $1,200/month
- Option C: All features at $2,000/month
Repeat with different combinations. Through multiple choices, the methodology reveals:
- Which features drive the most value
- Price sensitivity at different feature levels
- How much incremental value each feature adds
This shows what people actually choose, not what they claim they'd choose.
Test packaging tier structures. Show different three-tier structures. Which creates clearest value differentiation? Where do respondents naturally select?
Run Reference Price Competitive Analysis
Understanding competitive pricing isn't research, but it anchors your research questions.
Map competitor pricing across dimensions:
- Entry-level pricing
- Mid-tier pricing
- Enterprise pricing
- Typical discount levels
- Add-on and expansion pricing
Identify pricing models in your category:
- Per-seat vs. per-usage
- Flat fee vs. tiered
- Feature-based vs. volume-based
Test pricing relative to competitive anchors. In research, frame questions like: "Competitor X costs $1,000/month for similar capabilities. At what price point would our solution represent good value given [differentiation]?"
This grounds research in market reality.
Conduct Pricing Pilot With Live Buyers
The most reliable pricing research: watch actual buying behavior.
Launch with pilot pricing to early customers. Offer beta pricing with transparency: "We're finalizing our pricing model. Early customers get [X]% off for 12 months while we validate pricing."
Test multiple price points across pilot cohorts. Cohort A at $750/month, Cohort B at $1,000/month, Cohort C at $1,500/month. Measure:
- Conversion rate by price point
- Time to close by price point
- Customer segment at each price point
- Objections and push-back level
Monitor activation and retention. Low price points might convert well but attract wrong customers who don't activate. Higher price points might attract better-fit customers with higher retention.
Real purchase behavior beats survey responses every time.
Interview Recent Buyers on Purchase Decision
After someone buys, ask about the pricing decision while it's fresh.
Within 2 weeks of purchase, interview 10-15 new customers:
- "How did you evaluate our pricing?"
- "Did you compare our pricing to alternatives? Which ones?"
- "At what price point would you have walked away?"
- "Were there features you wished were in your tier?"
- "How did you justify the price internally?"
Look for patterns in objections and hesitations. If 8 out of 10 customers mention the same pricing friction point, that's signal.
Ask about budget context. "What budget did this come from? How does this compare to other tools in that budget?" This reveals category and competitive set.
Post-purchase interviews reveal actual decision-making, not hypothetical responses.
Test Pricing Communication and Framing
Same price can feel expensive or reasonable based on framing.
Test different pricing presentations:
Annual vs. monthly framing:
- "$12,000 per year" vs. "$1,000 per month"
Per-unit framing:
- "$1,000 per month" vs. "$50 per user per month"
Value-anchored framing:
- "$1,000 per month" vs. "Save $5,000 in operational costs for $1,000 per month"
Show variants to different groups, measure:
- Perceived value
- Purchase intent
- Price objections
The right framing can make a significant price increase feel reasonable.
Segment Your Research by Customer Type
Different segments have different pricing expectations and sensitivities.
Run separate pricing research for:
- SMB vs. Mid-market vs. Enterprise
- Different industries if you serve multiple
- Different use cases if product serves varied needs
- Different buyer roles (technical vs. economic buyer)
What SMBs will pay differs dramatically from enterprises. Don't average across segments—you'll end up with pricing that doesn't work for anyone.
Validate Pricing Against Unit Economics
Research might say customers will pay $X, but can your business succeed at $X?
Calculate your required pricing based on:
- Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
- CAC payback period target (usually 12 months or less for SaaS)
- Target gross margins (usually 70%+ for software)
- Customer lifetime value targets (LTV should be 3x+ CAC)
If research-validated pricing doesn't support unit economics: Either reduce CAC, increase efficiency, or focus on higher-value segments that support higher pricing.
Pricing must satisfy both customer willingness to pay AND business model requirements.
Common Pricing Research Mistakes
Most pricing research fails for predictable reasons.
Surveying people who aren't buyers. Asking developers about pricing when business leaders make buying decisions yields useless data.
Asking about pricing too early. Before prospects understand value, they can't assess pricing rationally.
Not accounting for anchoring effects. The first price you mention anchors all subsequent responses.
Treating stated preferences as actual behavior. People consistently overestimate what they'd pay in surveys vs. what they actually pay.
Ignoring competitive context. Pricing research in a vacuum doesn't reflect market reality.
Over-complicating the research. Complex conjoint studies might yield precise answers to the wrong question. Simple methods often work better.
Pricing research succeeds when it combines multiple methodologies: value discovery interviews, trade-off analysis, competitive benchmarking, and real purchase behavior. No single research method gives you the answer. Triangulate across methods to build confidence in your pricing decisions.