Pricing Research: Methods for Finding Optimal Price Points

7 min read

Updated 2026-02-01

Guide

Pricing research helps you understand what customers will pay and find the price that maximizes revenue. Getting pricing right is critical—too high loses sales, too low leaves money on the table.

Key Takeaways

•Van Westendorp identifies acceptable price ranges through four questions
•Gabor-Granger directly measures purchase likelihood at specific prices
•Conjoint analysis measures price sensitivity alongside feature preferences
•Stated willingness to pay often exceeds actual behavior—validate with tests
•Segment-level analysis reveals different price sensitivities

Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity

Four questions: 1) Too expensive to consider? 2) So cheap you question quality? 3) Getting expensive but still consider? 4) A bargain? Plot distributions to find optimal price range.

Gabor-Granger Method

Show product, ask "Would you buy at $X?" If yes, increase price; if no, decrease. Creates demand curve showing % who would buy at each price.

Best Practices

Describe product fully. Use realistic prices. Segment results. Validate with market tests. Consider that higher prices can increase perceived quality.

Quick start

Put this into practice for $9

You just read about pricing research. Now test your own idea with predicted market data. Results in about 1 hour.

Validate for $9

Find Your Optimal Price

Run pricing research with AI-powered surveys.

Run Pricing Research

Frequently Asked Questions

Directional but often overstates willingness to pay. Use to narrow the range, then validate with tests.

Both direct (Gabor-Granger) and indirect (conjoint) have merits. Van Westendorp balances both.

Related Resources