Qualitative Pricing Research
Background
- Qualitative pricing research is primarily focused on understanding a customers’ willingness to pay or perception of value.
- Qualitative pricing research is not used nearly as frequently as quantitative. However, it has an important role in the domain of pricing research.
- It is much more frequently used in B2B research, and appropriately so. However, it is often misused in the B2C environment e.g. focus groups using the Van Westendorp methodology.
- Unique tools such as; Value Maps, Value Hierarchies and Financial Value Calculators can be developed from the results of a B2B qualitative study.
- This review focuses on the execution of depth interviews as a means to collecting qualitative pricing data.
Background
Description of How it Works
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Strengths
Weaknesses
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Our Assessment
- In the initial stages of the project a significant amount of time should be allocated to determining which customers should be interviewed. The customer target list should be based on the expectation that the selected customers will provide the greatest insight or the most valued customers.
- In our experience, we have found that qualitative research is worth exploring as a pricing research methodology under the following conditions;
- Complex product confi gurations,
- B2B environments,
- When multiple decision makers are involved in the purchase decision.
- We have found that this pricing research methodology is not effective when;
- The purchase is an impulse decision,
- The product or service is a commodity,
- It is a simple decision making process for the buyer.