STRATEGY
May 2026 · 6 min read
Two pricing methods.
One critical difference.
Van Westendorp and conjoint both work. Choosing the wrong one gives you accurate answers to the wrong question.
Guesswork is not a pricing strategy. Setting the right price requires data.
You know you need pricing research. You know you need to measure willingness to pay. But choosing the right methodology stops most teams cold. Two methods dominate B2B pricing research: Van Westendorp and conjoint analysis. Both produce reliable pricing data. Both rely on survey responses. But they answer fundamentally different questions. Choose the wrong one and you get perfectly accurate answers to the wrong question. Choose the right one and you get a price your market will actually accept.
What is Van Westendorp?
Van Westendorp is a direct pricing research method. It asks respondents to evaluate price thresholds for a specific, defined product.
You ask four specific questions: At what price is this a bargain? At what price is it getting expensive? At what price is it too expensive to consider? At what price is it so cheap you would question the quality? The answers plot on a graph. Where the lines cross, you find your acceptable price range and optimal price point. It shows you exactly where price sensitivity triggers buyer resistance. It is fast, easy for respondents to understand, and typically requires around 200 to 400 respondents to yield statistically significant data.
What is conjoint analysis?
Conjoint analysis takes an indirect approach. It mirrors real-world buying behaviour. Instead of asking about price in isolation, it presents buyers with a series of scenarios. Each scenario contains a different combination of features, service levels, and price points. The buyer chooses their preference.
The analysis works backward from those choices. It calculates the exact value of each individual feature and tells you how much weight price carries compared to other product attributes. It is more complex to design and usually needs 300 to 600 respondents to produce a reliable model of buyer behaviour.
Key differences
These two methods serve fundamentally different purposes.
Van Westendorp treats your product as a fixed concept. The features are set. It simply asks how much that exact product is worth. It gives you a price range.
Conjoint analysis treats your product as a variable concept. It assumes you are still deciding which features to include. It tells you how changes to the product impact willingness to pay. It gives you a dynamic pricing model.
When to use Van Westendorp
Speed and simplicity win here. Use this method when your product is fixed and you need an answer fast.
Use it when you are launching a single product with no tiers, testing a flat price increase for existing customers, need broad market boundaries before entering a new region, or have a smaller sample size of around 200 respondents. Van Westendorp tells you if your number is in the right ballpark. It does not help you decide what features belong in the product.
When to use conjoint analysis
Complex products require complex trade-offs. Use this method to build a pricing architecture.
Use it when you are designing a tiered B2B pricing model, need to know which features belong in your premium plan, are fighting aggressive competitive pricing pressure, or have access to a larger pool of 300 or more respondents. Conjoint analysis tells you what people will pay and what they are actually paying for.
Can you use both?
Yes. But usually not at the same time.
Use Van Westendorp early in the product lifecycle to establish a rough price range for a new concept. Once the product matures, run a conjoint study to optimise pricing tiers and feature bundles before a major launch or restructure. Start simple. Add complexity only when the decision requires it.
Work with Relumi
Every pricing question is different. We choose the method that fits yours.
When you work with Relumi, you deal directly with the person running your project. No layers, no handoffs. One project, one price, one outcome.
One month. One method. One decisive answer.
