Price Sensitivity Meter

What it measures

A consumer price research technique using four price perception questions to identify acceptable price ranges and optimal price points. The four curves (too cheap, cheap, expensive, too expensive) intersect to define the Range of Acceptable Prices and the Optimal Price Point. Widely used in new product pricing research and willingness-to-pay studies.

Response format

4 open-ended price questions producing four cumulative price distribution curves

Scale items

• At what price would you consider this product to be so expensive that you would not consider buying it? (Too expensive)
• At what price would you consider this product to be priced so low that you would feel the quality couldn't be very good? (Too cheap)
• At what price would you consider this product starting to get expensive, so that it is not out of the question, but you would have to give some thought to buying it? (Expensive/Getting dear)
• At what price would you consider this product to be a bargain — a great buy for the money? (Cheap/Good value)

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Not a Likert scale — results are analysed graphically by plotting four cumulative frequency distributions and identifying intersection points. Key outputs: Acceptable Price Range, Optimal Price Point (OPP), and Acceptable Price Range. Widely used in conjoint analysis and pricing research. Requires minimum sample of n=100 for stable curves.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Van Westendorp, P. (1976). NSS price sensitivity meter (PSM) — A new approach to study consumer perception of prices. ESOMAR Proceedings, 139–167.

Keywords