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Introduction
Pricing effectively a new business-to-business (B2B) product is crucial for its long-term success in the market (Fill and Fill, 2005; Forman and Hunt, 2005). Whatever conditions a new product may face, a faulty pricing strategy may jeopardize its market survival (Lancioni, 2005). Authors such as Shipley and Jobber (2001, p. 301) suggest “price management is a critical element in marketing and competitive strategy and a key determinant of performance. Price is the measure by which industrial customers judge the value of an offering and it strongly impacts brand selection among competing alternatives.” Indounas and Avlonitis (2011) have also emphasized the need to price a new B2B product effectively. The importance of other factors that may have an influence on the success of a new B2B product in the market notwithstanding, its initial price is a crucial variable that determines this success.
Despite the above consensus regarding the significance of pricing a new B2B product, a review of the existing literature reveals that only a few empirical studies have been conducted on this field. For instance, Bernstein and Macias (2002) and Woodside (1985) examined the new product pricing process in the case of two different companies, while Gupta and diBenedetto (2007) investigated the problem of optimal joint pricing and advertising decision-making for a new product facing competitive entry. Also, Yoon (1991) shed some light on pricing new imitative products, whereas Abratt and Pitt (1985) studied, from a descriptive perspective, the new product pricing strategies of 21 industrial firms operating in South Africa. Ingenbleek et al. (2003) examined the conditions that may lead to successful new B2B product pricing and concluded that a contingency approach is needed if effective pricing decisions are to be made.
It is interesting to note that, apart from the above studies, a number of other empirical studies regarding B2B pricing in general (not new B2B pricing in particular) have also been conducted. For instance, Indounas (2019) examined the concept of market-based pricing, Guerreiro and Amaral (2018) focused on the differences between cost-based and value-based pricing, while Formentini and Romano (2016) underlined the importance of supply chain collaboration in effective B2B pricing. Monroe et al. (2015), Hinterhuber (2015) and Liozu (2015) shed some light on behavioral pricing, Hinterhuber and Liozu (2014)...