Nielsen's suite of pricing tools is a go-to solution for many insights and marketing teams—but simply accessing the platform isn’t enough to guarantee strong outcomes. When running price elasticity research in Nielsen, it's easy to run into challenges that distort results or lead to ineffective business decisions. Below are some of the most common mistakes that teams encounter when running these studies without expert guidance.

1. Using Incomplete or Poorly Segmented Data

Many teams jump into elasticity modeling using broad shopper data without properly segmenting it by channel, region, or consumer cohort. This can dilute real price sensitivity and obscure key insights. For instance, discount-driven shoppers in club stores may respond differently than brand-loyal customers shopping online—but if their behaviors are averaged together, important differences are lost.

2. Misinterpreting Price Thresholds and Breakpoints

Nielsen tools can help pinpoint consumer price thresholds—the point at which shoppers change behavior significantly—but these metrics are often misunderstood. Instead of identifying actionable breakpoints, teams sometimes settle for arbitrary percent change thresholds (e.g., ±10%). This can result in suboptimal pricing that misses behavioral cues or overestimates inelastic demand.

3. Overlooking the Role of Promotion in Distorting Elasticity

Promotions can inflate or suppress perceived price sensitivity. A common mistake is not accounting for these distortions in elasticity data. For example, aggressive TPRs (temporary price reductions) or display support can temporarily make a product appear highly elastic—but that behavior may not reflect true long-term demand. This leads to inefficient promo planning that misuses budget.

4. Running Studies Without Adjusting for Category Dynamics

Each category behaves differently based on buyer frequency, need state, and brand loyalty. Yet many DIY price studies overlook this. For example, increasing the price of a pantry staple may trigger completely different behavior than changing the price of a specialty item. Without category-specific knowledge, teams risk applying one-size-fits-all conclusions to very different product groups.

5. Failing to Stress-Test the Model

Elasticity models are only as good as the inputs and assumptions behind them. When teams don’t test against alternative scenarios, or ignore outlier behaviors, models may appear clean but lack durability. Strong price research requires rigor—not just number crunching, but thoughtful interpretation.

• Lack of behavioral context can skew promotions analysis
• Over-reliance on default Nielsen templates reduces custom insights
• Incorrect handling of pricing tiers leads to value mismatch

Addressing these issues starts with better study design, more precise segmentation, and deeper category knowledge. SIVO’s On Demand Talent can help your team surface meaningful pricing signals, leveraging decades of real-world experience to avoid these common traps and strengthen your research outcomes.

DIY market research tools have made it easier than ever to run price elasticity studies, but they’ve also introduced a gap between data availability and data usability. Just because the numbers are there doesn’t mean they’re delivering value. Without experienced researchers guiding the process, even the most robust analytic tools—like Nielsen—may leave businesses with surface-level insights that fall short of informing real strategy.

Tools Provide Data, Not Strategy

Nielsen tools are built for scale and speed, not customization or strategic nuance. They can quickly calculate price elasticities, simulate promos, or flag upward/downward thresholds—but interpreting those results within the broader context of consumer behavior often requires advanced skill. For example, knowing that a product has an elasticity coefficient of -2.1 is helpful only if you understand how that fits against category norms, purchase frequency, brand equity, and shopper mindset. Tools can’t connect those dots—people do.

Why Behavioral Economics Matters

Consumer pricing behavior isn’t rational. Buyers are heavily influenced by emotion, perceived value, and cognitive shortcuts like price anchors or “charm pricing” (e.g., $9.99 vs. $10.00). Researchers trained in behavioral economics can spot when standard elasticities are misleading—and recommend smarter pricing strategies that take real human behavior into account, not just math models.

Promo Efficiency Can Be Misread

Sometimes, a promotion looks statistically efficient—low depth, high lift. But only experienced consumer behavior experts can assess whether that “efficiency” is sustainable or the result of pent-up demand, cross-brand switching, or noise in the data. Nielsen tools won’t catch nuances like promotional cannibalization within a portfolio or dilution of value perception over time.

Real-World Decisions Require Real-World Expertise

When pricing decisions impact everything from brand margin to shelf space negotiations, it’s critical to have trusted talent in your corner. That’s where SIVO’s On Demand Talent plays a unique role. Unlike freelancers or consultants, these are seasoned professionals who’ve worked across CPG, retail, food service, and more—bringing both technical mastery and commercial acumen. They know how to:

• Translate elasticity readings into consumer behavior actions
• Spot inconsistencies in value tiers and pricing ladders
• Design multi-scenario simulations for realistic decision-making

By pairing DIY platforms with expert-led design and analysis, you’re not just running analyses—you’re creating roadmaps for profitable growth. Whether it’s improving promotion efficiency analysis in Nielsen or evaluating new value tier strategies, tapping into fractional insights experts ensures your pricing research delivers impact, not just numbers.

One of the most common challenges in pricing research using Nielsen tools is misinterpreting promotion performance and misclassifying value tiers. DIY market researchers often struggle to assess how different promotional tactics truly influence sales or how to split products and brands into the right pricing categories. Without the guidance of experienced professionals, businesses risk making inaccurate conclusions that lead to suboptimal pricing strategies.

Common Pitfalls in Promo and Value Tier Analysis

Here are some recurring issues we see in promotion analysis and value tier pricing efforts:

• Promotions appear effective–but only drive pantry loading, not incremental sales
• Category context is ignored, leading to misaligned expectations on promo ROI
• Value tiers are oversimplified, especially when mixing halo brands and private labels
• Thresholds and sensitivity are misunderstood due to lack of behavioral insight

Understanding these nuances is critical. For example, a fictional CPG brand once saw a big spike from a deep price cut–but SIVO’s On Demand Talent helped them realize it wasn’t sustainable growth, just short-term pantry loading during an already seasonal sales window. Without that added layer of interpretation, the team might have over-invested in a promotion model that didn't actually increase long-term market share.

Why Expertise Makes the Difference

Interpreting elasticity data from Nielsen requires more than just technical skill. It requires an understanding of category behavior, shopper psychology, and promotional norms that vary widely across segments. On Demand Talent from SIVO brings in expert minds who know how to apply these lenses to evaluate promotion efficiency and tier positioning accurately, even in complex competitive environments.

Whether you’re managing premium SKUs or trying to hold value tiers against inflationary pressure, experts know how to segment and position offers in a way that reflects both business goals and consumer response.

By partnering with specialized talent, teams gain access to quicker, more confident reads on promotion strategy–backed by knowledge that DIY tools alone can’t provide. Ultimately, this leads to more informed pricing decisions that move the business, not just the margins.

Accurate pricing research starts with how the study is built. That’s where many DIY elasticity efforts fall short. Even with the best intentions, insights teams using self-serve Nielsen tools may unknowingly design studies that miss key context, apply generic models, or overlook consumer behavior triggers. The result? Data that looks clean but doesn’t hold up in strategic decision-making.

Smart pricing starts before a question is asked. By incorporating behavioral science and category expertise into study design, even simple elasticity measures can become rich sources of ROI-driving insight.

Three Reasons Category and Behavioral Experts Are Essential

When you bring specialists into the early stages of study setup, several benefits flow downstream:

• Better hypotheses: Experts help align pricing questions to business needs and brand priorities.
• Stronger segmentation: Understanding category dynamics enables more accurate splits among consumer groups, brands, and channels.
• Cleaner threshold reads: Behavioral economists identify the psychological price points that inform real choices–not just mathematical relationships.

Real-World Example (Fictional)

Let’s say a beverage brand wants to test impact of a price change from $1.99 to $2.29. Left to the tool, a standard analysis might say the move created “minimal volume impact.” But when one of SIVO’s On Demand Talent experts reviewed, they flagged that based on behavioral heuristics, the $2+ mark was a key psychological threshold in that subcategory, impacting perceived value. The same price change might have been fine in another context–but in this case, it explained slowly eroding loyalty.

This type of layered insight only comes from people who’ve seen how data meets reality. AI and smart tools are advancing quickly, but they still lack the human interpretation needed to read signals the right way. On Demand Talent brings that expertise to the table.

With the right study design from the start, pricing research becomes a growth tool–not just a report. It enables insights leaders to make confident, data-backed recommendations that account for nuance, seasonality, consumer bias, and competitive activity.

With the rise of DIY market research tools and tighter timelines, pricing research has become more dynamic–but also more complicated to get right. That’s where SIVO’s On Demand Talent steps in, giving organizations a flexible, expert-led solution that bridges the gap between automated research and strategic outcomes.

Fractional Support for Flexible Needs

SIVO’s network of insights professionals is made up of experienced researchers who understand pricing strategy, consumer behavior, and how to navigate platforms like Nielsen BASES, RPM, or other elasticity tools. Whether your team is understaffed, facing a short-term project, or trying to train junior team members, our On Demand Talent quickly steps in to fill knowledge and capacity gaps without the long hiring cycle.

What Makes On Demand Talent Different?

Unlike freelancers or general consultants, SIVO’s On Demand Talent are hand-selected professionals who’ve worked across industries and brands. They’re ready to dive in and start delivering value immediately, without needing lengthy ramp-up time. This is especially critical when the stakes are high–like setting launch prices, planning promotions, or navigating post-inflation recovery.

Capabilities include:

• Interpreting Nielsen elasticity results with category and behavioral lenses
• Evaluating promotion efficiency and long-term impact vs. short-term lift
• Helping design better price studies tailored to brand objectives
• Advising on value tier pricing for premium, mainstream, and budget segments

On Demand Talent also builds internal capability. Many clients use fractional support not just to add capacity, but to mentor junior talent or refine their internal use of tools like Nielsen. This helps organizations make the most of their platform investments while raising the overall quality of insights output.

Whether you need support for one high-stakes pricing project or want to enhance your team’s strategic muscle over time, SIVO offers flexible access to the right experts–exactly when you need them.