When do high prices sell better for sustainable products in business-to-business markets? The role of price–sustainability fit

Amid increasing economic pressures, business-to-business (B2B) buyers face intensified challenges in reconciling sustainability commitments with cost constraints, making price and sustainability two increasingly critical yet often conflicting priorities in purchasing decisions. As a result, effective pricing strategies have become essential for driving the adoption of sustainable products. Using a multimethod approach—combining qualitative expert interviews and a scenario-based experimental study—this research delineates two information-processing stages (inference-making and intention-forming) to examine how B2B buyers navigate price–sustainability trade-offs in product evaluations. Drawing upon expectancy-disconfirmation theory, we show that buyers' product inferences depend on the (dis)confirmation of their expected price–sustainability fit—an anticipated alignment between a product's price and its sustainability level. The study further identifies contingency factors at the individual (price consciousness and green consumption values) and organizational (the weight of price in incentive schemes and firm sustainability orientation) levels that shape buyer responses to sustainable products across the information-processing stages. The findings offer guidance for selling firms on pricing and sales strategies for sustainable products, and for buying firms on fostering buyer-level implementation of sustainable purchasing strategies. • Buyers reconcile sustainability commitments with cost constraints through price–sustainability trade-offs. • Buyers' product inferences depend on the (dis)confirmation of their expected price–sustainability fit. • Buyers' sustainable purchasing decisions are shaped by both individual buyer values and organizational structures. • High price consciousness strengthens buyers’ monetary sacrifice inferences, while green consumption values mitigate them. • Firm sustainability orientation fosters buyers' sustainable purchasing intentions, while price-focused incentives deter them.