Industrial buyers were more receptive to a proposed charge for a previously free digital service when the supplier explained the change or provided certain comparison information, a 2026 experiment found.
The Industrial Marketing Management study examines a difficult decision for companies that sell to other businesses: how to begin charging for a service customers already expect to receive at no extra cost.
Its results come from hypothetical scenarios, not actual contract renewals. They suggest communication deserves attention, while leaving open whether a real buyer would accept a particular fee.
Why a free service may become paid
Manufacturers and other suppliers sometimes provide software, monitoring or support alongside a product. A service that starts as a way to encourage adoption can become expensive to maintain as more customers use it.
Charging for that service may help cover development, support and security costs. Customers, however, may view a new fee as a loss of something included in their original purchase.
A supplier must also distinguish between optional additions and commitments already made in a contract. The legal and commercial terms of each relationship matter.
What the experiment tested
Researchers Joona Keränen, Anna Salonen, Harri Terho and Juha Munnukka presented industrial purchasing professionals with a proposed move from free to paid service. They compared different ways of explaining the change, including a reason for the fee, information about others and how the outcome was framed.
The main analysis used 386 responses after the researchers excluded respondents whose answers indicated inattention or carelessness. The initial eligible group was much larger. In an analysis using the full dataset, effects were weaker and not all remained statistically significant.
The authors report small-to-medium effects on willingness to accept the change among attentive respondents. A person’s answer to a scenario is not the same as a signed contract, and the research does not establish that any particular message is effective with every customer.
Explain the service as well as the fee
A business considering a new charge can explain what customers receive, when the change starts and how existing agreements are affected. An honest account of costs or added service features may help buyers evaluate the offer, but a persuasive explanation does not make an unsupported claim true.
Customers may also need time to compare the proposed service with alternatives, assess their own usage and seek internal approval. An abrupt announcement can create practical problems even when the price is reasonable.
For a supplier, retention is only one part of the calculation. Revenue from a new fee needs to be weighed against support costs, customers who decline and any effect on sales of the main product.
Test before applying a broad change
Companies can speak with customers, examine actual service use and test whether the proposed charge covers the costs it is intended to fund. They should also measure renewals and complaints over time rather than relying only on an initial response.
Our coverage of cost explanations examined a separate consumer experiment. Its findings concern purchase intentions in controlled settings and should not be applied directly to industrial contracts.
The supplier study highlights a useful distinction: a pricing decision sets the amount, while the transition determines whether customers understand the offer and can decide if it is worth paying for.
