CHAPTER 6: BUSINESS MARKETS AND BUSINESS BUYER BEHAVIOR

The Business Market - It also includes retailing and wholesaling firms that acquire goods for the purpose
of reselling or renting them to others at a profit.

Characteristic of Business Markets

 Market Structure and Demand

o Fewer, Larger buyers – Buyers are concentrated by size in the organizational market.
o Geographically concentrated Demand derived from consumers
o Inelastic Demand - Total Industry Demand for industrial goods is relatively unaffected by
changes in price in the consumer market.
o Fluctuating Demand - Organisation Demand is characterised by much greater fluctuation
than that of business markets, generally, organisational buying is closely related to the
economic cycle.
 Nature of the Buying Unit
o More buyers
o More professional purchasing effort
 Types of Decisions & The Decision Process
o More complex decision - business buyers may take longer to make their decisions.
o Process is more formalized - Large business purchases usually call for detailed product
specifications, written purchase orders, careful supplier searches and formal approval.
o Buyer and seller are more dependent on each other - business marketers may work
closely with their customers during all stages of the buying process.
o Build close long term relationships with customers - business marketers keep a
customer’s orders by meeting current needs and thinking ahead to meet the customer’s
future needs.

Stages in the business buying process

 Problem recognition - The buying process begins when someone in the company recognises a
problem or a need that can be met by acquiring a specific good or a service. PR can result from
internal or external stimuli.
 General Need Description - Having recognised a need, the buyer next prepares a general need
description that describes the characteristics and quantity of the needed item.
 Product Specification - The buying organisation next develops the item’s technical product
specifications, often with the help of a value analysis engineering team.
 Supplier Search - The buyer now conducts a supplier search to find the best vendors.
 Proposal Solicitation - The buyer invites qualified suppliers to submit proposals. In response,
some suppliers will send only a catalogue or a salesperson.
 Supplier Selection - The members of the buying centre now review the proposals and select a
supplier or suppliers. During supplier selection, the buying centre will often draw up a list of the
desired supplier attributes and their relative importance.
 Order Routine Specification - The buyer now prepares an order-routine specification. It includes
the final order with the chosen supplier or suppliers and lists items such as technical
specifications, quantity needed, expected time of delivery, return policies and warranties.
 Performance Review - In this stage, the buyer reviews supplier performance. The buyer may
contact users and ask them to rate their satisfaction. The performance review may lead the buyer
to continue, modify or drop the arrangement.