114 CHAPTER6ANALYZINGBUSINESSMARKETS ANDBUYERBEHAVIOR
➤ Buyers:People who have formal authority to select the supplier and arrange the
purchase terms, including high-level managers. Buyers may help shape product
specifications, but their major role is selecting vendors and negotiating.
➤ Gatekeepers:People who have the power to prevent sellers or information from
reaching members of the buying center; examples are purchasing agents,
receptionists, and telephone operators.There is also a trend toward team-based buying. In one survey, 87 percent of the
purchasing executives at Fortune 1000 companies see more use of teams drawn from
different departments and functions to make buying decisions.^11 This trend is leading
to more team selling, as shown in the earlier Cutler-Hammer example.
To target their efforts properly, business marketers have to figure out: Who are
the major decision participants? What decisions do they influence? What is their level
of influence? What evaluation criteria do they use? When a buying center includes
many participants, the business marketer will not have the time or resources to reach
all of them. Small sellers concentrate on reaching the key buying influencers.Larger sell-
ers go for multilevel in-depth sellingto reach as many buying-center participants as possi-
ble. Their salespeople virtually “live” with their high-volume customers. In general, the
most successful companies rely more heavily on communications to reach hidden buy-
ing influences and keep their current customers sold.^12
Furthermore, the buying center can be highly dynamic, so business marketers
need to periodically review their assumptions about who is participating. For years,
Kodak sold X-ray film to hospital lab technicians, not noticing that buying decisions
were increasingly being made by professional administrators. As sales declined, Kodak
was finally forced to revise its market targeting strategy.Major Influences on Business Buying
Business buyers respond to many influences when they make their decisions. When
supplier offerings are similar, buyers can satisfy the purchasing requirements with any
supplier, and they place more weight on the personal treatment they receive. When
supplier offerings differ substantially, buyers are more accountable for their choices
and pay more attention to economic factors. Business buyers respond to four main
influences: environmental, organizational, interpersonal, and individual^13 (Figure
3-5); culture is also a factor.Environmental Factors
Within the macroenvironment, business buyers pay close attention to numerous eco-
nomic factors, including interest rates and levels of production, investment, and con-
sumer spending. In a recession, business buyers reduce their investment in plant,
equipment, and inventories. Business marketers can do little to stimulate total
demand in recessionary periods; they can only fight harder to increase or maintain
their share of demand.
Companies that fear materials shortages often buy and hold large inventories
and sign long-term contracts with suppliers to ensure steady availability. In fact,
DuPont, Ford, and other major companies regard long-term supply planningas a major
responsibility of their purchasing managers.
Business buyers also actively monitor technological, political-regulatory, and
competitive developments. For example, environmental concerns can cause changes
in business buyer behavior. A printing firm might favor suppliers that carry recycled
papers or use environmentally safe ink. One buyer claimed, “We push suppliers with
technical expertise to be more socially conscious.”