Business-to-business marketing: organizational buying behaviour, relationships and networks 145
they interviewed, three or more people became
involved in the buying process. Anyon (1963)
suggested that there was an average of six
people involved, whilst Hill and Hillier (1977)
point out that in situations where certain
expensive products are being purchased for the
first time, as many as 40 people may become
involved in the purchase decision. While inter-
esting, generalizations such as these are of little
practical help. The business marketer will be
more concerned to discover who are the influ-
ential people in the different types of organiza-
tions they deal with at each stage of the
decision-making process and their relative
degree of influence.
Shankleman (1970), reporting a study of
the purchasing of capital equipment, wrote:
The managing director would agree to the
equipment budget for the research department
expressed solely in terms of money. The
research manager would decide which of the
various requests for money should have prior-
ity and the section head would decide which of
the various items should be bought on the basis
of a detailed study of the reports made by his
team.Similarly, in an earlier study, Thain (1959)
concluded that top management made the
fundamental policy decision whether or not to
buy, but the operational staff decided what to
buy.
The structure of the buying centre can also
be examined in the light of the different roles of
the individuals who constitute it. Webster and
Wind (1972a) suggest the major roles found in
buying centres to be:
Users.
Influencers.
Deciders.
Gatekeepers.
It is apparent that there may be many sources of
influence on the buying decision, both formal
and informal. By piecing together the sugges-
tions of the various research studies into the
composition of the buying centre, it is possible
to draw up the following list of roles that may
be performed:1 Policy makers.
2 Purchasers.
3 Users.
4 Technologists.
5 Influencers.
6 Gatekeepers.
7 Deciders.Policy makers
A company may adopt certain general policies
in its buying which may affect the purchase
behaviour of a single item. For example, it may
be company policy to only purchase from
British suppliers, or suppliers within a range of
50 kilometres, or for certain items to be multiple
sourced.Purchasers
The purchaser is here defined as the person or
persons who have formal authority for order-
ing the product or service. A considerable
amount of research has been completed invest-
igating the importance of the purchasing agent
in influencing buying decisions. For example,
Weigand (1968) pointed out that the purchasing
agent may be no more than a clerical officer and
his/her influence on the buying decision may
consist of nothing more than filling in the
necessary forms to complete the order.
Feldman and Cardozo (1968) and Lister
(1967) are among many authors who have
pointed out that the purchasing agent’s role is
dependent upon the management’s philosophy
towards purchasing. Where this is seen as
important the purchasing agent will play an
influential part in decision making. In recent
years, as the procurement function in business
has been given increasing and long overdue
importance, buyers have equally become more
critical determinants of strategic and opera-
tional purchasing decisions.