The Marketing Book 5th Edition

Business-to-business marketing: organizational buying behaviour, relationships and networks 157

is truly comprehensive, and honours concepts
from the fields of individual, organizational
and social psychology, economics, manage-
ment, sociology and politics.
Webster and Wind recognize the existence
of a buying centre and argue that organiza-
tional buying is a multi-person process sub-
jected to and influenced by the aggregate
behaviour of a number of people, and also by
the interaction between them. The activities of
both individuals and the collective buying
centre are influenced by a variety of factors,
some of which are related to the buying task
(task variables which include rational and

economic motivations) and non-task variables

(a variety of emotional or non-rational reasons

for purchasing decisions).

Webster and Wind suggest that the final

buying decision is dependent on influences

exerted from four spheres:

1 The general environment

2 The organization

3 Interpersonal influences

4 The influence of the individual

It is possible to identify three key elements

of the model and their interplay, as shown in

Table 7.4.

Table 7.4 Key factors affecting organizational buying decisions

Level of influence on behaviour Source of influence Types of constraints to

behaviour that emerge

1. The firm’s environment Physical, legal, economic,
   technical, political, cultural,
   suppliers, customers,
   governments

Information, products and

services, business conditions,

values, norms

2. The organization Business climate, physical
   climate, technological
   climate, economic climate,
   cultural climate, structure of
   work, personnel,
   organizational goals

Technology relevant for

purchasing organization of

the buying centre, buying

tasks, members of the

buying centre

3. The buying team Technological constraints,
   buying group structure,
   buying group tasks, member
   characteristics, member
   goals

Task and non-tasks:

• activities


• interactions


• orientations

4. The individual Motivation, cognition,
   personality, learning, roles

Buying decision process,

individual DM unit, group

DM unit

↓

buying decision

Based on Webster and Wind (1972b).