Perreault−McCarthy: Basic
Marketing: A
Global−Managerial
Approach, 14/e- Business and
Organizational Customers
and Their Buying Behavior
Text © The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2002Most of us think about individual final consumers when we hear the term cus-
tomer.But many marketing managers aim at customers who are not final consumers.
In fact, more purchases are made by businesses and other organizations than by final
consumers. As the John Deere case illustrates, the buying behavior of these organi-
zational customers can be very different from the buying behavior of final consumers.
Developing marketing strategies for these markets requires a solid understanding of
who these customers are and how they buy. That is the focus of this chapter.Business and organizational customersare any buyers who buy for resale or to
produce other goods and services. Exhibit 7-1 shows the different types of customers
in these markets. As you can see, not all of the organizational customers in these mar-
kets are business firms. Even so, to distinguish them from the final consumer market,
managers sometimes refer to them collectively as the “business-to-business” market,
or simply the B2B market.
Many characteristics of buying behavior are common across these varied types of
organizations. That’s why the different kinds of organizational customers are some-
times loosely called “business buyers,” “intermediate buyers,” or “industrial buyers.”
As we discuss organizational buying, we will intermix examples of buying by many
different types of organizations. Later in the chapter, however, we will highlight
some of the specific characteristics of the different customer groups.184 Chapter 7
commercial farm in California
or Brazil needs a repair part
they can’t afford delays. Deere
helps them, and the dealers
who sell its parts and equip-
ment, with information
technology. At any hour an
equipment customer can
check Deere’s website
(www.deere.com) to see which
dealers have a needed part in
inventory, to check the price,
and to place an order for fast
delivery. But helping its cus-
tomers earn better profits in
their own operations doesn’tstop there. For example, some
Deere farm equipment
includes global positioning
devices that track exactly
where the equipment goes.That makes it possible for theowner to use JD’s Vantage-
Point Network to collect, store,
and interpret detailed data
generated by their farming
operations online, right downto creation of maps of fields
that need to be plowed,
seeded, or cut. It is benefits
like this that make Deere the
supplier of choice for manybusiness customers.^1Business and Organizational Customers—A Big Opportunity
What types of
customers are
involved?
Organizational Customers Are Different
Organizations buy for
abasic purpose
Like final consumers, organizations make purchases to satisfy needs. But it’s often
easier to understand an organization’s needs because most organizations make pur-
chases for the same basic reason. They buy goods and services that will help them
meet the demand for the goods and services that they in turn supply to their
markets. In other words, their basic need is to satisfy their own customers and
clients. A producer buys because it wants to earn a profit by making and selling