Perreault−McCarthy: Basic
Marketing: A
Global−Managerial
Approach, 14/e
- Business and
Organizational Customers
and Their Buying Behavior
Text © The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2002Business and Organizational Customers and Their Buying Behavior 207two-digit industries). For example, within the two-digit manufacturing industry
(code 31) there are manufacturers of food (311), beverages and tobacco (312), and
others, including apparel manufacturers (315). Then each three-digit group of firms
is further subdivided into more detailed four-, five-, and six-digit classifications. For
instance, within the three-digit (315) apparel manufacturers there are four-digit
subgroups for knitting mills (3151), cut and sew firms (3152), and producers of
apparel accessories (3159). Exhibit 7-9 illustrates that breakdowns are more
detailed as you move to codes with more digits. However, detailed data (say, broken
down at the four-digit level) isn’t available for all industries in every geographic
area. The government does not provide detail when only one or two plants are
located in an area.
Many firms find their currentcustomers’ NAICS (or SIC) codes and then look
at NAICS-coded lists for similar companies that may need the same goods and serv-
ices. Other companies look at which NAICS categories are growing or declining to
discover new opportunities.
If companies aiming at business target markets in the United States know exactly
who they are aiming at, readily available data organized by NAICS (or SIC) codes
can be valuable. Most trade associations and private organizations that gather data
on business markets also use these codes.
The NAICS codes are an improvement over the old approach, but they are not
perfect. Some companies have sales in several categories but are listed in only one—
the code with the largest sales. In addition, some businesses don’t fit any of the
categories very well. So although a lot of good information is available, the codes
must be used carefully.^22Exhibit 7-9 Illustrative NAICS Code Breakdown for Apparel ManufacturersCut and sew apparel
(3152)Apparel accessories
(3159)Apparel
(315)others...Manufacturing
(31)others...Men’s & boys’
(31522)Other cut & sew
(31529)Knitting mills
(3151)Food
(311)Construction
(23)Women’s & girls’
(31523)others...others...Suits and coats
(315222)Shirts
(315223)Underwear & nightwear
(315221)others...Producers of Services—Smaller and More Spread Out
Marketing managers need to keep in mind that the service side of the U.S.
economy is large and has been growing fast. Service operations are also growing in
some other countries. There may be good opportunities in providing these companies
with the products they need to support their operations. But there are also challenges.