ORGANIZATIONALBUYERBEHAVIOR 91
MARKETING CAPSULE • 0
1.Thefollowingfactorsinfluenceconsumerbehavior:
a. Situationalinfluences
1.Thebuyertask:high-involvementvs.low-
involvement
2.Marketofferings
3.Demographics
b. Externalinfluences
1.Culture
2.Socialclass
3.Referencegroups
4.Family
c. Internalinfluences
1.Learningandsocialization
2.Motivation
3.Personality
4.Lifestyle
5.Attitudes
Giventhehypothesisthatattitudesinfluencebuyingbehavior, howcana company
bringitsproductsandconsumers'attitudesintoa consistentstate;thatis,intoa situation
whereconsumersevaluatea givenproductorbrandassatisfyingtheirneed?Marketershave
twochoices:eithertheycanchangeconsumers'attitudestobeconsistentwiththeirprod-
uct,ortheycanchangetheproducttomatchattitudes. Itiseasiertochangetheproduct
thantochangeconsumers'attitudes.Nevertheless,attitudescansometimesbemodified.
Modifyingattitudesmightbetheonlyreasonablechoice,aswhena firmisintroducinga
trulynewproductoranunusualnewuseforanexistingone.Marketersshouldneverthe-
lessfacethefactthatit is extremelydifficulttochangeconsumers'attitudes.Ifthereisto
bechange,itismostlikelytooccurwhenpeopleareopen-mindedintheirbeliefs orwhen
anexistingattitudeisofweakintensity;thatis,whenthereis littleinformationtosupport
theattitudeorverylittleegoinvolvementontheindividual's part.Thestrongera person's
loyaltytoa certainbrand, forexample,themoredifficultitistochangethatattitude.
OrganizationalBuyerBehavior
Thosewhosupplygoodsandservicestoconsumermarketsarethemselvesinneedof
goodsandservicestolUntheirbusiness.Theseorganizations-producers,resellers,and
government-makeupvastmarketingorganizationsthatbuya largevarietyofproducts,
includingequipment,rawmaterial,andlaborandotherservices.Someorganizationssell
exclusivelytootherorganizations andnevercomeintocontactwithconsumerbuyers.
Despitetheimportanceoforganizationalmarkets,farlessresearchhasbeenconducted
onfactorsthatinfluencetheirbehaviorthanonfactorsthatinfluenceconsumers. However,
wecanidentifycharacteristicsthatdistinguishorganizationalbuyingfromconsumerbuy-
ingandtypicalstepsintheorganizationalbuyingprocess.
CharacteristicsofOrganizationalBuying
Manyelementsofthesocioculturalenvironmentdiscussedearlierinfluenceorganizational
aswellasconsumerbuying,butsomeadditionalforcesaresalientonlyintheorganiza-
tionalsetting. Inparticular,eachorganizationhasitsownbusinessphilosophythatguides
itsactionsinresolvingconflicts,handlinguncertaintyandrisk,searchingforsolutions,and
adaptingtochange. Forexample,PeabodyCoal, whichis paltofa decliningindustry,relies
ona conservativepurchasestrategyinanattempttomaintaintheirstatusquo.
