THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
INPRACTICE
Understandingbuyerbehaviorisa
complicatedprocess,withmany
factorsinfluencingtheprocess.
Whyandwhatproductsarepur-
chasedbafflesmarketersasmuch
asunderstandingwhycertainprod-
uctsarenotpurchased.Ultimately,
understandingbuyerbehavior
influencesthemarketingmixused
fora product.
Marketersmustbeableto
answertwocriticalquestionswhen
assessingconsumerandorganiza-
tionalbuyerbehavior:(1)Howdo
buyersmakepurchasedecisions?
and(2)Whatfactorsinfluencedeci-
sionsandinwhatway?Answering
thesequestionscorrectlyimpacts
thesuccessofanyproduct.
Consumerandorganizational
buyerbehaviordiffersignificantly.
Whileconsiderableresearchabout
consumerpurchasingdecisionshas
beenconducted,minimalresearch
hasbeendoneaboutorganizational
buyerbehavior.Marketersmust
understandthedifferentfactors
andinfluencesaffectingeachgroup
andtheimpac t oftheseonpur-
chasedecisions.
CiscoSystems,Inc.,provides
networkingsolutionsthatconnect
computer devicesandnetworksfor
businesses.CheckoutCisco'sWeb
siteatwww.cisco.com.UnderSolu-
tionsforYourNetwork,clickon
Overview.Amenuwillappearto
theleftwithinformationforcus-
tomerssuchasLargeEnterprises,
SmallandMediumBusinesses,and
Governmententities.Clickonone
ofthoselinksnowtoreadabout
productofferingsforthese
customers.
TheBusinessFocussectionof
Marketplaceprovidesinformation
aboutvariousbusinessactivities,
includingpurchasing.OntheMar-
ketplacehomepage,clickonBusi-
nessFocuson theleftmenu.
For informationaboutcon-
sumerbuyingbehavior,gotothe
Interacti veJournal'sFrontSection
andclickonMarketplace.Clickon
MarketinglMedia.Lookforarticles
intheAdvertisingsection.These
articlesdiscussexamplesofadver-
tisingeffortsthatvariouscompa-
niesemploytoinfluenceconsumer
buyingdecisions.Information
aboutretailsalescanalsobefound
inMarketinglMedia.DELIVERABLE
UsingtheInteractiveJournal's
BusinessIndexfeatureunderJour-
nalAtlasontheleft menu,selecta
consumerproductscompanyfea-
turedintoday's InteractiveJournal.
Visitthatcompany's websiteand
searchtheInteractiveJournalfor
informationthatwillhelpyouiden-
tifytheSituationalandExternal
Influencesforcustomerspurchas-
ingthecompany'sproduct(s).DISCUSSIONQUESTIONS
1.H owcanmarketersusethe
In ternettoinfluenceconsumer
buyerbehavior?Organizational
buyerbehavior?
2.Howhasbusiness-to-business
(B2B)commerceaffectedpur-
chasingtransactions?
3.Whatnew factorsorinfluences
do youforeseeimpactingcon-
sumerbuyerbehavior?Organi-
zationalbuyerbehavior?
4.Whatethical considerations(if
any)doadvertisersfacewhen
theytry to influencebuyer
behavior?