3

Consumer and organisational buyer behaviour

OBJECTIVES
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Understand the different motivations of consumer and organisational buyers
2. Formulate strategies for approaching consumer and organisational buyers
3. Recognise the importance of relationship management

KEY CONCEPTS
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ACORN brand personality buy class buy phase buying centre centralised purchasing choice criteria consumer decision-making process creeping commitment decision-making unit (DMU) financial lease interaction approach

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just-in-time (JIT) delivery/purchasing life-cycle costs lockout criteria operating lease organisational buying behaviour reference group relationship management reverse marketing strategic partners total quality management (TQM) value analysis

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Sales environment

3.1

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CONSUMER AND
ORGANISATIONAL BUYING
There are a number of important differences in emphasis between consumer and organisational buying that have important implications for the marketing of goods and services in general and the personal selling function in particular.

Fewer organisational buyers
Generally, a company marketing industrial products will have fewer potential buyers than one marketing in consumer markets. Often 80 per cent of output, in the former case, will be sold to perhaps 10–15 organisations, meaning that the importance of one customer to the business to business marketer is far in excess of that to the consumer marketing company. However, this situation is complicated in some consumer markets where the importance of trade intermediaries, for example, supermarkets, is so great that, although the products have an ultimate market of many millions of people, the companies’ immediate customers rank alongside those of important organisational buyers.

Close, long-term relationships