Business Buying Behavior
Completion requirements
Read this chapter, which provides an overview of business-to-business buying behavior. This chapter discusses how B2B markets differ from B2C markets, types of B2B buyers, buying centers, and stages of the B2B buying process. The chapter wraps up with a discussion of international B2B markets, e-commerce, and ethics in the B2B market. From this reading, you will learn what a buying center is and will be able to name the members of buying centers and describe their roles. Pay special attention to the concepts of the decision-making unit (DMU) and the purchase process.
Discussion Questions
Activities
- Interview someone you know who makes purchasing decisions as part of
the job. The person may or may not be a professional purchasing agent as
long as business purchasing decisions are a fairly regular part of his
or her position. What are the key principles to making good purchasing
decisions at work? How do those principles influence people's purchases
for their own personal consumption?
- Locate three different types of Web sites that cater to markets
discussed in this chapter. How do these differ from sites like eBay or
Overstock.com? How are they similar? B2C models like Groupon and
LivingSocial are being adopted by B2B companies. Examples include Bizy
Deal; take a look at their site and identify the types of offerings that
seem prevalent. What characteristics of the product or service would
make such a model right for a B2B company?
- Go to http://www.ism.ws/. What is the purpose of this site and the
organization that created it? How does the ISM help its members with
ethical dilemmas? Be specific, with specific examples from the site.
- Many B2B marketers use NAICS to segment their market. Go to
http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html. Click on the FAQs link to
answer these questions. What is NAICS and how is it used? How does NAICS
handle market-based rather than production-based statistical
classifications, and why is that distinction imp