Gurus On Marketing

The following extract comes from: Eds: Philip Kotler and Keith
K. Cox (1988) ‘Marketing Management and Strategy: A Reader’,
Prentice Hall:
‘Professor Jagdish Sheth has made a mark in the area of organisational
buying behaviour. In marketing, emphasis is paid on
consumer behaviour at individual level. Sheth came up with a model
to explain how decisions are made collectively at organisational level’.
In talking about his books, ‘Marketing Management’ (1967) and
‘Marketing Decision-Making: a Model Building Approach’ (1970), Philip
Kotler was asked:
‘Were there any particular mentors in this?’ He responded, ‘I have
always respected Ted Levitt at Harvard for his tremendous insights.
And I learned a great deal from John Howard and Jagdish Sheth
at Columbia who produced a very analytical view of consumer
behaviour.’
Sheth’s views on industrial buying decisions
Organisational buying behaviour consists of:
1 the psychological aspect
2 the aspect relating to the conditions which precipitate joint
decisions and
3 the aspect relating to the process of joint decision making
with inevitable conflict among the decision-makers.
Many industrial buying decisions are made by people working in
the purchasing, quality control and manufacturing departments. Their
decisions are influenced by their expectations of suppliers and brands.
These expectations, on the other hand, are influenced by the background
of the individuals involved, the sources from which they get
information, active search, perceptual distortion and satisfaction with
past purchases.
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GURUS ON MARKETING