Marketing Management, Millenium Edition - epiheirimatikotita.gr

AnalyzingBusiness Marketsand BuyerBehaviorWe will address the following questions:■ What is the business market, and how does it differ from the consumer market?■ How do institutions and government agencies do their buying?■ What buying situations do organizational buyers face?■ Who participates in business buying, and what are the influences on business buyingdecisions?■ How do business buyers make their decisions?Business organizations do not only sell. They also buy vast quantities of raw materials,manufactured components, plants and equipment, supplies, and business services.Over 13 million business, institutional, and government organizations in theUnited States alone—plus millions more in other countries—represent a huge, lucrativebuying market for goods and services purchased from both domestic and internationalsuppliers.Business buyers purchase goods and services to achieve specific goals, such asmaking money, reducing operating costs, and satisfying social or legal obligations. Forexample, a mini-mill steelmaker like Nucor will add another plant if it sees a chance toboost profits, upgrade its computerized accounting system to reduce operating costs,and add pollution-control equipment to meet legal requirements.In principle, a business buyer seeks to obtain for his or her organization the bestpackage of economic, technical, service, and social benefits in relation to a marketoffering’s costs. In reality, a business buyer (like a consumer) will have more incentiveto choose the offering with the highest ratio of perceived benefits to costs—that is, thehighest perceived value. The marketer must therefore provide an offering that deliverssuperior customer value to the targeted business buyers and be familiar with theunderlying dynamics and process of business buying.107