What is Organisational Buying Behaviour? Understanding the Purchasing Process of Businesses

by | Feb 21, 2022

Organisational Buying Behaviour is the process by which organisations or businesses make buying decisions. Understanding this process is crucial for marketers who wish to target businesses as their customers. In this blog, we will explore the nature and scope of organisational buying behaviour, the important features and typical characteristics, the various types of organisational customers, the factors that influence organisational buying decisions, the different types of buying situations, some models of organisational buying behaviour, and the role of suppliers in the selection process.

The Nature and Scope of Organisational Buying Behaviour

Organizational buying behavior refers to the decision-making process that organizations undertake when purchasing goods or services from other businesses. It involves a formal procurement process that includes several decision-makers and stakeholders, each with specific roles and responsibilities. Unlike individual consumers, organizations are focused on maximizing their resources and achieving specific objectives, making their buying behavior more rational and less emotional.

Organizational buying behavior is typically more structured, formal, and professional than consumer behavior, and it often involves long-term relationships with suppliers. Understanding the key features and characteristics of organizational buying behavior is crucial for businesses to tailor their marketing efforts and meet the needs of their target audience.

Important Features and Typical Characteristics

There are several important features and typical characteristics of organisational buying behaviour. These include a formalised buying process, the involvement of multiple people and departments in the decision-making process, the emphasis on value and cost-effectiveness, the importance of long-term relationships, and the need for accountability and justification of decisions.

Types of Organisational Customers

There are several types of organisational customers, including manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, governments, and institutions. Each of these types of customers has specific needs and requirements, and marketers must tailor their offerings accordingly.

Factors That Influence Organisational Buying Decisions

Several factors can influence organisational buying decisions, including economic, technological, political, social, and cultural factors. The decision-making process is often complex and involves multiple stages, including problem recognition, information search, alternative evaluation, and the final purchase decision.

Types of Buying Situations

Organisational buying situations can be categorised into three types: new task, modified rebuy, and straight rebuy. A new task buying situation occurs when a company is purchasing a product or service for the first time. A modified rebuy situation occurs when a company is making a purchase that is similar to a previous purchase but requires some modification. A straight rebuy situation occurs when a company is making a routine purchase of a product or service that it has purchased before.

Models of Organisational Buying Behaviour

There are several models of organisational buying behaviour, including the traditional model, the buying centre model, and the decision-making unit model. Each model offers a different perspective on the decision-making process and can be useful in understanding the various factors that influence organisational buying decisions.

The Selection of a Supplier

The selection of a supplier is an important part of the organisational buying process. Businesses must consider several factors when selecting a supplier, including price, quality, reliability, and responsiveness. Suppliers who are able to offer value, build strong relationships, and provide exceptional service are more likely to succeed in the competitive business-to-business market.

Recent Developments That Have Impacted Organisational Buying

Several recent developments have impacted organisational buying behaviour, including the increasing importance of sustainability, the rise of e-commerce, and the growing influence of social media. These developments have changed the way that businesses make purchasing decisions and have created new opportunities for marketers to reach their target customers.

In conclusion, organisational buying behaviour is an important area of study for marketers who wish to target businesses as their customers. Understanding the various factors that influence the decision-making process can help marketers tailor their offerings and build strong, long-term relationships with their customers. By offering value, building relationships, and providing exceptional service, suppliers can succeed in the competitive business-to-business market.

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Consumer Behaviour

1 Consumer Behaviour-Nature, Scope, Models and Applications

  1. Introduction
  2. Nature of Consumer Behaviour
  3. Who is a Consumer?
  4. What is a Consumer Decision?
  5. Scope of Consumer Behaviour
  6. Decision Process
  7. Individual and Group Determinants of Consumer Decisions
  8. Models of Consumer Behaviour including Online Buying Behaviour
  9. Applications of Consumer Behaviour in Marketing

2 Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle Marketing

  1. Demographics, Psychographics and Lifestyle
  2. Characteristics of Lifestyle
  3. Influences on Lifestyle
  4. Approaches to Study Lifestyle
  5. Application of AIO Studies
  6. Lifestyle Profiles in Indian Context
  7. VALS System of Classification
  8. Applications of Lifestyle Marketing

3 Organisational Buying Behaviour

  1. What is Organisational Buying Behaviour?
  2. Organisational Buying Behaviour: Important Features and Typical Characteristics
  3. Who are the Organisational Customers?
  4. What Influences Organisational Buying?
  5. The Organisational Buying Situations
  6. Organisational Buying Behaviour: Some Models
  7. The Selection of a Supplier
  8. Recent Developments that have Impacted Organisational Buying

4 Perceptions

  1. The Concept of Perception
  2. Stages in the Perceptual Process
  3. Sensory System
  4. Sensory Thresholds
  5. Perceptual Selection

5 Learning and Memory

  1. Concept of Learning
  2. Theories of Learning
  3. The Two Complex Issues of Learning
  4. Memory: Structure and Functioning
  5. Retrieving Information
  6. Measuring Memory for Advertising
  7. Marketing Applications

6 Attitude and Attitude Change

  1. Attitude and Consumer Decision-Making
  2. The Constituents of Consumer Attitude
  3. The Functions of Consumer Attitude
  4. Consumer Attitude: The Models
  5. The Marketing Response to the Consumer Attitude

7 Personality and Self-Concept

  1. An overview of Personality: Its Nature & Their Application to Consumer Behaviour
  2. The Concept of Personality
  3. Theories of Personality
  4. The Psychoanalytic Theory of Freud
  5. Social-Psychological or Neo-Freudian Theory
  6. Trait Theory of Personality
  7. The Theory of Self-concept
  8. The Related Concepts
  9. Consumption and Self-concept

8 Consumer Motivation and Involvement

  1. The Concept and Typology of Needs
  2. Theories of Consumer Needs
  3. Motives: The Basis of Motivation
  4. The Concept of Motivation
  5. Motivational Conflicts
  6. Consumer Involvement
  7. The Facets of Involvement

9 Reference Group Influence and Group Dynamics

  1. The influence of Reference Groups
  2. Types of Reference Groups
  3. Reference Group Influence on Products and Brands
  4. The Role of Opinion Leadership in the Transmission of Information
  5. The Dynamics of the Opinion Leadership Process
  6. The Personalities and Motivations of Opinion Leaders
  7. The Concept of Social Class: Its Nature and Meaning
  8. Social Class and Social Stratification
  9. Social Class and Social Influences
  10. Social Class Categorisation
  11. Relationship of Social Class to Lifestyles
  12. Social Class and Buying Behaviour
  13. Social Class and Market Segmentation

10 Family Buying Influence, Family Lifecycle and Buying Roles

  1. Introduction: The Family as a Consuming Unit
  2. Family Buying Influences: Nature and Types of Influences
  3. Consumer Socialisation
  4. Intergenerational Influences
  5. Family Decision-Making
  6. Family Role Structure and Buying Behaviour
  7. The Dynamics of Family Decision-Making: Purchase Influences and Role specialization
  8. The Influence of Children
  9. The Family Life Cycle Concept
  10. Implications of Family Decision-Making for Marketing Strategy

11 Cultural and Subcultural Influences

  1. Culture: Meaning and Significance
  2. The Characteristics of Culture
  3. Cultural Values
  4. Cultural Values and Change
  5. The Need for Cross-cultural Understanding of Consumer Behaviour
  6. Subcultures and their Influence

12 Problem Recognition and Information Search Behaviour

  1. Importance of Problem Recognition
  2. An Overview of Problem Recognition
  3. Threshold level in Problem Recognition
  4. Problem Recognition in the Industrial Buying Process
  5. Information Search

13 Information Processing

  1. Concept of Information Processing
  2. Exposure
  3. Attention
  4. Comprehension
  5. Acceptance/Yielding
  6. Retention
  7. The Imaginal Processing
  8. The Influencing Factors
  9. Marketing Implications of Information Processing

14 Alternative Evaluation in Buying Decisions

  1. Alternative Evaluation: The Four Components
  2. Formation of Brand Sets for Alternative Evaluation
  3. The Choice-Making Rules
  4. The Basic Choice Heuristics
  5. The Marketing Response to the Choice Heuristics

15 Purchase Process and Post-Purchase Behaviour

  1. An Overview of Purchase Process
  2. Buying Stage and Situational Influences
  3. Steps to Benefit from Situational Influences
  4. An Anatomy of Non-store Buying
  5. Routes of Non-store Buying
  6. Developing an Attitude to Post-purchase Behaviour
  7. Theories of Post-purchase Evaluation
  8. Marketers’ Response Strategies