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Chapter Three: Buying Behavior

Consumer buying behavior
Consumer behavior emerged in the 1940s and 50s as distinct sub-discipline in the marketing area. In
order to succeed in today’s dynamic and rapidly evolving marketplace, marketers need to know
everything about consumers - what they need, what they think, how they work, how they spend their
money and time. They need to identify the influencing forces that affect consumer decisions.
Consumer buying behavior means the behavior consumers exhibit when searching for
information about product to buy, evaluate one brand against another, and when they are using
and exposing the product after using it.
Consumer Behavior or the Buyer Behavior is referred to the behavior that is displayed by the
individual while they are buying, consuming or disposing any particular product or services.
These behaviors can be affected by multiple factors. Moreover, it also involves search for a
product, evaluation of product where the consumer evaluate different features, purchase and
consumption of product. Later the post purchase behavior of product is studied which shows the
consumer satisfaction or dissatisfaction where it involves disposal of product.
Customers while buying a product goes through many steps. The study of consumer behavior helps to
understand how the buying decision is made and how they look for a product. Moreover, understanding
consumer behavior also helps marketers to know what, where, when, how and why of the consumption of
product consumption. These help marketers or organizations to know the reason behind the purchase of
product by consumers and how it satisfies them. Among other factors, the basic needs like shelter and
hunger along with craving for psychological fulfillment tends consumer to buy certain product or services
Consumer behavior is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and all the activities
associated with the purchase, use and disposal of goods and services, including the consumer's
emotional, mental and behavioral responses that precede or follow these activities. It is an inter-
disciplinary social science branch that studies & blends elements
from psychology, sociology, social,anthropology, anthropology, ethnography, marketing and eco
nomics, especially behavioral economics. It examines how emotions, attitudes and preferences
affect buying behavior. The term, consumer can refer to individual consumers or organizational
consumers.
In addition to a company’s marketing mix and factors present in the external environment, a
buyer is also influenced by personal characteristics and the process by which he/she makes
decisions. A buyer’s cultural characteristics, including values, perceptions, preferences, and
behavior learned through family or other key institutions, is the most fundamental determinant of
a person’s wants and behavior. Consumer markets and consumer buying behavior have to be
understood before sound marketing plans can be developed.
The consumer market buys goods and services for personal consumption. It is the ultimate
market in the organization of economic activities. In analyzing a consumer market, one needs to
know the occupants, the objects, and the buyers’ objectives, organization, operations, occasions
and outlets.

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The buyer’s behavior is influenced by four major factors: cultural (culture, subculture, and social
class), social (reference groups, family, and roles and statuses), personal (age and life cycle state,
occupation, economic circumstances, lifestyle, and personality and self-concept), and
psychological (motivation, perception, learning, and beliefs and attitudes). All of these provide
clues as to how to reach and serve buyers more effectively.
Before planning its marketing, a company needs to identify its target consumers and their
decision processes. Although many buying decisions involve only one decision maker, some
decisions may involve several participants, who play such roles as initiator, influencer, decider,
buyer, and user. The marketer’s job is to identify the other buying participants, their buying
criteria, and their influence on the buyer. The marketing program should be designed to appeal to
and reach the other key participants as well as the buyer.
The amount of buying deliberateness and the number of buying participants increase with the
complexity of the buying situation. Marketers must plan differently for four types of consumer
buying behavior: complex buying behavior, dissonance-reducing buying behavior, habitual
buying behavior, and variety-seeking buying behavior. These four types are based on whether
the consumer has high or low involvement in the purchase and whether there are many or few
significant differences among the brands.
In complex buying behavior, the buyer goes through a decision process consisting of need
recognition, information search, and evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and post
purchase behavior. The marketer’s job is to understand and develop an effective and efficient
program for the target market.

The buyers decision making process

 Why did you buy an Apple computer when your friend bought a Dell PC?
 What information did you collect before making purchase decision?
 What factors did you consider when evaluating the alternatives?
 How did you make your final choice?
 Are you happy with your decision?
To design effective strategies, marketers need to find the answers that consumers give questions
such as these. In other words, they try to improve their understanding of consumer behavior the
decision making process that individuals go through when purchasing or using products.
Generally speaking, buyers run through a series of steps in deciding whether to purchase
particular product. Some purchases are made without much thought. You probably don’t think
much, for example, about the brand of gasoline you put in your car; out just stop at the most
convenient place. Other purchases, however, require considerable thought. For example, you
probably spent a lot of time deciding which college to attend or which brand car to purchase. The
final consumer’s decision process is the way in which people gather and assess information and
make choices among alternative goods, services, organizations, people, places, and ideas. It
consists of the process itself and factors affecting the process.
There are five steps that are involved in the consumer buying process. These steps are: need
recognition, information search, evaluation, purchase, and post purchase evaluation.
Sometimes, all six stages in the process are used; other times, only a few steps are utilized. At
any point in the process, it may be ended.

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Consumer buying process steps

1. Need recognition: normally any purchase decision begins with the recognition of needs or
problem. The need may be triggered by internal stimuli such as hunger, thirst or sex. For e.g.
before thinking about purchasing something to eat a person first should be hungered. It may
also be triggered by external stimuli for e.g. a person passes a restaurant and smell nice food
that stimulates his hunger. In this case, the stimuli are external. At this stage, the marketer
should research consumers to find out what kinds of needs or problems are associated with
the product, what factors brought them about, and how they led the consumer to this
particular product. Then they can develop marketing strategies that that trigger consumers’
interest.
2. Information Search: Information search involves listing alternatives that will solve the
problem at hand and a determination of the characteristics of each. Search can be internal
and/or external. As risk increases; the amount of information sought also increases. Once the
information search is completed, it must be determined whether the shortage or unfulfilled
desire can be satisfied by any alternative. The internet has become major source for
consumer shopping information.
3. Evaluation of Alternatives: The alternatives are evaluated on the basis of the consumer’s criteria
and the relative importance of these criteria. They are then ranked and a choice made. Generally,
marketers should study buyers to find out how they actually evaluate brand alternatives. If they
know what evaluative process go on, marketers can take steps to influence the buyer’s decision.
4. Purchase Decision: The purchase act involves the exchange of money or a promise to pay or
a product, or support in return of ownership of a specific goods, the performance of a specific
and so on. Purchase decisions remaining at this stage center on
 The place of purchase
 Terms
 Availability
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If the above elements are acceptable, a consumer will make a purchase.

5. Post-purchase Behavior: Frequently, the consumer engages in post-purchase behavior.
Buying one item may lead to the purchase of another. Re-evaluation of the purchase occurs
when the consumer rates the alternative selected against performances standards. Cognitive
dissonance, doubt that a correct purchase decision has been made, can be reduced by follow-
up calls, extended warranties, and post-purchase advertisement. What determines whether
buyer is satisfied or dissatisfied with the purchase lies in the relationship between customers’
expectation and products’ perceived performance.
If actual performance meets expected satisfaction, consumers will get
satisfied
If actual performance is less than expected satisfaction, consumers will
get dissatisfied
If actual performance is greater than expected satisfaction, consumers
will get delighted

Major factors influencing consumer buying behavior

Demographic, social, and psychological factors affect consumer decision-making. By
understanding how these factors affect decision making, a firm can fine-tune its strategies to
cater to the target market. There are various factors affecting consumers buying behavior. These
include:
1. Cultural Factors
Cultural factors have significant impact on customer behavior. Culture is the most basic cause of
a person’s wants and behavior. Culture is termed as human mental software as it uploads many
things as individual is exposed to it. Growing up, children learn basic values, perception and
wants from the family and other important groups. Marketers are always trying to spot “cultural
shifts” which might point to new products that might be wanted by customers or to increased
demand. For example, the cultural shift towards greater concern about health and fitness has
created opportunities (and now industries) servicing customers who wish to buy:
 Low calorie foods
 Health club memberships
 Exercise equipment
 Activity or health-related holidays etc.
Similarly the increased desire for “leisure time” has resulted in increased demand for
convenience products and services such as microwave ovens, ready meals and direct marketing
service businesses such as telephone banking and insurance.
Each culture contains “subcultures” groups of people with share values. Sub-cultures can
include nationalities, religions, racial groups, or groups of people sharing the same geographical
location. Sometimes a subculture will create a substantial and distinctive market segment of its
own. For example, the “youth culture’ or “club culture” has quite distinct values and buying
characteristics from the much older “gray generation”.
Similarly, differences in social class can create customer groups. In fact, the official six social
classes in the UK are widely used to profile and predict different customer behavior. In the UK’s
socioeconomic classification scheme, social class is not just determined by income. It is
measured as a combination of occupation, income, education, wealth and other variables.
2. Social Factors

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A customer’s buying behavior is also influenced by social factors, such as the groups to which
the customer belongs and social status. In a group, several individuals may interact to influence
the purchase decision. The typical roles in such a group decision can be summarized as follows:

 Family: The family, as a unit, is an important of all these groups and we shall discuss it
in detail. The family is an important consumer for many products which are purchased
for consumption by all family members. It is a source of major influence on the
individual members’ buying behavior. We can identify two families which shape an
individual’s consumption behavior. One is the family of orientation that is the family in
which you are born and consists of your parents, brothers and sisters. It is from parents
that we imbibe most of our values, attitudes, beliefs and purchase behavior patterns. Long
after an individual has ceased to live with his parents, their influence of the sub-conscious
mind still continues to be great. In our country, where children continue to live with
parents even after attain adulthood, the latter’s influence is extremely important. The
other kind of family is family of procreation (namely one's spouse and children), which
has a more direct influence on specific purchase decision.
 Reference Groups:- As a consumer, your decision to purchase and use certain products
and services, is influenced not only by psychological factors, your personality and life-
style, but also by the people around you with whom you interact and the various social
groups to which you belong. The groups with whom you interact directly or indirectly
influence your purchase decisions and thus their study is of great importance to the
marketer.
 Roles: An individual may participate in many groups. His position within each group can
be defined in terms of the activities he is expected to perform. You are probably a
manager, and when in your work situation you play that role. However, at home you play
the role of spouse and parent. Thus in different social positions you play different roles.
Each of these roles influences your purchase decisions.
 Status: Status is often measured by the degree of influence an individual exerts in the
behavior and attitude of others. People buy and use products that reflect their status. The
managing director of a company may drive a Mercedes to communicate his status in
society.
3. Personal Factors
 Age and life cycle stage: Like the social class the human life cycle can have a significant
impact on consumer behavior. The life cycle is an orderly series of stages in which
consumer attitude and behavioral tendencies evolve and occur because of developing
maturity, experiences, income, and status. Marketers often define their target market in
terms of the consumers’ present lifecycle stage. The concept of lifecycle as applied to
marketing will be discussed in more details.
 Occupation and Income: Today people are very concerned about their image and the
status in the society, which is a direct outcome of their material prosperity. The
profession or the occupation a person is in again has an impact on the products they
consume. The status of a person is projected through various symbols like the dress,
accessories and possessions.
 Life Style: Our life styles are reflected in our personalities and self-concepts, same is the
case with any consumer. We need to know what a life-style is made of. It is a person’s
mode of living as identified by his or her activities, interest and opinions. There is a
method of measuring a consumer’s lifestyle. This method is called as the
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psychographics-which is the analysis technique used to measure consumer lifestyles-

people activities, interest and opinions. Then based upon the combinations of these
dimensions, consumers are classified. Unlike personality typologies, which are difficult
to describe measure lifestyle analysis has proven valuable in segmenting and targeting
consumers according to their lifestyle classification.
 Personality: Personality is the sum total of an individual’s enduring internal
psychological traits that make him or her unique. Self-confidence, dominance, autonomy,
sociability, defensiveness, adaptability, and emotional stability are selected personality
traits. People who have self-confidence have different purchasing behavior than people
who have no self-confidence.
4. Psychological Factors
 Motivation: Motivation involves the positive or negative needs, goals, and desires that
impel a person to or away from certain actions. By appealing to motives (reasons for
behavior), a marketer can generate motivation. Economic and emotional motives are
possible. Each person has distinct motives for purchases; these change by situation and
over time.
 Consumer Needs and Motivations: We all have needs we consume different goods and
services with the expectation that they will help fulfill these needs. When a need is
sufficiently pressing, it directs the person to seek its satisfaction. It is known as motive.
All our needs can be classified into two categories – primary and secondary. Primary
needs or motives are the physiological needs, which we are born with, such as the need
for air, water, food, clothing, shelter and sex. The secondary needs are our acquired
needs, which we have developed in response to the individuals’ psychological make-up
and his relationship with other members of the society.
The secondary needs many include the need for power, prestige, esteem, affection,
learning, status etc. clothing is a primary need for all of us. But the need for three piece
tweed suit, or bananas brocade sari or silk kimonos are expressions of our acquired needs.
The man wearing a three-piece tweed suit may be seeking to fulfill his status need or his
ego need by impressing his friends and family. All human needs can be classified in to
five hierarchical categories and this hierarchy is universally applicable. The theory of
hierarchy of needs can be ranked in order of importance from the low biological needs to
the higher level psychological needs. Each level of need is fulfilled, people keep moving
on the next higher level of need.

Participants in the Business Buying Process

The decision-making unit of a buying organization is called its buying center: all the individuals
and units that participate in the business decision-making process. The buying center includes all
members of the organization who play any of five roles in the purchase decision process.
 Users are members of the organization who will use the product or service. In many
cases, users initiate the buying proposal and help define product specifications.
 Influencers often help define specifications and also provide information for evaluating
alternatives. Technical personnel are particularly important influencers.

 Deciders have formal or informal power to select or approve the final suppliers. In
routine buying, the buyers are often the deciders, or at least the approvers.

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 Gatekeepers control the flow of information to others. For example, purchasing agents
often have authority to prevent salespersons from seeing users or deciders. Other
gatekeepers include technical personnel and even personal secretaries. The buying center
is not a fixed and formally identified unit within the buying organization.

 Buyers have formal authority to select the supplier and arrange terms of purchase. Buyers
may help shape product specifications, but their major role is in selecting vendors and
negotiating. In more complex purchases, buyers might include high-level officers
participating in the negotiations.
It is a set of buying roles assumed by different people for different purchases. Within the
organization, the size and makeup of the buying center will vary for different products and
for different buying situations. Business marketers working in global markets may face even
greater levels of buying center influence. The buying center concept presents a major
marketing challenge. The business marketer must learn who participates in the decision, each
participant's relative influence, and what evaluation criteria each decision participant uses.
The buying center usually includes some obvious participants who are involved formally in
the buying decision

Organizational buying behavior

Business market is the collection of buyers who are buying products and services for resale
purpose, or for using it in day to day operation or to use it to make another product. Let us see
the difference between consumer market and business market.
Characteristics of business market
a. Organizational consumers purchase capital equipment, raw materials, semi-finished
goods, and other products for use in further production or operations or for resale to
others, whereas final consumers usually acquire the finished items for personal, family,
or household use.
b. Organizational consumers are likely to require exact product specifications. Final
consumers more often buy on the basis of description, style, and color.
c. Organizational consumers often use multiple-buying responsibility, in which two or more
employees formally participate in complex or expensive purchase decisions. Final
consumers employ it less frequently and less formally.
d. Organizational consumers more frequently employ competitive bidding and negotiation.
Decision making process in organizational buying
Figure below shows the eight stages of the business buying process. Buyers who face a new-task
buying situation usually go through all stages of the buying process. Buyers making modified or
straight re-buys may skip some of the stages. We will examine these steps for the typical new-
task buying situation.

Problem General need Product Supplier

recognition description Specification search

Supplier Order-routine Performance

Proposal review
solicitation selection specification
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Problem Recognition
The buying process beings when someone in the company recognizes a problem or need that can
be met by acquiring a specific product or service. Problem recognition can result from internal
or external stimuli. Internally, the company may decide to launch a new product that requires
new production equipment and materials. Or a machine may break down and need new parts.
Perhaps a purchasing manager is unhappy with a current supplier’s product quality, service, or
prices. Externally, the buyer may get some new ideas at a trade show, see an ad, or receive a call
from a salesperson who offers a better product or a lower price. In fact, in their advertising,
business marketers often alert customers to potential problems and then show how their products
provide solutions.

General Need Description

Having recognized a need, the buyer next prepares a general need description that describes the
characteristics and quantity of the needed item. For standard items, this process presents few
problems. For complex items, however, the buyer may have to work with others – engineers,
users, consultants – to define the item. The team may want to rank the importance of reliability,
durability, price, and other attributes desired in the item. In this phase, the alert business
marketer can help the buyers define their needs and provide information about the value of
different product characteristics.

Product Specification
The buying organization next develops the item’s technical product specifications, often with
the help of a value analysis engineering team. Value analysis is an approach to cost reduction in
which components are studied carefully to determine if they can be redesigned, standardized, or
made by less costly methods of production. The team decides on the best product characteristics
and specifies them accordingly. Sellers, too, can use value analysis as a tool to help secure a new
account. By showing buyers a better way to make an object, outside sellers can turn straight
re-buy situations into new-task situations that give them a chance to obtain new business.

Supplier Search
The buyer now conducts a supplier search to find the best vendors. The buyers can compile a
small list of qualified suppliers by reviewing trade directories, doing a computer search, or
phoning other companies for recommendations. Today, more and more companies are turning to
the internet to find suppliers. For marketers, this has leveled the playing field – the Internet gives
smaller suppliers many of the same advantages as larger competitors.
The newer the buying task, and the more complex and costly the item, the greater the amount of
time the buyer will spend searching for suppliers. The supplier’s task is to get listed in major
directories and build a good reputation in the marketplace. Salespeople should watch for
companies in the process of searching for suppliers and make certain that their firm is
considered.

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Proposal Solicitation
In the proposal solicitation stages of the business buying process, the buyer invites qualified
suppliers to submit proposals. In response, some suppliers will spend only a catalog or a
salesperson. However, when the item is complex or expensive, the buyer will usually require
detailed written proposals or formal presentations from each potential supplier.
Business marketers must be skilled in researching, writing, and presenting proposals in response
to buyer proposal solicitations. Proposals should be marketing documents, not just technical
documents. Presentations should inspire confidence and should make the marketer’s company
stand out from the competition.

Supplier Selection
The members of the buying center now review the proposals and select a supplier or suppliers.
During supplier selection, the buying center often will draw up a list of the desired supplier
attributes and their relative importance. In one survey, purchasing executives listed the following
attributes as most important in influencing the relationship between supplier and customer;
quality products and services, on-time delivery, ethical corporate behavior, honest
communication, and competitive prices. Other important factors include repair and servicing
capabilities, technical aid and advice, geographic location, performance history, and reputation.
The members of the buying center will rate suppliers against these attributes and identify the best
suppliers.
Buyers may attempt to negotiate with preferred suppliers for better prices and terms before
making the final selections. In the end, they may select a single supplier or a few suppliers. Many
buyers prefer multiple sources of supplies to avoid being totally dependent on one supplier and
to allow comparisons of prices and performance of several suppliers over time. Today’s supplier
developments managers want to develop a full network of supplier partners that can help the
company bring more value to its customers.

Order-Routine Specification
The buyer now prepares an order-routine specification. It includes the final order with the chosen
supplier or suppliers and lists items such as technical specifications, quantity needed, expected
time of delivery, return policies, and warranties. In the case of maintenance, repair, and operating
items, buyers may use blanket contracts rather than periodic purchase orders. A blanket contract
creates a long-term relationship in which the supplier promises to resupply the buyer as needed
at agreed prices for a set time period. A blanket order eliminates the expensive process of
renegotiating a purchase each time that stock is required. It also allows buyers to write more, but
smaller, purchase orders, resulting in lower inventory levels and carrying costs.
Blanket contracting leads to more single-source buying and buying more items from that source.
This practice locks the supplier in tighter with the buyer and makes it difficult for other suppliers
to break in unless the buyer becomes dissatisfied with prices or service.
Performance Review
In this stage, the buyer reviews supplier performance. The buyer may contract users and ask
them to rate their satisfaction. The performance review may lead the buyer to continue, modify,
or drop the arrangement. The seller’s job is to monitor the same factors used by the buyer to
make sure that the seller is giving the expected satisfaction.
We have described the stages that typically would occur in a new-task buying situation. The
eight-stage model provides a simple view of the business buying-decision process. The actual

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process is usually much more complex. In the modified re-buy or straight re-buy situation, some
of these stages would be compressed or bypassed. Each organization buys in its own way, and
each buying situation has unique requirements.
Different buying center participants may be involved at different stages of the process. Although
certain buying-process steps usually do occur, buyers do not always follow them in the same
order, and they may add other steps. Often, buyers will repeat certain stages of the process.
Finally, a customer relationship might involve many different types of purchases ongoing at a
given time, all in different stages of the buying process. The seller must manage the total
customer relationship, not just individual purchases.
Organizational Buying situations
There are three major types of buying situations. At one extreme is the straight re-buy, which is
a fairly routine decision. At the other extreme is the new task, which may call for thorough
research. In the middle is the modified re-buy, which requires some research.
In a straight re-buy, the buyer reorders something without any modifications. It is usually
handled on a routine basis by the purchasing department. Based past buying satisfaction, the
buyer simply chooses. They often propose automatic reordering systems so that the purchasing
agent will save reordering time. “Out” suppliers try to offer something new or exploit
dissatisfaction so that the buyer will consider them.
In a modified re-buy, the buyer wants to modify product specifications, prices, terms, or
suppliers. The modified re-buy usually involves more decision participants than does the straight
re-buy. The in suppliers may become nervous and feel pressured to put their best foot forward to
protect an account. Our suppliers may see the modified re-buy situation as an opportunity to
make a better offer and gain new business.
A company buying a product or service for the first time faces a new-task situation. In such
cases, the greater the cost or risk, the larger the number of decision participants and the greater
their efforts to collect information will be. The new -task situation is the marketer’s greatest
opportunity and challenge. The marketer not only tires to reach as many key buying influences as
possible but also provides help and information.
The buyer makes the fewest decisions in the straight re-buy and the most in the new-task
decision. In the new-task situation, the buyer must decide on product specifications, suppliers,
price limits, payment terms, order quantities, delivery times, and service terms. The order of this
decision varies with each situation, and different decision participants influence each choice.
Many business buyers prefer to buy a packaged solution to a problem from a single seller.
Instead of buying and putting all the components together, the buyer may ask sellers to supply
the components and assemble the package or system. The sale often goes to the firm that
provides the most complete system meeting the customer’s needs. Thus, systems selling are
often a key business marketing strategy for winning and holding accounts.
Sellers increasingly have recognized that buyers like this method and have adopted systems
selling as a marketing too. Systems selling are a two-step process. First, the supplier sells a group
of interlocking products. For example, the supplier sells not only glue, but also applicators and
dryers. Second, the supplier sells a system of production, inventory control, distribution, and
other services to meet the buyer’s need for a smooth-running operation.
Systems selling are a key business marketing strategy for winning and holding accounts. The
contract often goes to the firm that provides the most complete solution to the customer’s needs.
For example, the Indonesian government requested bids to build a cement factory near Jakarta.
An American firm’s proposal included choosing the site, designing the cement factory, hiring the

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construction crews, assembling the materials and equipment, and turning the finished factory
over to the Indonesian government. A Japanese firm’s proposal included all of these services,
plus hiring and training workers to run the factory, exporting the cement through their trading
companies, and using the cement to build some needed roads and new office buildings in Jakarta.
Although the Japanese firm’s proposal cost more, it won the contract. Clearly, the Japanese
viewed the problem not as just building a cement factory (the narrow view of systems selling)
but or running it in a way that would contribute to the country’s economy. They took the
broadest view of the customer’s needs. This is true systems selling.

Factors influencing organizational buying Decision

Business buyers are subject to many influences when they make their buying decisions. Some
marketers assume that the major influences are economic. They think buyers will favor the
supplier who offers the lowest price or the best product or the most service. They concentrate on
offering strong economic benefits to buyers. However, business buyers actually respond to both
economic and personal factors. Far from being cold, calculating, and impersonal, business buyers
are human and social as well. They react to both reason and emotion.
Environmental Factors
Business buyers are influenced heavily by factors in the current and expected economic
environment, such as the level of primary demand, the economic outlook, and the cost of money.
As economic uncertainty rises, business buyers cut back on new investments and attempt to
reduce their inventories.
An increasingly important environmental factor is shortages in key materials. Many companies
now are more willing to buy and hold larger inventories of scarce materials to ensure adequate
supply. Business buyers also are affected by technological, political, and competitive
developments in the environment. Culture and customs can strongly influence business buyer
reactions to the marketer’s behavior and strategies, especially in the international marketing
environment. The business marketer must watch these factors, determine how they will affect the
buyer, and try to turn these challenges into opportunities.
Organizational Factors
Each buying organization has its own objectives, policies, procedures, structure, and systems,
and the business marketer must understand these factors well. Questions such as these arise:
How many people are involved in the buying decision? Who are they? What are their evaluative
criteria? What are the company’s policies and limits on its buyers?
Interpersonal Factors
The buying center usually includes many participants who influence each other, so interpersonal
factors also influence the business buying process. However, it is often difficult to assess such
interpersonal factors and group dynamics. Managers do not wear labels that identify them as
important or unimportant buying center participants, and powerful influencers are often buried
behind the scenes. Nor does the highest-ranking buying center participant always have the most
influence. Participants may influence the buying decision because they control rewards and
punishments, are well liked, have special expertise, or have a special relationship with other
important participants. Interpersonal factors are often very subtle. Whenever possible, business
marketers must try to understand these factors and design strategies that take them into account.
Individual Factors
Each participant in the business buying-decision process brings in personal motives, perceptions,
and preferences. These individual factors are affected by personal characteristics such as age,

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income, education, professional identification, personality, and attitudes toward risk. Also,
buyers have different buying styles. Some may be technical types who make in-depth analyses of
competitive proposals before choosing a supplier. Other buyers may be intuitive negotiators who
are adept at pitting the sellers against one another for the best deal.

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