Consumer and B2B buying behaviour
Overview
To understand the marketplace, we need to understand our customers. As we discussed in Chapter 3, the understanding derives partly from information which is managed on a systematic basis within an information system, and partly from new information acquired through the marketing research process. This chapter will address the kinds of information available to us about our customers and, specifically, their buying behaviour.
We shall find that although the buying behaviour of individual consumers differs from that of business-to-business (B2B) buyers, they both tend to follow certain types of decision-making processes. We shall also look at the factors that influence the decisions both types of customers make so we can better understand the needs and wants of our customers.
Topics
The following is the outline of the topics covered in this chapter.
- 4.1 Introduction
- 4.2 Consumer buying behaviour
- 4.3 B2B buying behaviour
- 4.4 The buying of services
- 4.5 Summary
Learning outcomes
- The learning objectives for this chapter have been carefully constructed to reflect the most significant concepts and ideas we are going to cover, and to provide a focus for your work during the chapter. After completing this chapter you should be able to:
- describe major categories of consumer and business buyers
- discuss the decision-making models for consumers and business buyers
- explain the main types of behaviour in consumer decision-making
- discuss the major factors which influence the decision-making of consumers and business buyers.