8. Business Buying Behavior (LO 7-8, PPT Slide 45, DISC: Customer)
Business buying behavior has five important aspects: buying centers, evaluative criteria,
buying situations, business ethics, and customer service.
a. Buying Centers: A buying center includes all the people in an organization who
become involved in the purchase decision. The number of people involved in a
• Roles in the Buying Center: Often, several people play a role in the business
purchase process.
o Initiator – the person who first suggests making a purchase
o Influencers/evaluators – people who influence the buying decision, often by
helping to define specifications and providing information for evaluating
options
o Users – members of the organization who will actually use the product
• Implications of Buying Centers for the Marketing Manager: Successful vendors
realize the importance of identifying who is in the decision-making unit, each
member’s relative influence in the buying decision, and each member’s
evaluative criteria. Key influencers are frequently located outside the purchasing
department. Marketers should become involved in the buying process as early
b. Evaluative Criteria: Business buyers evaluate products and suppliers using three
important criteria: quality, service, and price.
• Quality: Quality refers to technical suitability. Evaluation of quality also applies to
the reputation of the salesperson and the salesperson’s firm.
c. Buying Situations: Business firms, especially manufacturers, must decide whether
to make something or buy it from an outside supplier.
• New Buy: A new buy is a situation requiring the purchase of a product for the
• Modified Rebuy: A modified rebuy is a situation in which the purchaser wants
some change in the original good or service. A modified rebuy is normally less
critical and less time consuming than a new buy. Because the two parties are
familiar with each other and credibility has been established, the buyer and
seller can concentrate on the specifics of the modification requested in a
modified rebuy situation. A purchaser may open the modified rebuy to outside
bidders to ensure competitive terms and pricing.
d. Business Ethics: Ethics refers to the moral principles or values that generally
govern the conduct of an individual or a group and to the standard of behavior by
which conduct is judged. To help achieve this, over half of all major corporations
offer ethics training to employees. Many companies also have codes of ethics that
help guide buyers and sellers.
e. Customer Service: Business marketers are increasingly recognizing the benefits of
Discussion Questions
You can assign these questions several ways: in a discussion forum in your LMS; as whole-
class discussions in person; or as a partner or group activity in class. A generic discussion
rubric is provided in the Appendix.
1. Discussion: (LO 7-1, PPT Slides 5-6) Duration 5-10 minutes.
a. Lead students on a discussion comparing consumer products and business
products with the following questions:
• Can you think of at least five examples of consumer products?
• Can you think of at least five examples of business products?
Additional Activities and Assignments
A generic discussion and writing rubric is provided in the Appendix.
1. Activator Activity: Being a Business Buyer (LO 7-8)
Purpose: To help students distinguish between business buying and consumer
buying.
Classroom Format: Small group discussion, then class presentations (Estimated
Time: 20-30 minutes)
1. Have students divide up into groups of three or four. Ask them to imagine
that they are in charge of buying business supplies for one of the following:
• A theme park
2. Have them brainstorm a list of five items they would need to buy in large
volumes.
3. Ask them to determine how they would find suppliers for these items.
Online Format: Discussion board with posted response from each student
(Estimated Time: 15-25 minutes)
1. Use the following prompt to facilitate this activity in a discussion board:
Imagine that you are in charge of buying business supplies for one of the
following organizations:
• A theme park
2. Have students respond to their classmates’ posts, ask questions, and discuss
some of the common criteria among purchase decisions.
Additional questions for a classroom or discussion board: Are some products
both consumer and business products? What are some of the common ways buyers
research suppliers? What were some of the common criteria students are using to
make choices?
Result: This exercise is an easy and fun way to get students thinking about how
2. Class activity (LO 7-2)
Format: This activity can be facilitated in both a classroom and an online
environment. Instructions for how to facilitate the activity in the classroom and
online are provided below. (Estimated time: 15-25 minutes)
Classroom Format: Divide students into pairs or groups of three. Have them
examine their Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn feeds (or, if necessary, they could
Online Format: If you’re delivering your course online, you can have students do
this on their own and have them post their answers in a discussion board. Use the
following prompt to facilitate this activity: (Estimated time: 15-25 minutes)
Examine your Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn feeds (or, if necessary, use a search
3. Class activity (LO 7-3)
Format: This activity can be facilitated in both a classroom and an online
environment. Instructions for how to facilitate the activity in the classroom and
online are provided below. (Estimated time: 15-25 minutes)
Classroom Format: Divide students into small groups of three or four. Instruct
groups to brainstorm and discuss options for two existing firms that would benefit
Online Format: If you’re delivering your course online, you can have students do
this on their own and have them post their answers in a discussion board. Use the
following prompt to facilitate this activity:
Brainstorm options for two existing firms that you think would benefit from a strategic
alliance. It could be an alliance between manufacturers, a manufacturer and a customer,
4. Class activity (LO 7-4)
Format: This activity can be facilitated in both a classroom and an online
environment. Instructions for how to facilitate the activity in the classroom and
online are provided below. (Estimated time: 10-15 minutes)
Classroom Format: Divide the class into groups of three or four. Have each group
select one of the four categories of business customer—producer, reseller,
government, or institution—and select a specific example of that category. Then ask
groups to brainstorm a list of at least 10 items that particular organization might
buy. Invite several groups to share their findings. Was there much overlap in the
products, or was there a lot of diversity?
Online Format: If you’re delivering your course online, you can have students do
5. Class activity (LO 7-6)
Format: This activity can be facilitated in both a classroom and an online
environment. Instructions for how to facilitate the activity in the classroom and
online are provided below. (Estimated time: 15-25 minutes)
Classroom Format: Divide the class into groups of either two or four students so
that there is an even number of people on each “side” of the negotiating table. Have
each set of students imagine that one side is the buyer and one side is the seller of
some high-ticket product, such as a large piece of equipment, a specialized vehicle,
or something similar. As a group, they should determine what terms they should
negotiate before agreeing to the sale of the item. Invite several groups to share
what terms became important in the negotiations.
Online Format: If you’re delivering your course online, you can have students do
6. Class activity (LO 7-7)
Format: This activity can be facilitated in both a classroom and an online
environment. Instructions for how to facilitate the activity in the classroom and
online are provided below. (Estimated time: 20–30 minutes)
Classroom Format: Divide students into groups of three or four. Instruct groups to
use the Internet to identify three websites that are targeted to business customers.
Online Format: If you’re delivering your course online, you can have students do
this on their own and have them post their answers in a discussion board. Use the
following prompt to facilitate this activity:
Use the Internet to identify two websites that are targeted to business customers. For
websites in terms of effective marketing appeals and customer service.
7. Class activity (LO 7-8)
Format: This activity can be facilitated in both a classroom and an online
environment. Instructions for how to facilitate the activity in the classroom and
online are provided below. (Estimated time: 20-30 minutes)
Classroom Format: Divide students into groups of three or four. Have them
imagine that they are the sales team for a company that manufactures and sells
professional-grade video surveillance equipment. Ask them to create a sales
presentation to an organization that covers the three basic evaluative criteria:
quality, service, price. Who will they make this presentation to? Would their
presentation change if this is a new buy versus a modified buy? Each group should
present their sales pitch to the class.
Online Format: If you’re delivering your course online, you can have students do
this on their own and have them post their answers in a discussion board. Use the
following prompt to facilitate this activity:
Imagine you are a sales representative for a company that manufactures and sells
8. Additional activity: Business-to-Business Marketing Strategy (LO 7-2)
Purpose: To provide a hands-on opportunity to design a B2B marketing strategy.
Background: Successful B2B marketing relies on an effective strategy, which in turn
Relationship to Text: What Is Business Marketing?
Estimated Class Time: About 25-35 minutes
Format: This activity can be facilitated in both a classroom and an online
environment. Instructions for how to facilitate the activity in the classroom and
online are provided below.
Classroom Format: Divide the students into groups of four or five, and give them
the following information:
1. Scenario: You and your team were just hired as strategic marketing
2. Goal: In the next 10 to15 minutes, you and your team will develop a concise
strategic overview to prepare for an upcoming lunch with the CEO of the
company. You must briefly address the following issues. How would you
segment the market? Who would you target? Why? How would you approach
the market? Write a discussion outline, including a brief description of your
target, and a five-step marketing strategy (a sentence or two per step). Be
sure to clarify any assumptions that you make along the way.
When the teams have completed their outlines, ask each group to present to the
class. You may be surprised at the diversity and creativity of their approaches.
Online Format: Discussion board with posted response from each student
(Estimated Time: 10 minutes)
1. Use the following prompt to facilitate this activity in a discussion board:
You and your team were just hired as strategic marketing consultants for
a small company that specializes in website translation. The company,
which is two years old, translates and localizes websites for organizations
Additional Questions for Reflection:
• What kind of information would you need in order to do an actual strategic
marketing plan?
• In general, how does B2B strategy differ from B2C strategy?
9. Online Research Activity: B2B Marketing Trends (LO 7-2)
Appendix
Generic Rubrics
Providing students with rubrics helps them understand expectations and components of
assignments. Rubrics help students become more aware of their learning process and
progress, and they improve students’ work through timely and detailed feedback.
Customize these rubrics as you wish. The writing rubric indicates 40 points and the
discussion rubric indicates 30 points.
Standard Writing Rubric
Criteria
Meets Requirements
Needs Improvement
Incomplete
Content
The assignment clearly and
comprehensively
addresses all questions in
the assignment.
The assignment partially
addresses some or all
questions in the
assignment.
The assignment does not
address the questions in
the assignment.
0 points
Research
The assignment is based
upon appropriate and
adequate academic
literature, including peer
reviewed journals and
other scholarly work.
5 points
The assignment is based
upon adequate academic
literature but does not
include peer reviewed
journals and other
scholarly work.
3 points
The assignment is not
based upon appropriate
and adequate academic
literature and does not
include peer reviewed
journals and other
scholarly work.
Standard Discussion Rubric
Criteria
Meets Requirements
Needs Improvement
Incomplete
Participation
Submits or participates in
discussion by the posted
deadlines. Follows all
assignment. instructions
for initial post and
responses.
5 points
Does not participate or
submit discussion by the
posted deadlines. Does not
follow instructions for
initial post and responses.
3 points
Does not participate in
discussion.
0 points