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Chapter 03 - Buying Behavior and the Buying Process
CHAPTER 3
BUYING BEHAVIOR AND THE BUYING PROCESS
Outline of Chapter
I. Types of Customers
A. Producers
B. OEM Purchasers
II. Organizational Buying and Selling
A. Complexity of the Buying Process
B. Derived versus Direct Demand
III. How Do Organizations Make Buying Decisions?
A. Steps in the Buying Process
1. Recognizing a Need or Problem (Step 1)
2. Defining the Type of Product Needed (Step 2)
B. Creeping Commitment
IV. Types of Buying Decisions
A. New Tasks
B. Straight Rebuys
C. Modified Rebuys
V. Who Makes the Buying Decision?
A. Users
B. Initiators
Chapter 03 - Buying Behavior and the Buying Process
2. Quality Criteria
B. Individual Needs of Buying Center Members
1. Types of Needs
2. Risk Reduction
VII. Professional Purchasing’s Growing Importance
A. Supply Chain Management
APPENDIX: Multi-Attribute Model of Product Evaluation and Choice
A. Performance Evaluation on Characteristics
B. Importance Weights
Chapter 03 - Buying Behavior and the Buying Process
Teaching Suggestions
1. Ask students to read through the opening profile of Camille McConn from ACell. What is her
sales strategy? Why do customers buy from her? This kind of discussion gets at the issue of value
and you can talk about the differences between what physicians or surgeons want and what a
hospital administrator might want. Then, have them read the Building Partnerships box, and
discuss Jenna Weber’s customers for Hormel meant products. This discussion will help you move
2. Next, discuss the difference between the way organizations buy and the way consumers buy.
Talk about how the buying process differs with respect to geographic concentration. Also discuss
how the buying process used by consumers can also vary in terms of complexity. Ask students to
a. The overall scores are the value of the benefits delivered by each product to the student.
Typically the student will have bought the product with the highest score because it provides the
highest value.
b. How would a salesperson selling the lowest valued alternative convince a student to buy that
alternative? What numbers in the table would the salesperson try to change?
Possibilities are:
1. increase the performance of evaluation of the low-score product.
2. decrease the performance value of the high-score product.
Chapter 03 - Buying Behavior and the Buying Process
3. This discussion leads nicely into a discussion of the different types of buying decisions. Now
have students describe a buying decision they made that was a straight rebuy such as buying a
loaf of bread, a new task (renting an apartment or buying a car for the first time), and a modified
rebuy (finding a new apartment when their lease expires, buying a new brand of soda on sale,
etc.). Have students describe a situation when they switched from a straight rebuy to a modified
rebuy. Ask them why they switched? Also ask what a salesperson can do to get a customer to
switch?
Ask students to provide an example of when they engaged in a new task. Did they evaluate
4. This is now a good time to analyze the decision-making process by breaking it down into a series
of logical steps. Relate these steps in the buying process to the process that students go through
5. Describe the functions and relative importance of the user, the influencer, the gatekeeper, and the
decider, especially as they relate to the various steps in the buying process. The controller
determines the budget. Users can be initiators, but also passive influencers.
6. Start to wrap-up by discussing the trends in organizational buying. For each of these trends, ask
students what the effect will be on salespeople. Ask them what will salespeople have to do to
deal effectively with these changes? How will the changes affect the relationship between the
salesperson and his or her customers and their companies? Some of the trends include technology
7. Conclude this session with a comparison of the selling and buying processes. Show how the
Chapter 03 - Buying Behavior and the Buying Process
Suggested Answers to Ethics Problems
1. You know that the American Airlines and Delta Airlines have goals for purchasing from women-
owned and minority-owned businesses. You have a product that is innovative and patented, and
will save the airlines like American and Delta upwards of 30% in fuel costs. But your business
does not qualify as woman-owned or minority-owned because you are a white male, so you are
thinking of bringing a partner into the business— your sister. Is this appropriate? Or would it be
better to license the product to an already certified minority-owned business?
Wow, this is a tough question. You know you could sell it more easily if you qualified – it would
2. You are talking about this class to someone who isn’t very familiar with business. When you
mention you are studying how people make buying decisions and that this information will help
you be a better salesperson, your friend says that you are just trying to learn how to manipulate
people more effectively. How do you respond?
We discussed in Chapter 2 the difference between persuasion and manipulation but there are
Suggested Answers to Questions and Problems
1. Assume that the federal government is going to make reducing childhood obesity a national
priority. The process they have adopted includes reducing sugar content in children’s cereals,
making vegetables more palatable, and reducing fat in the overall diet. Identify three product
categories (not including vegetables) for which derived demand would influence manufacturers
and producers of consumer packaged goods (foods sold to be cooked and/or eaten at home).
Include at least one product affected positively and one affected negatively.
This could be answered any number of ways, but some product categories would be artificial
2. Re-read Building Partnerships 3.1 Jenna Weber described two types of buyers. One was friendly
and easy to get along with while the other was tough, hard to get an appointment with, impatient
during the meeting, and demanded proof of almost everything she said. Are these two
personalities the only two types you would expect to see? What could she have done better with
the bacon promotion?
Chapter 03 - Buying Behavior and the Buying Process
No, most students will expect to see more than that, particularly after learning about social styles
later in the book. It’s hard to say why Jenna failed in that one instance, but it appears that she did
3. Assume you work for a division of 3M that makes medical monitoring systems. How would the
purchasing decision process differ in the following situations? Which situation is a new task? A
modified rebuy? A straight rebuy? How likely is the buyer to get other people in the
organization involved? Which types of people are likely to get involved in each decision? Which
situation is likely to produce the slowest decision?
a. The organization is purchasing a custom-designed machine to be used in the manufacturing of
automobile engines.
This is a complex decision that is a new buy. Each step in the process outlined in Exhibit 4.1
would be completed to make and implement the purchase decision.
4. Review each of the purchases in Question 3. What information would you need to conduct a value
analysis for each? Note, you will need some different and some similar information in each
situation.
In general, the information needed involves the benefits derived, the needs being met, the prices
5. A chain of restaurants wants to purchase a new order entry computer system tied into an
accounting system that manages food inventory and automatically replenishes food items. Which
criteria for evaluating supplier proposals might be used by (a) the purchasing agent, (b) the
information systems department, (c) a store manager, and (d) the head of the legal department?
How would this purchase differ from a purchase of the same products by a company that resells
store fixtures and equipment to small restaurants?
Chapter 03 - Buying Behavior and the Buying Process
purchasing agent
Information systems department
cost
technical performance
delivery time
use of state-of-the art technology
endorsements by other companies that have
reliability
6. Dub Oliver runs the maintenance department at the paper mill, and he buys lots of hardware to
fix equipment. Right now, he orders most of it through a website at NCH. If you work for Home
Depot, how would you try to make a sale to Oliver? You can assume you have a website he can
order through, too.
The buying task for Oliver right now is a straight rebuy. The task for any salesperson is to move
the task into a modified rebuy category. I would attempt to do this by getting Oliver to reevaluate
7. Under what conditions might loyalty to a supplier be economically efficient? When might it be
inefficient or wasteful?
Loyalty can be very efficient because it minimizes the time and effort needed to make a buying
decision. When a firm is loyal to a supplier, there is no need to involve a number of people in
each decision and go through all the stages in the buying process illustrated in Exhibit 4-1.
8. Create a matrix of types of needs and types of customers. Which customer types share the same
types of needs or express needs in the same way? Which ones differ? Why? Relate your chart to
the multi-attribute matrix. How would your chart help you prepare to sell?
This question could be interpreted to mean role in the buying center. An initiator might more
Chapter 03 - Buying Behavior and the Buying Process
9. Mitchell’s Metal Shop is considering the purchase of a new press, a machine that bends sheet
metal. The cost is $10,000, which is about 25 percent of the firm’s profit for the quarter. Ford
Motor Company is also considering buying about 30 new presses. Discuss how risk is different
for Frank Mitchell, owner of Mitchell’s Metal Shop, and Ford.
The risk is far greater for Frank, and could be considered catastrophic, meaning if he makes a
10. How would your multi-attribute matrix for a new car differ from your parents? How is it you
might have some of the same desires (for example, high gas mileage) yet consider completely
different cars?
If dad is having a mid-life crisis, maybe there wouldn’t be much difference! Style, though, is the
Chapter 03 - Buying Behavior and the Buying Process
Suggested Answers to Case Problems
Case 3-1: Going out Through the Backdoor
Questions:
1. What would you do? Do you lower your price or walk away? Why? Write out specifically what
you would say next.
What Travis did was not lower the price. Instead, he called the account out on its reputation for
2. Do buyers have to follow the same ethics principles as sellers? For example, sellers have to fully
disclose all information. Do buyers? Why or why not? What ethical principle violation occurred
here?
Buyers do not have to disclose all information fully. They do not, for example, have to tell you
Case 3-2: Heritage Health
Questions:
1. What is the likely make-up of the buying center?
The purchase process has already started and there are already “members” of the buying center;
2. List the roles in the buying center, based on material in the chapter. Are they all filled?
3. What type of purchase situation is this? What implications will that have if you are a salesperson
selling employee benefit plans?
This situation is most consistent with a new buy, assuming they haven’t looked at benefits plans
Chapter 03 - Buying Behavior and the Buying Process
End of Chapter Role Play Case
BancVue Buyer: You are the national sales manager, and have 3 regional sales managers reporting to you.
Each sales manager has ten to twelve salespeople. Each region is about the same size. The company is
growing at 15% per year.
At a recent meeting with the regional sales managers and the CEO (your boss), the CEO said she was
interested in finding a customer relationship management (CRM) software solution that would integrate
Note: do not read this to the seller. Answer questions as briefly as you can and don’t give any information
away.
Note: do not read this to the seller. Answer questions as briefly as you can and don’t give any information
away.
HighPoint Solutions: HPS’ sales force is broken up into two groups. There are 45 salespeople, 1 in each
office plus 2 in some of the larger cities, who sell direct to clients. There are also 10 salespeople who sell
to CPAs and others, who then sell the company’s services to their clients, companies that are typically
Chapter 03 - Buying Behavior and the Buying Process
Note: do not read this to the seller. Answer questions as briefly as you can and don’t give any information
away.
For the Instructor:
To debrief this role play, the following discussion starters may be helpful.
1. How easy was it to determine the buying process? You may want to discuss why questions like
“Are you the sole decision maker?” and “Is there anyone else who should meet with us today?”
are inappropriate. For example, the first question could be answered yes truthfully, but then you
2. You can also bring up governance, which is the decision rules used to make a decision. In the
GelTech scenario, the final decision will be made by a single individual based on the committee’s
recommendation. But will the committee decide by majority vote, consensus, or some other
mechanism? Also, note the importance of the person who presents the committee’s
recommendation to the CEO. That person is acting as a gatekeeper. How important is it that she
like the choice? What is the VP of technology’s role in the HPS decision? How might process
influence choice? And what about that process illustrates creeping commitment? Questions like
Chapter 03 - Buying Behavior and the Buying Process
EXERCISE 3-1 USING THE MULTIATTRIBUTE MODEL
Recall a recent major purchase for you, or use a major purchase you are currently involved in (or would
like to make). It could be a stereo, TV, choosing an apartment, buying a suit, etc. List the needs you
considered. Then weigh each need. Using the multiattribute model from the text, calculate scores for each
of the alternatives that you considered.
Scores for
Need:
Weight
Alt. 1
Alt. 2
Alt.
Now total the scores for each alternate. Did your decision match the ranking from the exercise? If not,
how did your process differ?
What role did the salesperson play in helping you to identify any of the above needs, or in determining
the weight (importance) of those needs?
Chapter 03 - Buying Behavior and the Buying Process
EXERCISE 3-2 THE RULE OF EMOTIONS
Consider the role of emotions in making decisions, even purchase decisions. What emotions are part of
the decision process in Exercise 3-1? Do industrial buyers make emotional decisions?
One sales trainer, Carl Stevens, says an emphatic yes, that industrial buyers’ decisions are made on the
Chapter 03 - Buying Behavior and the Buying Process
EXERCISE 3-3 TYPES OF NEEDS
Experienced salespeople can sometimes operate less effectively than novice salespeople, especially when
it comes to identifying customer needs. The reason for that startling fact is that experienced salespeople’s
experience allows them to see needs in problems faster than customers can. But novices can move at the
same (or even slower rate) than customers, identifying needs through careful probing. For that reason, it is
helpful to classify needs at two levels.
Several examples of the implied needs are:
1. I’m having problems with scorching the food.
2. I’m not happy with the speed of our current process.
3. Our equipment breaks down a lot.
The second level is the expressed (or explicit) need. Now the customer recognizes and expressed (actually
states) a need for the salesperson’s product. In a later chapter, we will discuss a questioning technique that
is designed to help you identify expressed and implied needs, but for now it is important that you
understand the difference and recognize the needs when you see them.
Taking the implied needs and developing them further, we uncover the following expressed needs:
1. I need a more reliable stove.
2. I need to train my employees to operate the equipment more quickly.
Read the statements below and determine if a statement is an implied or expressed need. Place an I or an
E in the blank to the side of each statement, an N if it is neither and expressed or implied need.
1. You know, we’ve had some issues with data security.
2. We need to resolve our accounting problems.
Chapter 03 - Buying Behavior and the Buying Process
3. We need to hire an auditor to review how we manage and account for our inventory because we
aren’t billing our customers on time or accurately.
ANSWERS TO EXERCISE 3-3
1. I
2. I
3. E
4. I
