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MARKETING MASTERS
by Frederick E. Webster Jr. and Yoram Wind
A General Model forUnderstanding Organizational
Buying BehaviorFramework outlines the decision process in
an industrial context
I ndustrial and institutional mar-keters have often been urged
tobase their strategies on carefulappraisal of buying behavior
withinkey accounts and in principal mar-ket segments. When they
search the avail-able literature on buyer behavior, howev-er, they
find virtually exclusive emphasison consumers, not industrial
buyers.
Research findings and theoretical dis-cussions about consumer
behavior oftenhave little relevance for the industrialmarketer.
This is due to several importantdifferences between the two
purchaseprocesses.
Industrial buying takes place in thecontext of a formal
organization infiu-enced by a budget, cost and profit
consid-erations. Furthermore, organizational(i.e., industrial and
institutional) buyingusually involves many people in the deci-sion
process with complex interactionsamong people and among individual
andorganizational goals.
The industrial marketer could find a.model of buyer behavior
useful in identi-fying those key factors influencingresponse to
marketing effort. It can helpthe marketer analyze available
informa-tion about the market and identify the
EXECUTIVE/
n each issue q/'MARKETING MANAGEMENT we reprint animportant
article from a past issue of one of our sister publications.
This article, published in the Journal of Marketing in April
1972,proves the old aphorism, "There is nothing as useful as a good
theo-ry," according to its authors. "Basically," said Webster,
"[the articlelprovided a vocabulary for thinking about the process
of buyer deci-sion making and, thus, made a surprisingly durable
contribution tothe conversation.''
need for additional information. Such amodel also could help
specify targets formarketing effort, the kinds of informationneeded
by various purchasing decisionmakers, and the criteria to make
thesedecisions. A framework for analyzingorganizational buying
behavior could aidin the design of marketing strategy.
The general model presented here canbe applied to all
organizational buyingand suffers all the weaknesses of
generalmodels. It does not describe a specificbuying situation in
the richness of detailrequired to make a model operational,and it
cannot be quantified.
However, generality offers a compen-sating set of benefits. The
mode! presentsa comprehensive view of organizationalbuying that
enables one to evaluate the rel-evance of specific variables and,
thereby,permits greater insight into the basicprocesses of
industrial buying behavior. Itidentifies the classes of variables
that mustbe examined by any student of organiza-tional buying,
practitioner or academician.
Although major scientific progress inthe study of organizational
buying willcome only from a careful study of specif-ic
relationships among a few variableswithin a given class, this
general modelcan help to identify those variables thatshould be
studied. It can be useful in gen-
52 Wima/SpRm 1996, VOL. 4, No. 4 MARKETING mmGEMEHJ
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erating hypotheses and provides a frame-work for careful
interpretation of researchresults that makes the researcher
moresensitive to the complexities of theprocesses he is
studying.
Traditional Views
T raditional views of organizationalbuying have lacked
comprehensive-ness. The literature of economics,purchasing, and, to
a limited degree, mar-keting has emphasized variables related tothe
buying task itself and "rational" eco-nomic factors. In these
economic views, theobjective of purchasing is to obtain theminimum
price or the lowest total cost-in-use {as in the materials
managementmodel). Some of the models focusing onthe buying task
have emphasized factorsthat are not strictly economic, such as
recip-rocal buying agreements, and other con-straints on the buyer,
such as source loyalty.
Other traditional views of organization-al buying err in the
opposite direction,emphasizing variables such as emotion,personal
goals, and internal politics that areinvolved in the buying
decision process butnot related to the goals of the buying
task.
This "nontask" emphasis is seen inmodels that emphasize the
purchasingagent's interest in obtaining personalfavors, in
enhancing his own ego, or inreducing perceived risk. Other
nontaskmodels have emphasized buyer-salesmaninterpersonal
interaction and the multiplerelationships between
individualsinvolved in the buying process over time.
The ways in which purchasing agentsattempt to expand their
influence over thebuying decision have also received care-ful
study. These views have contributedto an understanding of the
buyingprocess, hut none of them is complete. Tothe extent that
these models leave outtask or nontask variables, they
offerincomplete guidelines for the industrialmarket strategist and
researcher. The ten-dency in interpreting research resultsbased on
these simple models is tooveremphasize the importance of
somevariables and to understate or ignore theimportance of
others.
Four Classes of Variables
The fundamental assertion of ourmore comprehensive model is
thatorganizational buying is a deci-sion-making process carried out
by indi-viduals, in interaction with other people,and within the
context of a formal organi-zation. The organization, in turn, is
influ-
EXHIBIT 1
Classification and examples of variables
influencingorganizational buying decisions
Individual
Social
Organizational
Environmental
Desire to obtainlowest prices
Meetings to setspecifications
Policy regardinglocal supplierpreference
Anticipatedchanges in prices
Personal valuesand needs
Informal, off-the-job interactionsMethods
ofpersonnelevaluation
Political climatein an election year
enced by a variety of forces in the envi-ronment. Thus, the four
classes of vari-ables determining organizational buyingbehavior are
individual, social, organiza-tional, and environmental.
Within each class, there are two broadcategories of variables:
Those directlyrelated to the buying problem, called taskvariables,
and those that extend beyondthe buying problem, called nontask
vari-ables. This classification of variables isillustrated in
Exhibit 1.
The distinction between task and non-task variables applies to
all of the classesand subclasses of variables. It is seldompossible
to identify a given set of variablesas exclusively task or nontask;
rather, anygiven set of variables will have both taskand nontask
dimensions, although onedimension might predominate.
For example, motives will inevitablyhave both dimensionsthose
relatingdirectly to the buying problem to be solvedand those
primarily concerned with person-al goals. These motives overlap in
manyimportant respects and need not conflict; astrong sense of
personal involvement cancreate more effective buying decisionsfrom
an organizational standpoint.
Organizational buying behavior is acomplex process (rather than
a single,instantaneous act) and involves manypersons, multiple
goals, and potentiallyconflicting decision criteria. It often
takesplace over an extended period of time,requires information
from many sources,and encompasses many interorganization-al
relationships.
The organizational buying process is aform of problem-solving,
and a buying
situation is created when someone in theorganization perceives a
problem-a dis-crepancy between a desired outcome andthe present
situation^that can potentiallybe solved through some buying
action.Organizational buying behavior includesall activities of
organizational membersas they define a buying situation
andidentify, evaluate, and choose amongalternative brands and
.suppliers.
The buying center includes all mem-bers of the organization who
are involvedin that process. The roles involved arethose of user,
influencer, decider, buyer,and gatekeeper (who controls the flow
ofinformation into the buying center). Mem-bers of the buying
center are motivated bya complex interaction of individual
andorganizational goals. Their relationshipswith one another
involve all the complexi-ties of interpersonal interactions.
The formal organization exerts itsinfluence on the buying center
throughthe subsystems of tasks, structure (com-munication,
authority, status, rewards,and work flow), technology, and
people.Finally, the entire organization is embed-ded in a set of
environmental influencesincluding economic, technological,
phys-ical, political, legal, and cultural forces.An overview of the
model and a diagram-matic presentation of the relationshipsamong
these variables are given inFxhibit 2 on page 54.
Environmental InfluencesEnvironmental influences are subtle
and pervasive as well as difficult to identi-fy and measure.
They influence the buyingprocess by providing information as
well
nARKETINGMAmGEMENJ WIHM/SPMG 1996, VOL. 4, No. 4 53
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EXHIBIT 2
A model of organizational buying behaviorf I. The environment
(environmental determinants of buying behavior)
Phj^ical env. Economic env. Legal env.Technological env.
Political env. Cultural env.
rs Covj^oment Lab
Information about suppliers(marketing communications)
Availability ofgoods and services
General businessconditions
II. The Organization (organizational determinants of buying
behavior)The organizational climate: physical, technological,
economic, cultural
Organizationalstructure
Organization of thebuying center and
the purchasingLunction
Organizationalgoals & tasks
Oi^anizationalactors
Members of thebuying center, >
Irganizationaltecbnology
Technology relevantaffifor purchasing
Technologicalconstraints &technoliigyavailable tothe
group
III. The Buying Center(interpersonal determinants of buying
behavior)
Task Activities Interactions Sentiments Nontask Activities
Interactions Sentiments
IV. The Individual ParticipantsMotivation, cognitive stmcture,
personality, learning process, perceived roles
Buying decision process2. Croup
decisionmakingunit
as constraints and opportunities. Environ-mental influences
include physical (geo-graphic, climate, or ecological),
techno-logical, economic, political, legal, and cul-tural
factors.
These influences are exerted through avariety of institutions
including businessfirms (suppliers, competitors, and cus-tomers),
governments, trade unions,political parties, educational and
medicalinstitutions, trade associations, and pro-fessional groups.
The nature ofthe.seinstitutional forms will vary significantlyfrom
one country to another, and suchdifferences are critical to the
planning ofmultinational marketing strategies.
As the model shows, environmental
influences have their impact in four dis-tinct ways. First, they
define the availabil-ity of goods and services. This
functionreflects especially the influence of physi-cal,
technological, and economic factors.
Second, they define the general busi-ness conditions facing the
buying organi-zation including the rate of economicgrowth, the
level of national income,interest rates, and unemployment.
Eco-nomic and political forces are the domi-nant influences on
general business con-ditions. Some of these forces, such aseconomic
factors, are predominantly (butnot exclusively) task variables
whereasothers, such as political variables, may bemore heavily
nontask in nature.
Third, environmental factors determinethe values and norms
guiding interorgani-zational and interpersonal relationshipsbetween
buyers and sellers as well asamong competitors, and between
buyingorganizations and other institutions suchas governments and
trade associations.Such values and norms may be eodifiedinto laws,
or they may be implicit. Cultur-al, social, legal, and political
forces are thedominant sources of values and norms.
Finally, environmental forces influ-ence the information flow
into the buyingorganization. Most important here is theflow of
marketing communications frompotential suppliers, through the
massmedia and through other personai andimpersonal channels.
Information flowsreflect a variety of physical, technologi-cal,
economic, and cultural factors.
The marketing strategist, whose cus-tomers are organizations,
must carefullyappraise each set of environmental fac-tors and
identify and analyze the institu-tions that exert those influences
in eachof the market segments served. This kindof analysis is
especially important inentering new markets.
For example, economic factors, asrevealed in measures of general
businessconditions, must be continually assessedwhere market prices
fluctuate and buyersmake decisions to build or reduce inven-tories
based on price expectations. Simi-larly, the impact of
technological changein markets served must be considered asthe
basis for strategic decisions in theareas of product policy and
promotion.
The necessity of analyzing institutionalforms is most readily
apparent when mar-kets are multinational in scope and
requirespeciflc consideration of government poli-cies and trade
union influences. Environ-mental factors are important
determinantsof organizational buying behavior, butthey can be so
basie and pervasive that itis easyand dangerou.sto overlookthem in
analyzing the market.
Organizational InfluencesOrganizational factors cause
individ-
ual decision makers to act differentlythan they would if they
were functioningalone or in a different organization.
Orga-nizational buying behavior is motivatedand directed by the
organization's goalsand is constrained by its financial,
tech-nological, and human resources. Thisclass of variables is
primarily task-relat-ed. For understanding the influence of
theformal organization on the buying
54 ]m, Voi 4, No. 4 MARKETING MmSEMENJ
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process, Harold J. Leavitt's 1964 classifi-cation of variables
is most helpful.According to this scheme, organizationsare
multivariate systems comprising foursets of interacting
variables:
Tasksthe work to be performed inaccomplishing the objectives of
the orga-nization.
Structuresubsystems of communica-tion, authority, status,
rewards, and workflow.
Technologyproblem-solving inven-tions used by the firm including
plant andequipment and programs for organizingand managing
work.
Peoplethe actors in the system.
Each of these subsystems interactswith, and is dependent upon,
the othersfor its functioning. Together, these fourinteracting sets
of factors defme the infor-mation, expectations, goals, attitudes,
andassumptions used by each of the individ-ual actors in their
decision making.
Our general model defines four dis-tinct but interrelated sets
of variables thatmust be carefully considered in the devel-opment
of marketing strategies designedto influence that process: buying
tasks,organizational structure, buying technolo-gy, and the buying
center.
Buying tasks. This subset of organiza-tional tasks and goals
that evolves fromthe definition of a buying situation. Theseare
pure task variables by defmition. Thespecific tasks that must be
performed tosolve the buying problem can be definedas five stages
in the buying decisionprocess: (1) identification of need;
(2)establishment of specifications; (3) identi-fication of
alternatives; (4) evaluation ofalternatives; and (5) selection of
suppliers.
Buying tasks can be further definedaccording to four
dimensions:
The organizational purpose served-^e.g., whether the reason for
buying is tofacilitate production, or for resale, or tobe consumed
in the performance of otherorganizational functions.
The nature of demand, especiallywhether demand for the product
is gener-ated within the buying organization or byforces outside of
the organization (i.e.,"derived" demand) as well as other char-
acteristics of the demand pattern such asseasonal and cyclical
fluctuations.
The extent of programmingi.e., thedegree of routinization at the
five stagesof the decision process.
The degree of decentralization and theextent to which buying
authority has beendelegated to operating levels in the
orga-nization.
Each of these four dimensions influ-ences the nature of the
organizationalbuying process and must be considered inappraising
market opportunities. At eachof the five stages of the decision
process,different members of the buying centermay be involved,
different decision crite-ria are employed, and different
informa-tion sources may become more or less rel-evant.
Marketing strategies must be adjustedaccordingly. There are rich
researchopportunities in defining the influence ofdifferent members
of the buying center atvarious stages of the buying process.
Organizational structure. The formalorganizational structure
consists of sub-systems of communication, authority, sta-tus,
rewards, and work flowall of whichhave important task and nontask
dimen-sions. Each of these subsystems deservescareful study by
researchers interested inorganizational buying. The marketing
lit-erature does not include studies in thisarea. A beginning might
be several rigor-ous observational or case studies.
The communication subsystem per-forms four essential functions:
(1) infor-mation; (2) command and instruction; (3)influence and
persuasion; and (4) integra-tion. The marketer must understand
howthe communication system in customerorganizations informs the
members of thebuying center about buying problems,evaluation
criteria (both task- and non-task-related), and alternative sources
ofsupply. He must appraise how commandsand instructions (mostly
task-related) flowthrough the hierarchy defining the discre-tion
and latitude of individual actors.
The pattern of influence and persuasion(heavily nontask in
nature) defines thenature of interpersonal interactions withinthe
buying center. Organizational membersmay differ in the extent to
which they prefereither commands and instructions or moresubtle
influence and persuasion to guide theactions of subordinates. The
integrative
functions of communication become criticalin coordinating the
functioning of the buy-ing center and may be one of the
primaryroles of the purchasing manager.
The authority subsystem defines thepower of organizational
actors to judge,command, or otherwise act to influencethe behavior
of others along both taskand nontask dimensions. No factor ismore
critical in understanding the organi-zational buying process
because theauthority structure determines who setsgoals and who
evaluates (and thereforedetermines rewards for)
organizationalperformance. The authority structureinteracts with
the communication struc-ture to determine the degree of
decentral-ization in the decision process.
The status system is reflected in theorganizational chart and
defines the hierar-chical structure of the formal organization.Tt
also expresses itself in an informal struc-ture. Both the formal
and informal organi-zation define each individual's position ina
hierarchy with respect to other individu-als. Job descriptions
define positions with-in the organization and the
associateddimensions of responsibility and authority.
Knowing the responsibility, authority,and the position in the
internal statushierarchy of each member of the buyingcenter is a
necessary basis for developingan account strategy for the
organizationalcustomer. A complete theory of organiza-tional buying
will permit accurate predic-tions of an organizational actor's
influ-ence based upon his position and role.
The reward system defines the payoffsto the individual decision
maker. It isintimately related to the authority systemwhich
determines the responsibilities ororganizational actors for
evaluating otherindividuals. Here is the mechanism forrelating
organizational task accomplish-ment to individual nontask
objectives.
Persons join organizations in anticipa-tion of the rewards given
by the organiza-tion and agree to work toward organiza-tional
objectives in return for thoserewards. A careful analysis of the
formaland social reward structure of the organi-zation as it
affects and is perceived by themembers of the buying center can be
mosthelpful in predicting their response to mar-keting effort. The
key fact is that peoplework for organizations to earn
rewardsrelated to personal goals, both economicand noneconomic.
Every buying organization developstask-related procedures for
managing theflow of paperwork, samples, and other
MARKETING MAHAGEMEHJ 1996, VOL. 4, No. 4 55
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items involved in the buying decisionprocess. The flow of
paperwork also hasnontask aspects that reflect the composi-tion of
the buying center as well as theauthority and communication
subsystemsof an organizational structure.
Buying technology. Technology influ-ences both what is bought
and the natureof the organizational buying processitself. In the
latter respect, technologydefines the management and
informationsystems that are involved in the buyingdecision process,
such as computers andmanagement science approaches to suchaspects
of buying as "make or buy"analysis.
More obviously, technology definesthe plant and equipment of the
organiza-tion, and these, in tnrn, place significantconstraints
upon the alternative buyingactions available to the organization.
It isa common failing of industrial marketingstrategy, especially
for new product intro-ductions, to underestimate the demandsthat
will be placed on existing technologyin customer organizations. A
new materi-al, for example, may require new dies andmixing
equipment, new skills of produc-tion personnel, and substantial
changes inmethods of production.
Buying center. The buying center is asubset of the
organizational actors, thelast of the four sets of variables in
theLeavitt scheme. The buying center wasearlier defined as
consisting of five roles:users, intiuencers, deciders, buyers,
andgatekeepers. Since people operate as partof the total
organization, the behavior ofmembers of the buying center reflects
theinfluence of others as well as the effect ofthe buying task, the
organizational struc-ture, and technology.
This interaction leads to unique buyingbehavior in each customer
organization.The marketing strategist who wishes toinfluence the
organizational buyingprocess must, therefore, defme and under-stand
the operation of these four sets oforganizational variablestasks,
structure,technology, and actorsin each organiza-tion he is trying
to influence.
The foregoing comments provide onlythe skeleton of an analytical
structure forconsidering each of these factors and itsimplications
for marketing action in a spe-cific buying situation. The
marketer'sproblem is to define the locus of buyingresponsibility
within the customer organi-zation, to define the composition of
the
buying center, and to understand thestructure of roles and
authority within thebuying center.
Social InfluencesThe framework for understanding the
buying decision process must identify andrelate three classes of
variables involvedin group functioning in the buying center.First,
the various roles in the buying cen-ter must be identified. Second,
the vari-ables relating to interpersonal (dyadic)interaction
between persons in the buyingcenter and between members of the
buy-ing center and "outsiders" such as ven-dors' salesmen must be
identified. Third,the dimensions of the functioning of thegroup as
a whole must be considered.
Within the organization as a wholeonly a subset of
organizational actors isactually involved in a buying situation.The
buying center includes five roles:
Usersthose members of the organiza-tion who use the purchased
products andservices.
Buyersthose with formal responsibili-ty and authority for
contracting with sup-pliers.
Influencersthose who influence thedecision process directly or
indirectly byproviding information and criteria forevaluating
alternative buying actions.
Decidersthose with authority tochoose among alternative buying
actions.
Gatekeepersthose who control theflow of information (and
materials) intothe buying center.
Several individuals may occupy thesame role; e.g., there may be
several influ-encers. Also, one individual may occupymore than one
role; e.g., the purchasingagent is often both buyer and
gatekeeper.
To understand interpersonal interactionwithin the buying center,
it is useful toconsider three aspects of role perfor-mance: (I)
role expectations (prescriptionsand prohibitions for the behavior
of theperson occupying the role and for thebehavior of other
persons toward a givenrole); (2) roic behavior (actual behavior
inthe role); and (3) role relationships (themultiple and reciprocal
relationshipsamong members of the group). Together,these three
variables defme the individ-ual's role set.
An awareness of each of these dimen-sions is necessary for the
salesman respon-sible for contacting the various membersof the
buying center. It is especiallyimportant to understand how each
memberexpects the salesman to behave towardhim and the important
ongoing relation-ships among roles in the buying center.
As illustrated in the model, the natureof group functioning is
influenced by fiveclasses of variables: the individual mem-bers'
goals and personal characteristics,the nature of leadership within
the group,the structure of the group, the tasks per-formed by the
group, and external (orga-nizational and environmental)
influences.
Group processes involve not onlyactivities but also interactions
and senti-ments among members, which have bothtask and nontask
dimensions. Finally, theoutput of the group is not only a
task-ori-ented problem solution (a buying action)but also nontask
satisfaction and growthfor the group and its members.
Tn analyzing the functioning of the buy-ing center, it helps to
focus attention on thebuyer role, primarily because a member ofthe
purchasing department is most oftenthe marketer's primary contact
point withthe organization. Buyers often have author-ity for
[nanaging the contacts of supplierswith other organizational
actors, and thusaTso perform the "gatekeeper" function.
While the buyer's authority for selec-tion of suppliers may be
seriously con-strained by decisions at earlier stages of
thedecision process (especially the develop-ment of
specifications), he has responsibili-ty for the terminal stages of
the process. Tnother words, the buyer (or purchasingagent) is, in
most cases, the final decisionmaker and the target of influence
attemptsby other members of the buying center.
Tn performing their task, purchasingagents use a variety of
tactics to enhancetheir power that vary with the specificproblems,
the conditions of the organiza-tion, and the purchasing agent's
personal-ity. The tactics used by purchasing agentsto influence
their relationships with otherdepartments can be viewed as a
specialcase of the more general phenomenon of"lateral"
relationships in formal organiza-tionsthose among members of
approxi-mately equal status in the formal organi-zational
hierarchy.
These include rule-oriented tactics(e.g., appealing to the boss
for theenforcement of organizational policy;appealing to rules and
formal statementsof authority); rule-evading tactics (e.g..
56 WmER/Spum 1996, Voi. 4, Ho. 4
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compliance with requests from users thatviolate organizational
policies); personal-political tactics (e.g., reliance on
informalrelationships and friendships to get deci-sions made and an
exchange of favorswith other members of the buying cen-ter);
educational tactics (e.g., persuadingother members of the
organization tothink in purchasing terms and to recog-nize the
importance and potential contri-bution of the purchasing function);
andfinally, organizational-Jnteractional tac-tics (e.g., change the
formal organization-al structure and the pattern of
reportingrelationships and information flows).
Ambitious buyers who wish to extendthe scope of their influence
will adoptcertain tactics and engage in bargainingactivities in an
attempt to become moreinfluential at earlier stages of the
buyingprocess. These tactics or bargainingstrategies define the
nature of the buyer'srelationships with others of equal
organi-zational status and structure the social sit-uation that the
potential supplier mustfaee in dealing with the buying
organiza-tion. An understanding of the nature ofinterpersonal
relationships in the buyingorganization is an important basis for
thedevelopment of marketing strategy.
The Influence of the IndividualIn the final analysis, all
organizational
buying behavior is individual behavior.Only the individual as an
individual or as amember of a group can define and analyzebuying
situations, decide, and act. In thisbehavior, the individual is
motivated by acomplex combination of personal andorganizational
objectives, constrained bypolicies and Information filtered
throughthe formal organization, and influenced byother members of
the buying center.
The individual is at the center of thebuying process, operating
within the buy-ing center that is, in turn, bounded by theformal
organization which is likewiseembedded in the influences of the
broad-er environment. It is the speeific individ-ual who is the
target for marketingefforts, not the abstract organization.
The organizational buyer's personali-ty, perceived role set,
motivation, cogni-tion, and learning are the basic psycho-logical
processes that affect his responseto the buying situation and
marketingstimuli provided by potential vendors.Similar to consumer
markets, it is impor-tant to understand the organizationalbuyer's
psychological characteristics andespecially his predispositions,
preference
structure, and decision model as the basisfor marketing strategy
decisions.
Some initial attempts to develop cate-gories of buying decision
makers accord-ing to characteristic decision styles ("nor-mative"
and "conservative") have beenreported. Cultural, organizational,
andsocial factors are important influences onthe individual and are
reflected in his pre-vious experiences, awareness of, attitudeand
preference toward particular vendorsand products and his particular
buyingdecision models.
The organizational buyer can, there-fore, be viewed as a
eonstrained decisionmaker. Although the basic mental process-es of
motivation, cognition, and learningas well as the buyer's
personality, per-ceived role set, preference structure, anddecision
model are uniquely individual;they are influenced by the context of
inter-personal and organizational influenceswithin which the
individual is embedded.
The organizational buyer is motivatedby a complex combination of
individualand organizational objectives and isdependent upon others
for the satisfactionof these needs in several ways. Theseother
people define the role expectationsfor the individual, they
determine thepayoffs he is to receive for his perfor-mance, they
influence the definition ofthe goals to be pursued in the
buyingdecision, and they provide informationwith which the
individual attempts toevaluate risks and come to a decision.
Task and nontask motives. Only rarelycan the organizational
buyer let purely per-sonal considerations influence his
buyingdecisions. In a situation where "all otherthings are equal,"
the individual may beable to apply strictly personal
(nontask)criteria when making his final decision. Inthe unlikely
event that two or more poten-tial vendors offer products of
comparablequality and service at a comparable price,then the
organizational buyer may be moti-vated by purely personal, nontask
variablessuch as his personal preferences for dealingwith a
particular salesman, or some specialfavor or gift available from
the supplier.
The organizational buyer's motivationhas both task and nontask
dimensions.Task-related motives relate to the specificbuying
problem to be solved and involvethe general criteria of buying "the
rightquality in the right quantity at the rightprice for delivery
at the right time fromthe right source." Of course, what is"right"
is a difficult question, especially
to the extent that important buying influ-eneers have
conflicting needs and criteriafor evaluating the buyer's
performance.
Nontask-related motives may often bemore important, although
there is fre-quently a rather direct relationshipbetween task and
nontask motives. Forexample, the buyer's desire for promo-tion (a
nontask motive) can significantlyinfluence his task performance. In
otherwords, there is no necessary conflictbetween task and nontask
motives and, infact, the pursuit of nontask objectives canenhance
the attainment of task objectives.
Broadly speaking, nontask motivescan be placed into two
categories:achievement motives and risk-reductionmotives.
Achievement motives are thoserelated to personal advancement
andrecognition. Risk-reduction motives arerelated, but somewhat
less obvious, andprovide a critical link between the indi-vidual
and the organizational decision-making process. This is also a key
com-ponent of the behavioral theory of thefirm, in which
uncertainty avoidance is akey motivator of organizational
actors.
The individual's perception of risk in adecision situation is a
function of uncer-tainty (in the sense of a
probabilisticassessment) and of the value of variousoutcomes. Three
kinds of uncertainty aresignificant: Uncertainty about
availablealternatives; uncertainty about the out-comes associated
with various alterna-tives; and uncertainty about the way rele-vant
other persons will react to variousoutcomes. This uncertainty about
the reac-tion of other persons may be due toincomplete information
about their goalsor about how an outcome will be evaluat-ed and
rewarded.
Information-gathering is the mostobvious tactic for reducing
uncertainty,while decision avoidance and lowering ofgoals are means
of reducing the value ofoutcomes. A preference for the status quois
perhaps the most common mode of riskreduction because it removes
uncertaintyand minimizes the possibility of negativeoutcomes. This
is one explanation for thelarge amount of source loyalty found
inorganizational buying and is consistentwith the "satisficing"
postulate of thebehavioral theory of the firm.
The individual determinants of organi-zational buyer behavior
and the tacticsbuyers are likely to use in their dealingswith
potential vendors must be clearlyunderstood by those who want to
affecttheir behavior. WJ!IM
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