Week 4 EOC: Business to Business Consumer Marketing

When analyzing any market companies must first begin by knowing their demographic, and the particular needs of that demographic. In the consumer market the factors that influence their buying is based any many things. For instance, cultural factors, personal factors, and psychological factors. As the Armstrong and Kotler explain in Marketing: An Introduction, “It requires a deep-down understanding of customer needs and customer-driven marketing strategies that create superior customer value. But that’s about where the similarities end. (reference to business to business). The action of buying from a company’s standpoint can be a long arduous process that requires approvals from many levels. The buying process for the consumer consists of need recognition, information search, and evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and post purchase behavior. The process for B2B is much longer including proposal solicitation, supplier selection, orders routine specifications, and performance reviews. The consumer also goes through stages of adoption and diffusion. The process of awareness, interest, evaluation, trial, and adoption are part of the consumer experience. In the B2B world there is much more scrutiny involved in this process, which requires many more checks and balances by businesses. In a B2B situation, we see many more influences that the consumer would not have to think of, such as political or regulatory issues. Organizational factors such as procedures and such come into play. The normal consumer does not usually have to think of such things. The business market can be looked at as a few larger companies buying in volume from a manufacturer, rather than a number of smaller companies buying in smaller volume. These companies again have to scrutinize every aspect of buying in bulk, looking at factors such as cost, efficiency, and reliability. These factors are fostered by the manufactures and the business to business relationships they develop.