“Buying center”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

A buying center, also called decision-making unit (DMU),^[1] brings together "all those members of an organization who become involved in the buying process for a particular product or service".^[2]

The concept of a DMU was developed in 1967 by Robinson, Farris and Wind (1967).^[3] A DMU consists of all the people of an organization, who are involved in the buying decision. ^[4]

The decision to purchase involves those with purchasing and financial expertise; those with technical expertise and of course the top-management. McDonald, Rogers & Woodburn (2000) say that identifying and influencing all the people involved in the buying decision is a prerequisite in the process of sales.

The concept of a buying center (as a focus of business-to-business marketing, and as a core fundamental in creating customer value and influence in organisational efficiency and effectiveness) formulates the understanding of purchasing decision-making in complex environments.

Some of the key factors influencing a buying center or DMU's activities include:

Members of the Decision Making Unit

The Decision Making Unit is made up of influencers, initiators, gatekeepers, advisers, deciders, users, buyers and payers. ^[6] Because of the complexity of companies every company has its own decision-making unit. Meaning that the company has a certain group of people, which make decisions. Kotler (2009) describes five main roles that are fulfilled in decision-making units.

In some cases the buying center is an informal ad hoc group, but in other cases, it is a formally sanctioned group with specific mandates, criteria, and procedures.

The formation of the buying centers or decision-making unit (DMU) is considered as an important process and therefore depends on several factors like: the size of the company and skills of the personalities and staff members, the type of product/service that is needed, the type of the organization, the different buying process stages (BPS), the duration of the relationships between the buyer (the organization) and sellers or suppliers, and the technologies that are used in the production. ^[7]

Types of buying decisions

Four main buying decisions can be distinguished in the area of organisational buyers: Straight rebuy, Modified rebuy, New-task buying and Systems buying.^[8]

Straight rebuy

This is a routine, low involvement purchase. Minimal information is needed and consideration of alternatives is not needed. This type of purchase is handled by the purchase department and is usually purchased from a list of approved suppliers. Examples of straight rebuy are repeat purchases of office supplies, and small components.^[9]

Modified rebuy

This type of purchase is similar to a straight rebuy with more information and people involved. The buyer may want to reconsider suppliers, prices, terms, or modify product specifications.^[9]

New-task buying

New-task buying is deemed the most complex buying situation because it is a first-time purchase of a major product. Several people are involved in the decision because there can be high amounts of money and risk. Much information is gathered and evaluations of alternatives are explored. It is also complex as the decision makers have little experience with the product before the purchase can be made. The buying center has the challenge of finding out all the organisation's needs and communicating the product's ability of meeting the needs.^[9]

Systems buying

This type of buying is purchasing a packaged solution to a problem from a single supplier. This originates from governments buying packages such a major communications systems. Instead of buying separate components, buyers look for suppliers who supply the components and assemble the package for them.^[9]

Decision-making process

When the DMU wants to purchase a certain product or service the following steps are taken inside the buying center:

In this process of making decisions different roles can be given to certain members of the center of the unit depending on the importance of the part of the organization.

Buying center size

American research undertaken by McWilliams in 1992 found out that the mean size of these buying centers mainly consists of four people.{{cn|date=March 2017}} The range in this research was between three and five people. The type of purchase that has to be done and the stage of the buying process influence the size. More recent research found that the structure, including the size, of buying centers depends on the organizational structure, with centralization and formalization driving the development of large buying centers.^[10]

Conceptual and methodological issues in buying center research

There are several issues concerning buying centers which need additional research.^[11] These issues can be divided into various spheres:

References

1. ^{{cite book |last=Havaldar |first=Krishna K. |date=2005 |chapter=Buying centre (or decision making unit) |title=Industrial marketing: text and cases |edition=2nd |location=New Delhi |publisher=Tata McGraw-Hill Education |isbn=9780070588400 |oclc=60574619 |page=[//books.google.com/books?id=l7AIqlP8VnsC&pg=PA43 43] |quote=The buying center is sometimes referred to as the decision making unit (DMU) or buying group. The buying center or decision making unit is a useful tool which answers the question—Who are involved in buying decision in an industrial organization? It is defined as a body of all the individuals or groups participating in the buying decision process and who have interdependent objectives and share common risks.}}
2. ^Robinson, P. J., C. W. Farris, and Y. Wind (1967), Industrial Buying and Creative Marketing, Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, quoted in Wesley J. Johnston and Thomas V. Bonoma, "The Buying Center: Structure and Interaction Patterns" in Journal of Marketing, Vol. 45, No. 3 (Summer, 1981), pp. 143-156, accessed 6 December 2015
3. ^{{cite book|last1=Robinson|first1=P.|last2=Faris|first2=Y.|last3=Wind|first3=C. W.|title=Industrial buying and creative marketing|date=1967|publisher=Allyn & Bacon|location=United States|asin=B0006BRX3A}}
4. ^{{cite book|last1=McDonald|first1=M.|last2=Rogers|first2=B.|last3=Woodburn|first3=D.|title=Key customer: how to manage them profitably|date=2000|publisher=Butterworth-Heinemann|location=Oxford}}
5. ^{{cite book |last1=Jobber |first1=David |title=Principles and Practices of Marketing|year=2013|publisher=McGraw-Hill Higher Education|location=Maidenhead, UK|isbn=9780077140007|pages=162–165|url=http://www.mcgraw-hill.co.uk/textbooks/jobber|edition=7th|author2=Ellis-Chadwick, Fiona|chapter=5}}
6. ^{{cite book|last1=Kotler|first1=P.|last2=Armstrong|first2=G.|last3=Saunders|first3=J.|last4=Wong|first4=V.|title=Principes van marketing|date=2009|publisher=Pearson Benelux B.C.|location=Amsterdam}}
7. ^{{cite book|last1=Kotler|first1=P.|last2=Armstrong|first2=G.|last3=Saunders|first3=J.|last4=Wong|first4=V.|title=Principes van marketing|date=2009|publisher=Pearson Benelux B.C.|location=Amsterdam}}
8. ^{{cite book|last1=Kotler|first1=Philip|last2=Armstrong|first2=Gary|title=Principles of Marketing|date=2015|publisher=Pearson Australia|location=Melbourne, Victoria, Australia|isbn=9781486002535|edition=6th}}
9. ^¹²³{{cite book|last1=Cant|first1=M|last2=Strydom|first2=J|last3=Jooste|first3=C|last4=du Plessis|first4=P|title=Marketing Management|date=2006|publisher=Juta & Co Ltd|location=Cape Town, South Africa|page=458|edition=Fifth}}
10. ^{{cite journal |last=Wood |first=John "Andy" |date=October 2005 |title=Organizational configuration as an antecedent to buying centers' size and structure |journal=Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing |volume=20 |issue=6 |pages=263–275 |doi=10.1108/08858620510618101}}
11. ^{{cite journal |last1=Spekman |first1=Robert E. |last2=Kjell |first2=Gronhaug |date=July 1986 |title=Conceptual and methodological issues in buying centre research |journal=European Journal of Marketing |volume=20 |issue=7 |pages=50–63 |doi=10.1108/EUM0000000004656}}