Effect of corporate branding on industrial and organizational purchasing

Brands are an important asset to an organization, though intangible. Specifically in the B2B domain Brand building exercises are not flaunted but subtly carried out. A brand insight fortifies is the contents of this paper.

Customer’s expectations and perceptions of reference marketing programs

Purpose The purpose of this research is to study organizational purchasing and relationship formation in interactions between customers and suppliers of capital equipment and the factors affecting the ability of reference marketing programs to deliver their expected purchasing benefits. Design/methodology/approach This work adopts an inductive research strategy and combines a critical realist approach with a qualitative research method consisting of in-depth interviews with purchasing managers from the energy industry. Findings By presenting a new theoretical model that aims to explain the referencing phenomenon, this study offers a deeper understanding of referencing and thus new perspectives on how and under what circumstances the customer–supplier relationship can be leveraged. Research limitations/implications Because of the qualitative nature of the research, no claim to statistical significance can be made. The model presented here helps the authors to understand the empirical phenomena as exhibited in the recorded interviews, but it does not allow for statistical generalization. The model allows for a certain degree of analytic inference but only within the study’s boundaries and limitations because the above findings are specific to the electric power industry. Practical implications A deeper understanding of this phenomenon allows suppliers to pursue strategies based on efficient reference marketing programs. The paper ends by presenting useful recommendations for reference marketing best practices and suggestions for improving the use of references in organizational purchasing. Originality/value The available literature on referencing does not clarify the factors that affect the ability of reference marketing to deliver its purchasing benefits. Thus, the facts and circumstances associated with the influence that reference marketing programs have on purchasing behavior have yet to be determined.

Selling to Barricaded Buyers

In business-to-government and business-to-business transactions, suppliers often have limited access to buyers during the buying process. The authors term these buyers “barricaded buyers.” Despite the prevalence of barricaded buyers in practice, research has remained largely silent on the topic. Therefore, the authors combine insights from eight organizational purchasing case studies and individual interviews with signaling theory to advance a conceptual framework that highlights ways a supplier can increase its competitiveness (and, correspondingly, its selection likelihood) when selling to barricaded buyers. The framework reflects three distinct ways in which signaling occurs or influences the barricaded buying process: the seller signals to buyers (e.g., through novel solutions, explicit responding), the seller signals to competing sellers (e.g., through peacocking), and the buyer signals to sellers whose meaning is jammed (e.g., through supplier-specific capabilities and language). The framework invokes barricade restrictiveness as an important contingency variable that lends nuance to when the signaling activities are most likely to affect suppliers’ competitiveness.

End users’ purchasing task involvement, power and influence strategies in organizational buying

Purpose End users are often involved in organizational buying, but very little is known about the role that they play and how they influence purchasing decisions. This study aims to explore the factors behind end users’ attempts to influence purchasing and the strategies they use. Design/methodology/approach The research draws on the concept of purchasing task involvement, which describes the feelings of personal relevance that a buying center member has for a specific organizational purchasing decision. This concept is used to gain a deeper understanding of users’ influence in organizational purchasing and link it to sources of power and the corresponding influence strategies. The study is based on 90 in-depth interviews with buyers, drivers and sellers of heavy trucks. Findings End users’ purchasing task involvement is only marginally determined by the product’s performance or technical features. Purchasing task involvement leads to influence when there are specific power relationships between the buyer and the user and under specific circumstances. Originality/value This is the first study that links end users’ purchasing task involvement, power and influence strategies in organizational buying.