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Influencers
Influencers provide information for evaluating alternative products and suppliers. They are usually technical experts from various departments within the organization. Influencers help determine which specifications and criteria to use in making the purchase decision, as do government specialists when it comes to the purchase of any of large power-generating equipment involving nuclear energy.
Gatekeepers
Gatekeepers control the flow of information to other people in the purchasing process. They include the organization's purchasing agents and the suppliers’ salespeople, as well as secretaries and receptionists. Gatekeepers influence a purchase by controlling the information reaching other division makers. An organization does not decide to buy a new product, for example, unless information about its existence and advantages over alternatives is brought to the decision-makers' attention
Buyer
The buyer is usually referred to as a purchasing agent or purchasing manager. In most organizations, buyers have the authority to contact suppliers and negotiate the purchase transaction. In some cases, they exercise wide discretion in carrying out their jobs. In other firms, they are lightly constrained by specifications and contract requirements determined by technical experts and top administrators-as would have been the case in the purchase of factory automation equipment from GE by General Motors.
Deciders
The decider is the person with the authority to make a final purchase decision. Sometimes buyers have this authority; but often lower-level purchasing managers carry out the wishes of more powerful decision makers. When American Airlines ordered 80 jell aircraft engines from GE to power its new fleet of Boeing 767s, the final decision to do so was made by American's top-level executives.
Organizational markets and buying behavior
Organizational markets include resellers (retailers and wholesalers); goods producers (agriculture, mining, manufacturing); services-both consumer and business (such as those in the education, health, lodging, transportation, and amusement sectors); and the government – federal, state, and local. The federal government of the United States is the largest single buyer of goods and services in the world.
By definition, organizational buyers purchase goods and services for further production (raw materials and components) for use in operations (office supplies and insurance), and for resale to other customers (furniture and pharmaceuticals). In contrast, individuals and households buy for their own use and consumption. These two types of markets also differ in numerous other ways, including their demand characteristics, their market demographics, and their buyer-seller relationships
The derived demand characteristic of organization markets has led some companies to try to stimulate demand for their customers’ products. For example, Du Pont regularly advertises clothing products made from its synthetic fibers. Fluctuating and cyclical demand have caused some producers of industrial goods to diversify into other products and markets in an effort to have more balanced sales.
The market demographics of industrial goods and services have a number of marketing strategy implications. They facilitate-often require-the use of direct selling with all its implications of personal selling, advertising, and physical logistics. Because continuing relationships are so important, services such as delivery, spare parts availability, and uniform product quality are emphasized
Buyer-seller relationships can take many forms, including leasing, outright purchase using a variety of contracts, and customer financing by the seller. Because buyers depend on suppliers for an assured and continuing supply of a product and its servicing, the buyer-seller relationship is unusually close and extends substantially beyond simply the sale transaction. It is also marked by a complex buying process that affects the seller's formal organization structure as well as the qualifications of managers.
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