MKTG7140 Chap.6 Consumer and Organisational Markets
Consumer and Organisational Markets
This chapter compares consumer choice with organisational purchasing. Consumer behaviour is shaped by cultural, social, personal and psychological influences, but each must be connected to attention, evaluation, ability or meaning. Organisational markets add derived demand, formal criteria, purchase modes and a buying centre of users, initiators, influencers, deciders and gatekeepers.
The chapter matches evidence and communication to each role.
Explain consumer influence as a mechanism
Culture, reference groups, life stage, occupation, motivation, perception, learning and attitude organise evidence, but the category alone does not explain behaviour.
State whether the influence changes what the consumer notices, how alternatives are evaluated, the ability to purchase or the meaning attached to ownership. Different mechanisms imply different research and communication.
Post-purchase experience matters because it updates learning and future choice.
Rebuild the process for organisations
Business demand is derived from downstream customers and can move through forecasts, inventories and orders. The purchase may be a straight rebuy, modified rebuy or new task, which changes the amount of analysis and the number of participants.
Users, initiators, influencers, deciders and gatekeepers are roles in the particular decision rather than permanent job titles. Map them from behaviour and authority.
Coordinate evidence around one promise
Users may need workflow evidence, an adviser may require compliance evidence, finance may test cost and risk, and a gatekeeper may control technical access.
Sending one generic pitch leaves important criteria unanswered, but creating unrelated promises destroys coherence. Keep one customer-value proposition and provide role-specific proof. Sequence the evidence so mandatory constraints surface before time is spent on features the buyer cannot approve.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Cultural, social, personal and psychological influences
- 02
Consumer decision and post-purchase response
- 03
Derived demand in organisational markets
- 04
Straight rebuy, modified rebuy and new task
- 05
Buying-centre roles and decision criteria
- 06
Role-specific evidence around one proposition
Worked example · free
Map an analytics purchase
- 2Classify the purchase mode.
- 5Map the five roles.
- 3Match evidence to the roles.
Key terms
- Reference Group
- A group that shapes a consumer's comparisons, information or accepted behaviour.
- Derived Demand
- Business demand that follows from demand for downstream offerings.
- Straight Rebuy
- A repeated organisational purchase with familiar requirements and limited analysis.
- Modified Rebuy
- A repeated purchase in which specifications, suppliers or terms are reconsidered.
- Gatekeeper
- A buying-centre participant who controls information or access to other participants.
Consumer and Organisational Markets FAQ
Why can consumer factors not be used as labels alone?
Culture, groups, life stage, motivation or attitude matters only through a mechanism that changes attention, evaluation, ability or meaning. State the behavioural route and evidence that would distinguish it from another explanation. Otherwise the category describes the consumer without explaining the purchase.
What makes business demand derived?
The organisation buys because its own customers or operations require the input. Demand for exhibition equipment, for example, depends on venues and audiences downstream. Changes in final demand can therefore travel through forecasts and orders, sometimes amplifying as they move across the supply chain.
How do buying-centre roles change communication?
Users need operational evidence, influencers need evidence tied to their criteria, deciders need the authorisation case and gatekeepers need access or compliance information. The roles can overlap and vary by purchase. Tailor evidence to each participant while keeping one coherent value proposition.
Exam move
Keep a brief error log after each drill and record which reasoning link failed before repeating the exercise. Map a familiar organisational purchase and assign roles from observed behaviour. Change it from straight rebuy to modified rebuy and then new task, noting which participants and evidence become more important.
For a consumer purchase, write two competing behavioural mechanisms and the evidence that would distinguish them. Build a role plan that lists each participant's criterion, required proof and authority to advance or stop the purchase. Then write one proposition that remains consistent across all roles.
Finish by tracing derived demand backwards from the organisational purchase to the downstream customer and identify where a small demand change could alter forecasts or ordering. Reorder the buying-centre evidence into a realistic sequence. Put mandatory technical or compliance constraints before persuasive features, user workflow before final contracting and decision evidence before authorisation.
Explain where the purchase would stall if one role received no answer.
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