Exam 6: Business Markets and Business Buyer Behavior

A nurse in a hospital told the chief dentist, Dr. Albrecht, that the hospital should purchase equipment that would sterilize the dentists' tools without using any water because water tends to affect the durability of the tools over time. Dr. Albrecht located some articles on chemical sterilizers and gathered more information on how they worked. After talking to salespeople, Dr. Albrecht finally placed his order for the machine. In this instance, Dr. Albrecht played the role of a(n) ________.

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following question(s). Alpha Stampings Inc. produces 14 metal stampings for the automotive industry. Due to industry design changes and consumer demands, for the next financial year, six of those stampings will require a slight change: two will have an extra hole punched through the side, two will require an extra plating process, and two will require an additional weld operation. In the meantime, purchasing agent Richard Koehl has been asked to reduce the number of Alpha's steel suppliers in an effort to cut costs. After obtaining updated price quotations and steel samples from his current suppliers, Richard faced a dilemma. Until now, he had selected his suppliers based on quality and price, but the major consideration had been the type of steel required and the specialized production processes of his respective suppliers. Not all of Alpha's suppliers could produce the exact grades of steel needed; some suppliers were better at producing certain types of steel than others. Richard contacted several employees at Alpha who had worked with the various types of steel in the past. The quality control manager and line inspector, for example, could help to determine which suppliers had the capabilities of producing specific types of steel. The production control manager could provide input regarding which types of steel worked best in which presses. The warehouse foreman gave inputs regarding how long various types of steel could be held in inventory before rust spots began to form on their surfaces. Each person contributed the necessary information to help Richard in making his decision. -The newer the buying task, and the more complex and costly the item, the lesser the amount of time the buyer will spend searching for suppliers.

Luke Price, a manager in an automobile factory, wanted his subordinates to rate their satisfaction about the new pistons that arrived last month. He asked them to rate the product based on strength and ease of handling. Which of the following is evident here?

Explain the advantages of systems selling.

In new product buying, the users are often the ________.

The government market consists of schools, hospitals, nursing homes, prisons, and other institutions that provide goods and services to people in their care.

Sam Doharty, a purchasing manager in Willard Groups of Companies, is currently working with engineers and consultants to define the items to be purchased. Additionally, Sam and his team are ranking the importance of reliability, durability, and price desired in the items. In other words, they are preparing a(n) ________.

Why is the business buying process more formalized than the consumer buying process?

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following question(s). Alpha Stampings Inc. produces 14 metal stampings for the automotive industry. Due to industry design changes and consumer demands, for the next financial year, six of those stampings will require a slight change: two will have an extra hole punched through the side, two will require an extra plating process, and two will require an additional weld operation. In the meantime, purchasing agent Richard Koehl has been asked to reduce the number of Alpha's steel suppliers in an effort to cut costs. After obtaining updated price quotations and steel samples from his current suppliers, Richard faced a dilemma. Until now, he had selected his suppliers based on quality and price, but the major consideration had been the type of steel required and the specialized production processes of his respective suppliers. Not all of Alpha's suppliers could produce the exact grades of steel needed; some suppliers were better at producing certain types of steel than others. Richard contacted several employees at Alpha who had worked with the various types of steel in the past. The quality control manager and line inspector, for example, could help to determine which suppliers had the capabilities of producing specific types of steel. The production control manager could provide input regarding which types of steel worked best in which presses. The warehouse foreman gave inputs regarding how long various types of steel could be held in inventory before rust spots began to form on their surfaces. Each person contributed the necessary information to help Richard in making his decision. -The business marketer normally deals with far fewer but far larger buyers than the consumer marketer does.

In a(n) ________ situation, the buyer wants to revise product specifications, prices, terms, or suppliers.

A(n) ________ controls the flow of information to others in the buying center.

During which of the following stages of the business buying process is a buyer most likely to conduct a value analysis by carefully studying components to determine if they can be redesigned, standardized, or made less expensively?

In which of the following would the buyer reorder a product without any modifications?

In ________, companies put their purchasing requests online and invite suppliers to bid for the business.

Who among the following does NOT participate in the purchase decision process of a buying organization?

In which stage of the business buying process does a buyer ask users to rate their satisfaction with the supplied materials?

Which of the following can help a company create direct procurement accounts with suppliers, through which company buyers can purchase equipment, materials, and supplies directly?

The ________ market consists of schools, hospitals, nursing homes, prisons, and the like that provide goods and services to people in their care.

In the ________ stage of the buying process, the alert business marketer can help the buyers define their needs and provide information about the value of different product characteristics.

What are the major characteristics of institutional markets?