Buying Center

James Sass BPA-125 Marketing Principles Stephan Berry What is a buying center? Describe the roles assumed by people in a buying center and what useful questions should be raised to guide any analysis of the structure and behavior of a buying center. A buying center is a group of people in a organization howe participate in the buying process. They share the same risks, goals, and knowledge about the product in which there going to buy. Members of the group usually include the president of the company and the the vice president.

Usually if there is a product that a certain department within the business is going to purchase, people skilled in that department that know the equipment well will be in the buying center. There are ? ve main roles in the buying center that people take during the process. These groups are the users, in? uencers, buyers, deciders, and gatekeepers. Each play a key role in the buying center. The users role are the people in the company that use the product. They will be the ones who will judge the product when it comes to the company.

The in? uencers help de? ne the speci? cations for what is bought. An example from the text would be “The information systems manager would be a key in? uencer in the purchase of a new mainframe computer. ” The deciders are the guys who actually decide wether to accept the contract from the supplier. The people in this role are usually from the R&D, engineering, or quality control departments. The gatekeepers manage to ? ow of information. The gatekeepers include secretaries, technical experts,and purchasing personnel.

Gatekeepers block information from getting to the other four roles in the buying center. There are four main questions in which analysts can use to analyze a buying center. The questions are Which individuals are in the buying center for the product or service? What is the relative in? uence of each member of the group? What are the buying criteria of each member? How does each member of the group perceive our ? rm, our products and services, and our salespeople? With these questions anylist can get a much better understanding of the groups.