2

The Individual and Organizational
Purchase

Abstract

Downstream of the sector, passengers buy air tickets for private or business use.
Upstream, companies buy planes, equipment and services. Further upstream, plane or satellite manufacturers-integrators also buy components from their suppliers. Understanding the needs and the processes of upstream or downstream buying is the basis of marketing. This means analyzing the individual psychological, sociocultural and psychosocial factors which enter into the buying decision. The purchase context influences the buyer’s behavior. An analysis of buying behavior is also essential in Business to Business, where the purchase is not made for an individual but for a company, involving a variable number of people. To be more commercially efficient, the supplier must take into account the special nature of the industrial purchase, in particular the specific nature of the buying center, the buying process and buying situations. First we will look at the individual purchase and then the Business to Business purchase.

2.1

The Individual Purchase

2.1.1

Factors Influencing Buying Behavior

Most models present factors influencing buying behavior in a hierarchical and simplified way. In fact, this classification in terms of importance of the factors depends for the most part on the context.1 For example in Muslim countries the power of religion is very important and almost certainly dominates other factors such as social class.

1

Howard, J. A., & Sheth, J. N. (1969). The theory of buyer behaviour. New York: Wiley.

P. Malaval et al., Aerospace Marketing Management,
Management for Professionals, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-01354-1_2,
# Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014

29

30

2

The Individual and Organizational Purchase

Fig. 2.1 Factors influencing behavior (Adapted from