Business-to-business marketing research is very similar in many ways to consumer marketing research. Both forms of marketing research use primary and secondary sources, qualitative and quantitative techniques, and internal and external sources of data. Both forms of research use telephone interviews or faceto- face interviews, but organisational marketing research does not use street surveys, door-to-door interviews or hall tests. However, there are some major differences between consumer and business-to-business markets. For example, when developing the marketing mix, different strategies are needed for businessto- business customers than for final customers – a difference that significantly affects research activities.

Business-to-business market

Business-to-business markets are composed of those organisations and agencies that purchase goods and services either to aid in the production of other goods and services or for resale purposes. This includes manufacturing firms, government agencies, public utilities and educational institutions as well as intermediaries such as retailers and wholesalers. Consumer markets, by contrast, comprise individuals, families or households who purchase goods and services for their own final consumption.

The demand for business goods is derived from the demand for final consumer goods. If the domestic car market has a bad year the car components industry will also suffer because its sales are closely tied to the demand for cars. Because of this relationship, the demand for business-to-business goods can be very volatile and business-to-business marketing research has therefore to be concerned with general business and economic conditions, levels of inventory and the prices of raw materials.

It is quite common in business-to-business markets to have a small number of customers account for the vast majority of a firm’s sales. Often 80% of the business comes from 20% of the customers. Such a relationship influences the type of sampling procedures used in business-to-business markets since a great deal can be learned from surveying only a few large customers.

When trying to determine which factors influence purchase decisions, the business-to-business researcher’s task is made more difficult by the fact that more than one person is often involved in making such decisions. It is not possible from one interview in a company to ascertain key buying influences.

Quality of service, availability of supplies and consistent quality of materials are critical factors in the purchase decisions made in the business-to-business market. Businesses-to-business buyers are usually more knowledgeable about their own needs and are swayed less by promotional appeals than are consumers. Many business-to-business products are engineered or designed specifically for a customer. In these situations the supplier must identify the specific needs of the customer but it also means that there is less need for research of mass markets.

When conducting consumer research, the persons to be surveyed or observed can usually be identified and contacted fairly easily. In business-to-business markets not only are the appropriate respondents hard to identify because of multiple buyers but once identified these people may be difficult to reach directly: many are senior managers and are shielded from would-be interviewers by assistants and secretaries. Senior managers also tend to be less accessible since they travel frequently and possess little uncommitted time. The fact that they are being contacted for their business knowledge usually prevents making such contacts in the evening hours or during weekends.

Most manufacturers of consumer products, especially those in high-tech products, adopt the marketing concept: that is, they attempt to build their product marketing offerings around identified customer needs. The concept, however, is not as prevalent among business-to-business firms primarily because their research activities are strongly influenced by technically oriented people who appear to place more emphasis on distinctive features and technological breakthroughs.