B2B Marketing: An exploratory study into how B2B brands influence the purchase decision in a SME context

Abstract

Traditionally, the Business to Business (B2B) brand has been regarded as relatively unimportant, and that the decision making unit is focused on making rational purchase decisions with emotional factors being considered as having minimal influence. The increasing need for B2B suppliers to find new ways of maintaining a competitive advantage has strengthened the importance of the B2B brand. This shift has intensified the need to examine the influences on the B2B purchase decision including examining the buying process, the characteristics of the decision making unit and the potential role of the brand as a significant influence on the purchase decision. Drawing on Mudambi’s (2002) assertion that “branding is not important to all organisational buyers, or in all situations” (p. 527), and addressing the lack of recent studies examining the buying process and decision making unit in the context of significant purchases in Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs), the purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of the B2B brand on the decision making unit in reaching the purchase decision. In fulfilling the purpose of this thesis, this researcher adopted a constructivist ontology and interpretivist epistemology. Within a case study research method, semi structured in-depth interviews were conducted with the members of the decision making unit which consisted of senior managers of SMEs based in the northwest of England and thus resulted in gaining a greater understanding of the experiences, perceptions and observations of how the B2B brand impacts on B2B purchase decision. The findings from this study revealed that the B2B brand exerts a strong influence on the decision making unit in making significant complex purchase decisions. The insights from this research illustrate that the B2B brand is more than just a discrete purchase criterion. It represents key tangible and intangible brand benefits. Although the decision making unit places a high priority on the tangible benefits, this study uncovers that it is the intangible brand attributes that have the greatest influence on the final purchase decision. As a result, a significant contribution of this study is the recognition that the purchase decision is shaped not only by the rational evaluation iv of the high priority tangible benefits, but also by the emotive elements that play a critical role in the decision making unit’s evaluation of the suppliers’ offerings. In examining the role of the brand in the purchase decision, the findings also revealed that the decision making unit within SMEs display distinct characteristics of a core and peripheral elements and distinguish between the role of selector from influencers. Finally, the findings uncovered an alternative buying process characterised by a set of iterative steps, reflecting how SMEs reach complex purchase decisions. It is recommended that B2B suppliers invest in brands that take into consideration the importance of the different brand attributes and priorities of the decision making unit.