EOC 4: Business to Business Marketing

In the consumer and business markets there are various factors and that have an impact on the buying behavior of a consumer or a business. A similarity between business marketing and consumer marking is that in both markets, the marketers have to understand what their customers need as well as apply strategies that ensure the customer will value the products or services provided. Another similarity between business and consumer marking is that there are people who are responsible for making the buying and purchasing decisions to satisfy the market’s needs. In the consumer market that may just be an individual or an entire household. In the business market, there are usually teams and multiple meetings before a final decision is made. One major difference between business marketing and consumer marketing is that business marketing happens on a much larger scale than consumer markets. In order for business markets and business buyers to coexist, a solid relationship must be in place. A business market cannot solely rely upon the consumer market alone to be profitable. It is all the individual pieces or supplies to create the final product that help business markets. In other words, in the business buying process, business buyers determine which products and services their organizations need to purchase and then find, evaluate, and choose among alternative suppliers and brands. (Armstrong, Gary, Philip Kotler. Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Edition. <p.157>). Another difference between consumer and business marketing is the number of buyers within each market; the business market does not have as many. However, the few buyers that a company has tend to have a lot more buying power that the same consumers in the same market. As previously mentioned, business markets will usually have several people involved for the decision making process of buying because there more money involved. Businesses truly do rely upon each other succeed.