Week 4: Business to Business

Week 4: Business to Business

“The consumer market as we know consist of All the individuals and households who purchase goods and services for personal use.” (www.answers.com) Some major factors that that we used to base what we will buy are based off of the culture we were raised in as well as the culture around us, our families, commercials, and also our friends. Many of these factors, as well as social class, and flexible spending money affect what we buy without us even thinking about it. There are five main stages in the consumer buying decision process which include a need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and post purchase behavior.(Marketing: an Introduction, Armstrong & Kotler, pg.134) The apple brand has made a great connection with consumers by being there for them when they need help,  and also welcoming the user into a technology family. The adoption and diffusion process for new products is big in marketing, especially for the United States, where we make purchases based off memories and feelings of certain products. (http://allthingsd.com) the business market is always growing and expanding, especially with ever growing technology, the companies have to keep up to compete with other brands.  The companies have to keep on creating new products as well as making flashy commercials to gain the attention from the consumers and draw them in. If a company falls behind a little bit another one will come in and take the spot with new materials and gaining the crowd of the previous company causing them to reinvent the brand. The steps in the business buying decision process really relate to the way we think and we can further understand this by using Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. These needs are a five step process that consists of Physical needs, safety needs, social needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization. By knowing these steps we can understand why we make some of the purchases we do.