Examining the industrial buying behavior in Indian market: From behavior and cultural perspective for B2B buyers and suppliers

Abstract

This study investigates how B2B relationships can be nurtured in the cultural environment of the Indian management style. We have considered three prominent Indian cultural attributes that influence Indian management style: jugaad (J), visvaas (V), and chalta hai (C). These are perceived to have considerable impacts on relationship management in terms of consumer buying behavior and psychology in the B2B context. This concept has dramatically changed the B2B marketing dynamics, blurring the age-old boundaries between B2B and B2C marketing contexts. With this background, we attempted to understand how the three Indian cultural attributes can impact the B2B relationship. This study highlights that consumers’ buying behavior, in the B2B context, is influenced by their brand identification, purchase engagement, and prestige sensitivity. A conceptual model has been developed and the model has been validated statistically by a survey involving 364 respondents. The study reveals that jugaad, visvaas, and chalta hai considerably affect the business relationship performance of the MNCs doing business with Indian firms, especially on B2B consumer buying behavior and psychology.