Research strategies in analyzing the organizational buying process

Abstract

In recent years, organizational buying behavior has attracted increasing academic research efforts. In spite of the great number of studies, the conceptualization of organizational buying is still in an immature phase. This is due both to the novelty of organizational buying as a research area and to the complex longitudinal nature of buying processes. This paper focuses on the research strategies available for studying buying process and buying center issues. By combining a group of methods, a framework of research strat- egies covering the buying process in detail is suggested. Within this framework, the benefits and problems of each research strategy are highlighted. Organizational buying behavior has attracted increasing academic research attention. Several hundred studies have been reported recently by Sheth [56], Bonoma and Zaltman [4], Wind and Thomas [74], Moller [42] , and Johnston and Spekman [36]. However, as Johnston and Spekman argue, there is still an urgent need for more inte- grative conceptualization of the buying process. The difficulty of modeling organizational buying behavior is related to its complex dynamic character. Organizational buying is an example of multiphased, multiperson, multidepartmental, and multiobjective processes. It is composed of individual, depart- mental, and company-level interactions. To clarify holistically the nature of the organiza- tional buying process, a multidisciplinary approach is required. In this paper, the focus is on the behavioral aspects of the buying process. (For a review of various approaches, see Seth [56] .) The purpose is to review basic conceptual- izations of organizational buying and to analyze research strategies applicable to these conceptualizations. In addition, this paper suggests how it is possible to cover the compre- hensive buying process in detail by combining a group of strategies. A decision-making viewpoint provides an overall orientation for the analysis. The discussion does not attempt to be exhaustive. It partly overlaps with the analytical reviews by Wind and Thomas [74] and Johnston and Spekman [36], but attempts to increase the understanding of different research approaches or strategies. In the next section, the key concepts of organizational buying are briefly addressed. The third section focuses on the research strategies, and the paper ends with a discus- sion.