Use of human judgment models in industrial buyers' vendor selection decisions

Abstract

In this study methods are examined by which industrial buyers combine and utilize complex multiattribute evaluative information in making vendor selection decisions, with a focus on the buyers' utilization of the basic models of human judgment. The study reports the method and results of an empirical study involving a nationwide random sample of industrial buyers that suggests that the traditional linear model of choice is not necessarily the one buyers utilize in all vendor selection decisions. Implications for industrial buyers, industrial marketers, and researchers are included.