Business-to-business (B2B) marketing practitioners are increasingly relying on branding strategies though academic researchers have been slow to study branding in organizational contexts. By integrating existing conceptual models and research findings, this study examines the noteworthy differences between the B2B and the consumer market contexts and the implications of those differences on the formulation of B2B brand strategies. We introduce a conceptual model that suggests the conditions that are likely to increase or decrease organizations’ propensity to select branded products versus lesser-known or generic products when selecting suppliers, otherwise referred to as brand sensitivity. The proposed model is grounded in risk theory and posits that buying center, purchase situation, and product/relationship variables influence an organization’s brand sensitivity. Finally, we present the findings and implications of the multi-method research approach that was utilized to test the model of the determinants of brand sensitivity in organizational buying contexts. Results suggest that the level of intangibility is the key determinant of brand sensitivity in such settings.

There are several models that can be found describing the organizational buying process. The organizational buying process (OBP) within B2B is also more complex and more time consuming than within B2C (Dwyer & Tanner Jr., 2002). The OBP is also continuously becoming more complex as new touchpoints are created through the rise of new communication channels (Mora Cortez & Johnston, 2017). Touchpoints are essentially places where the customer encounters the supplier (Moncrief & Marshall, 2005). These new communication channels and touchpoints have made the customer experience more important, although the customer experience is not yet well integrated into the OBP (Mora Cortez & Johnston, 2017). Social media is one of the new communication channels that has grown the last decade and has become important also for the OBP (Oyza & M. Edwin, 2015) With social media, companies have less control over the information online and social media is affecting companies in all industries (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). Despite some initial studies regarding social media, the effect they have on the OBP is still not well understood. The aim of this master thesis has therefore been to better understand how social media is affecting the OBP in terms of lead-time and win-rate. Win-rate can be used to measure sales success and is the percentage of the opportunities that the supplier won (Schultz, 2016). Through this case study, several semi-structured interviews were performed with both employees of the case study company and their customers. The data collected was thereafter analyzed through a thematic analysis resulting in various codes aligned under three main themes. The findings showed that LinkedIn was one of the main social media used. LinkedIn makes it easier to map out stakeholders and thereby also find new business opportunities through more quality leads. Within social media, targeted marketing was used toward selected organizations. With this said, social media has in different ways helped the company find more quality leads, influence the customer and also helped strengthen the brand of the company.

Problem: The increasing online operations of the B2B market has led to companies being able to operate all over the world, making them exposed to various markets with different preferences of supplier relationships. For that reason, it is important for companies to consider aspects such as digitalization, culture and buyer-seller relationships when conducting business with foreign companies. One industry that has been reluctant towards this online shift is the display materials industry. However, during recent years display material suppliers operating online have become more successful. Therefore, understanding companies purchasing process when buying display material online is necessary.   Purpose: This thesis aims to explain and investigate the online organizational buying behavior of British and Swedish organizations while purchasing display materials and several factors that influence it, such as culture, digitalization and buyer-seller relationships are examined.   Method: A qualitative approach with semi-structured interview was used to conduct this research. Eight participants from British and Swedish organizations who are customers of the display material company SignMax were interviewed. The data collected has been analyzed together with literature on online organizational buying behavior and the influencing factors. Results: The findings of this research showed that the level of product involvement and national culture decides and forms the importance of the purchase, the purchasing process and the type of supplier-relationship desired. Additionally, the attitude towards digitalization and the experience of online purchases determine the level of personal contact and support. Based on the empirical analysis the findings showed that for the cases of UK and Sweden, UK was more performance-oriented in their supplier relationships and highly valued ease of use and a smooth purchasing process. Sweden on the other hand, focused more on soft-values such as personal contact and support.

Temos no Brasil um mercado carente por carne ovina de qualidade e com regularidade, que a considera um produto diferenciado, mas que ainda a consome muito pouco. As empresas que produzem carne ovina tem aí uma oportunidade de negócios bastante interessante, porém as ações produtivas devem estar alinhadas à demanda deste produto. Nesta linha, não só o consumidor final é importante à dinâmica do mercado da carne ovina, mas também quem o atende, por este motivo entender o comportamento do cliente organizacional é essencial à definição de um posicionamento assertivo da cadeia produtiva de carne ovina. Em função disto, o objetivo deste trabalho foi analisar o mercado de carne ovina do Rio Grande do Sul sob a ótica de compradores organizacionais dos canais de distribuição. A coleta de dados se deu através de entrevistas em profundidade de trinta e dois (32) agentes do canal de distribuição de carne ovina distribuídos em três das principais cidades do Rio Grande do Sul: Porto Alegre, Caxias do Sul e Santa Maria. Os resultados da pesquisa são apresentados em quatro blocos: 1) Processo de compra: Compras regulares e semanais, a quantidade é determinada pela demanda, qualidade (acabamento de gordura, tamanho e peso) e preço são os critérios principais de compra. Há preferência por carne de cordeiro, informações sobre o produto são geralmente fornecidas pelo próprio fornecedor. Nenhuma ação específica entre estabelecimentos e fornecedores para a melhoria de processos e produtos; 2) A carne ovina em relação às outras carnes: produto complementar, com consumo eventual, produto diferenciado com sabor único, mas com preço elevado e sabor considerado “forte” por alguns consumidores; 3) O mercado da carne ovina no RS: Há baixa variação de preços durante o ano. Não há conhecimento sobre produção regional, exceto em Santa Maria. Estabelecimentos não fazem distinção entre a carne produzida na região e fora, afirmam preferir a carne gaúcha, entretanto o que mais importa são os requisitos de qualidade. Muitos consumidores não se interessam pela origem do produto; 4) Fechamento e perspectivas: Falta para a cadeia integração entre elos, aumentar a oferta, padronização dos produtos, divulgação e educação do consumidor. Acreditam no crescimento de mercado, se dificuldades forem revertidas. Por fim, são apresentadas sugestões de melhoria para a cadeia como um todo, formas de promoção da carne ovina e estratégias para agregação de valor ao produto. / Brasil’s market lacks of a regular offer of quality sheep meat, consumers find it a sophisticated product, but do not have a high consumption. Companies that produce sheep meat have a good business opportunity in that, as long as their actions are align with market’s demands. Not only the final consumer is important to sheep meat market’s dynamics, but also who services them, because of that, understanding the behavior of the organizational buyer is essential to define an assertive positioning of the sheep meat supply chain. In order to understand that, this study’s purpose is to analyse the sheep meat market of Rio Grande do Sul through distribution channel’s organizational buyers’ perspective. The data was collected through deep interviews with thirty two (32) agents of the distribution channel of sheep meat located in three of the major cities of Rio Grande do Sul: Porto Alegre, Caxias do Sul e Santa Maria. The results are presented divided in four: 1) Buying process: regular and weekly buys, the amount is defined by demand, quality (external fat, size and weight) and price are the most important attributes. There is a preference for lamb meat, information regarding the product are usually given by the supplier. There are no specific actions between buyers and suppliers in order to improve process and products; 2) Sheep meat in relation to other meats: complementary product, consumed eventually, sophisticated product with a unique flavor, but with a high price and considered to have a “strong” taste by some consumers; 3) Rio Grande do Sul’s sheep meat market: low price variation along the year. Do not know about local production, except in Santa Maria. Business do not distinguish between locally or not locally produced meat, they claim to prefer meat from Rio Grande do Sul, but what matters the most are the quality aspects. Many consumers do not care about the product origin. 4) Closure and perspectives: there is a lack of integration between the links of the supply chain, they should work in order to increase offer, product standardization, advertisement and consumers awareness. They believe in a market growth, if difficulties are reverted. At last, this study present improvement suggestions for the sheep meat supply chain as a hole, ways to promote sheep meat and strategies to add value to this product.

This dissertation begins with a comprehensive examination of the current state of research regarding organizational buying behavior. Through this review we identify a significant gap in our existing knowledge regarding organizational buying behavior in the public sector. Due to the high level of impact that government purchasing has on the economy, and the nuances that differentiate public from private sector purchasing practices, I further explore organizational buying behavior in the public sector to make the following contributions. First, I highlight the common practice in business-to-government (B2G) and business-to-business (B2B) transactions where buyers limit suppliers’ access to them during the buying process. This research terms these buyers “barricaded buyers.” Despite their prominence in practice, research related to barricaded buyers remains virtually non-existent. Therefore, the present research draws on insights gleaned from eight case studies over a period of approximately eighteen months to shed light on this important topic. Second, this dissertation advances a conceptual framework highlighting competitive actions a focal supplier can take to improve its selection likelihood when selling to barricaded buyers. The framework identifies novel ways suppliers can gain advantage by reducing competitive intensity in the pre-barricade phase (e.g., by peacocking) and by enhancing their RFP response quality in the post-barricade phase (e.g., by offering consummate solutions). Importantly, the framework invokes the notion of strategic information disclosure whereby a focal supplier may gain advantage by knowing when to convey what types of information in barricaded buying environments.

Temos no Brasil um mercado carente por carne ovina de qualidade e com regularidade, que a considera um produto diferenciado, mas que ainda a consome muito pouco. As empresas que produzem carne ovina tem aí uma oportunidade de negócios bastante interessante, porém as ações produtivas devem estar alinhadas à demanda deste produto. Nesta linha, não só o consumidor final é importante à dinâmica do mercado da carne ovina, mas também quem o atende, por este motivo entender o comportamento do cliente organizacional é essencial à definição de um posicionamento assertivo da cadeia produtiva de carne ovina. Em função disto, o objetivo deste trabalho foi analisar o mercado de carne ovina do Rio Grande do Sul sob a ótica de compradores organizacionais dos canais de distribuição. A coleta de dados se deu através de entrevistas em profundidade de trinta e dois (32) agentes do canal de distribuição de carne ovina distribuídos em três das principais cidades do Rio Grande do Sul: Porto Alegre, Caxias do Sul e Santa Maria. Os resultados da pesquisa são apresentados em quatro blocos: 1) Processo de compra: Compras regulares e semanais, a quantidade é determinada pela demanda, qualidade (acabamento de gordura, tamanho e peso) e preço são os critérios principais de compra. Há preferência por carne de cordeiro, informações sobre o produto são geralmente fornecidas pelo próprio fornecedor. Nenhuma ação específica entre estabelecimentos e fornecedores para a melhoria de processos e produtos; 2) A carne ovina em relação às outras carnes: produto complementar, com consumo eventual, produto diferenciado com sabor único, mas com preço elevado e sabor considerado “forte” por alguns consumidores; 3) O mercado da carne ovina no RS: Há baixa variação de preços durante o ano. Não há conhecimento sobre produção regional, exceto em Santa Maria. Estabelecimentos não fazem distinção entre a carne produzida na região e fora, afirmam preferir a carne gaúcha, entretanto o que mais importa são os requisitos de qualidade. Muitos consumidores não se interessam pela origem do produto; 4) Fechamento e perspectivas: Falta para a cadeia integração entre elos, aumentar a oferta, padronização dos produtos, divulgação e educação do consumidor. Acreditam no crescimento de mercado, se dificuldades forem revertidas. Por fim, são apresentadas sugestões de melhoria para a cadeia como um todo, formas de promoção da carne ovina e estratégias para agregação de valor ao produto. / Brasil’s market lacks of a regular offer of quality sheep meat, consumers find it a sophisticated product, but do not have a high consumption. Companies that produce sheep meat have a good business opportunity in that, as long as their actions are align with market’s demands. Not only the final consumer is important to sheep meat market’s dynamics, but also who services them, because of that, understanding the behavior of the organizational buyer is essential to define an assertive positioning of the sheep meat supply chain. In order to understand that, this study’s purpose is to analyse the sheep meat market of Rio Grande do Sul through distribution channel’s organizational buyers’ perspective. The data was collected through deep interviews with thirty two (32) agents of the distribution channel of sheep meat located in three of the major cities of Rio Grande do Sul: Porto Alegre, Caxias do Sul e Santa Maria. The results are presented divided in four: 1) Buying process: regular and weekly buys, the amount is defined by demand, quality (external fat, size and weight) and price are the most important attributes. There is a preference for lamb meat, information regarding the product are usually given by the supplier. There are no specific actions between buyers and suppliers in order to improve process and products; 2) Sheep meat in relation to other meats: complementary product, consumed eventually, sophisticated product with a unique flavor, but with a high price and considered to have a “strong” taste by some consumers; 3) Rio Grande do Sul’s sheep meat market: low price variation along the year. Do not know about local production, except in Santa Maria. Business do not distinguish between locally or not locally produced meat, they claim to prefer meat from Rio Grande do Sul, but what matters the most are the quality aspects. Many consumers do not care about the product origin. 4) Closure and perspectives: there is a lack of integration between the links of the supply chain, they should work in order to increase offer, product standardization, advertisement and consumers awareness. They believe in a market growth, if difficulties are reverted. At last, this study present improvement suggestions for the sheep meat supply chain as a hole, ways to promote sheep meat and strategies to add value to this product.

Temos no Brasil um mercado carente por carne ovina de qualidade e com regularidade, que a considera um produto diferenciado, mas que ainda a consome muito pouco. As empresas que produzem carne ovina tem aí uma oportunidade de negócios bastante interessante, porém as ações produtivas devem estar alinhadas à demanda deste produto. Nesta linha, não só o consumidor final é importante à dinâmica do mercado da carne ovina, mas também quem o atende, por este motivo entender o comportamento do cliente organizacional é essencial à definição de um posicionamento assertivo da cadeia produtiva de carne ovina. Em função disto, o objetivo deste trabalho foi analisar o mercado de carne ovina do Rio Grande do Sul sob a ótica de compradores organizacionais dos canais de distribuição. A coleta de dados se deu através de entrevistas em profundidade de trinta e dois (32) agentes do canal de distribuição de carne ovina distribuídos em três das principais cidades do Rio Grande do Sul: Porto Alegre, Caxias do Sul e Santa Maria. Os resultados da pesquisa são apresentados em quatro blocos: 1) Processo de compra: Compras regulares e semanais, a quantidade é determinada pela demanda, qualidade (acabamento de gordura, tamanho e peso) e preço são os critérios principais de compra. Há preferência por carne de cordeiro, informações sobre o produto são geralmente fornecidas pelo próprio fornecedor. Nenhuma ação específica entre estabelecimentos e fornecedores para a melhoria de processos e produtos; 2) A carne ovina em relação às outras carnes: produto complementar, com consumo eventual, produto diferenciado com sabor único, mas com preço elevado e sabor considerado “forte” por alguns consumidores; 3) O mercado da carne ovina no RS: Há baixa variação de preços durante o ano. Não há conhecimento sobre produção regional, exceto em Santa Maria. Estabelecimentos não fazem distinção entre a carne produzida na região e fora, afirmam preferir a carne gaúcha, entretanto o que mais importa são os requisitos de qualidade. Muitos consumidores não se interessam pela origem do produto; 4) Fechamento e perspectivas: Falta para a cadeia integração entre elos, aumentar a oferta, padronização dos produtos, divulgação e educação do consumidor. Acreditam no crescimento de mercado, se dificuldades forem revertidas. Por fim, são apresentadas sugestões de melhoria para a cadeia como um todo, formas de promoção da carne ovina e estratégias para agregação de valor ao produto. / Brasil’s market lacks of a regular offer of quality sheep meat, consumers find it a sophisticated product, but do not have a high consumption. Companies that produce sheep meat have a good business opportunity in that, as long as their actions are align with market’s demands. Not only the final consumer is important to sheep meat market’s dynamics, but also who services them, because of that, understanding the behavior of the organizational buyer is essential to define an assertive positioning of the sheep meat supply chain. In order to understand that, this study’s purpose is to analyse the sheep meat market of Rio Grande do Sul through distribution channel’s organizational buyers’ perspective. The data was collected through deep interviews with thirty two (32) agents of the distribution channel of sheep meat located in three of the major cities of Rio Grande do Sul: Porto Alegre, Caxias do Sul e Santa Maria. The results are presented divided in four: 1) Buying process: regular and weekly buys, the amount is defined by demand, quality (external fat, size and weight) and price are the most important attributes. There is a preference for lamb meat, information regarding the product are usually given by the supplier. There are no specific actions between buyers and suppliers in order to improve process and products; 2) Sheep meat in relation to other meats: complementary product, consumed eventually, sophisticated product with a unique flavor, but with a high price and considered to have a “strong” taste by some consumers; 3) Rio Grande do Sul’s sheep meat market: low price variation along the year. Do not know about local production, except in Santa Maria. Business do not distinguish between locally or not locally produced meat, they claim to prefer meat from Rio Grande do Sul, but what matters the most are the quality aspects. Many consumers do not care about the product origin. 4) Closure and perspectives: there is a lack of integration between the links of the supply chain, they should work in order to increase offer, product standardization, advertisement and consumers awareness. They believe in a market growth, if difficulties are reverted. At last, this study present improvement suggestions for the sheep meat supply chain as a hole, ways to promote sheep meat and strategies to add value to this product.

The fact that brands create trust and develop cognitive and emotional ties with customers are well recognized. However, this is primarily associated with B2C markets. More recent studies admit to the fact that despite the differences between B2C and B2B contexts brands can have valuable features in B2B as well as B2C. Purchases in a B2B context are a combination of decisions made by individuals where the decision can be affected by personal factors as well as cognitive and affective factors, although in an organizational environment. This study aimed to examine potential factors that can influence a buyer in a buying process within a B2B-context and was restricted to investigate products that the company does not use themselves and organizations based in Sweden. At the start of our research, we found that previous research within purchase decisions with emotions as a variable for the most part only focuses on B2C organizations or B2C relationships. This created an interest in for the authors if it is possible to investigate B2B in a similar way. The original research showed that one of the reasons for this could be that many previous researchers have rejected emotion as a variable to consider in B2B purchasing decisions due to the fact that B2B is often about companies acting on orders from higher-ups. An employee who makes purchasing decisions has therefore been put as a cog in the machine whose task has been to buy the highest quality at the lowest price possible. Therefore, it has been particularly interesting to respond to this norm in order to be able to determine whether it is true or not. After interviews with buyers from organizations in the Swedish markets, the authors have gained a clearer picture of what the reality of the matter actually is. For this study, a research model was developed based on recognized brand concepts and organizational buying behavior models. The model includes the underlying hypothesis that organizational buying behavior is influenced by brands and that dual processes play a decisive role in the individual's decision. The research is of a qualitative kind which, with the help of in-depth interviews, provides a deeper understanding of human behavior and factors to this behavior. The results show that organizational buying behavior has connections to the buyer's individual buying behavior, meaning that when the buyer lacks motivation, knowledge or interest in the product, the emotions are stronger and have a greater impact on the buying decision.

Submitted by Silvana Teresinha Dornelles Studzinski (sstudzinski) on 2016-08-24T12:37:44Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Fábio Ricardo Becker_.pdf: 1664082 bytes, checksum: e43db272faaa68a87cb6e74ed1a428bc (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-24T12:37:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Fábio Ricardo Becker_.pdf: 1664082 bytes, checksum: e43db272faaa68a87cb6e74ed1a428bc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-05-19 / Nenhuma / A redução dos níveis de produção e consumo tem sido um dos caminhos apontados para mitigação das mudanças climáticas, por consequência permite a redução do uso dos recursos naturais e a queima de combustíveis fósseis, além da redução de outros impactos ambientais e sociais. O presente trabalho aborda o comportamento do comprador organizacional, para isso avalia através de dois estudos experimentais a percepção do comprador para produtos desenvolvidos com atributos sustentáveis a partir de estratégias de ecodesign. O primeiro estudo contou com uma amostra de 139 estudantes e no segundo estudo a amostra foi de 52 gestores de compras. Os procedimentos e métodos utilizados seguiram a abordagem da análise conjunta (conjoint analysis) como estratégia de pesquisa. Os experimentos foram modelados considerando os atributos e seus níveis para a projeção dos estímulos (perfis do produto), além de considerar ainda a consciência ecológica e a intenção de compra do comprador organizacional. Os resultados mostram que, independente da preocupação ambiental e do preço, a durabilidade do produto e a sua eficiência no consumo de energia podem influenciar a decisão de compra, desde que sejam percebidas vantagens como redução de custos e melhor utilização dos recursos. / The reduction of consumption and production levels has been one of the highlighted ways to mitigate climate change, therefore allows reducing the use of natural resources and fossil fuels, as well as reduction of other environmental and social impacts. This paper addresses the organizational buyer behavior, for it evaluates through two experimental studies the perception of the buyer for products developed with sustainable attributes from ecodesign strategies. The first study involved a sample of 139 students and in the second study sample was 52 buyers. The procedures and methods used followed the approach of conjoint analysis as research methods. The experiments were modeled considering the attributes and their levels for the projection of the stimuli (product profiles), and also consider ecological awareness and purchase intention in organizational buyer. The results show that environmental concerns, price, product durability and its efficiency in energy consumption can influence the buying decision, since benefits are perceived as cost reduction and better use of resources.

The main purpose of this doctoral dissertation is to investigate factors affecting B2B brand building by applying the brand equity perspective in the professional services context. Three peer-reviewed and published articles and one book chapter examine different aspects related to the enhancement of brand equity and brand building in the B2B context. The first paper entitled “Brand equity in the business-to-business context: Examining the structural composition” (Biedenbach 2012) investigates the structural composition of brand equity and the interrelationships between the dimensions of brand equity in the B2B context. By specifying the multidimensional model, which can be utilized for measuring and managing B2B brand equity, the paper provides initial knowledge on how the companies can build a strong B2B brand across four dimensions of brand equity. The second paper entitled “B2B brand equity: Investigating the impact of contextual factors” (Biedenbach 2010) examines the impact of contextual factors in the organizational decision making process on the formation of B2B brand equity. The book chapter expands knowledge on B2B brand building by portraying how such characteristics of customers as relative size of their company and its industry sector can affect B2B brand building. The third paper entitled “The impact of customer experience on brand equity in a business-to-business services setting” (Biedenbach and Marell 2010) investigates the impact of customer experience on brand equity in the professional services setting. The study clarifies how customer experience can be utilized for building a strong B2B brand. The fourth paper entitled “Brand equity in the professional service context: Analyzing the impact of employee role behavior and customer-employee rapport” (Biedenbach, Bengtsson, and Wincent 2011) examines whether factors related to customers’ perception of employees’ role behavior in terms of customer perceived role ambiguity, role overload, and customer-employee rapport influence the development of brand equity in the professional service context. The paper advances knowledge on B2B brand building by considering the potential role of the company employees and consequences that their behavior can lead to in this process. To conclude, the doctoral dissertation demonstrates that the brand equity perspective can serve as a valuable foundation for theoretically understanding and practically managing B2B brand building.