Page 206 - Foundations of Marketing

OB JEC T I V E S

1. Distinguish among the
various types of business
markets. Business Markets and
2. Identify the major charac- Buying Behavior
teristics of business cus-
tomers and transactions.

3. Understand several attri-
butes of demand for busi-
ness products.
4. Understand the buying
center and the stages
of the business buying
decision process and the
factors that affect this
process.

5. Describe industrial clas-
sification systems, and
explain how they can be
used to identify and ana- Philip Scalia/Alamy
lyze business markets.

M A R K E T I N G I N S I G H T S

General Electric Generates Smart Business Marketing

Electricity was new technology when General customers’ needs and suggest appropriate solutions.
Electric (GE) began to sell generators and light Knowing that customers value efficiency, some GE
bulbs in the late 19 th century. These days, the industrial products incorporate sensor networks that
Connecticut-based company sells cutting-edge monitor and fine-tune performance, as well as signal-
power generation equipment and energy-efficient ing when maintenance and repairs are needed.
light bulbs, as well as a wide range of business GE uses traditional advertising and social media
products such as jet engines, locomotives, mining to reach scientists, engineers, municipal officials,
machinery, medical imaging devices, and energy- and the many other businesspeople who influence
management software systems. buying decisions. Its entertaining yet informative
Depending on the product, GE targets corporate videos of engines and other industrial products
customers, transportation firms, health-care institu- have attracted millions of YouTube views. GE’s
tions, government agencies, or utilities around the main Facebook page has nearly 1 million “likes.”
world. Whether these customers have installations in Instagram photos of GE factories and energy instal-
Boston or Beijing, they expect a high level of attention lations draw a devoted following of 150,000 . The
before, during, and after negotiating multi-million- idea is to communicate with people at all levels of a
dollar, multiyear contracts. Therefore, GE’s profes- customer’s organization, reinforce GE’s competitive
sionals provide details, bottom-line benefits, and advantages, and keep yearly global revenues grow-
teams with technical expertise to assess individual ing beyond $ 147 billion. 1

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