In order to gain the acceptance of the respective group or to feel himself as integrated within the group, the individual will purchase those items which allow him to meet the expectations and goals of the reference group (Borrow and Bosiljevac, 2008).
2.4. The decision making unit (DMU)
The concept of the decision making unit is explained by Ray Wright's (2004) Business to business marketing: a step-by-step guide, in which the author reveals the mechanisms behind the decision making process. The decision making unit is understood as the series of elements and persons who participate and influence the purchasing decision. In his own words, "the DMU […] is a way of describing all the people that might or might not be involved in some way in the ultimate decision to buy the product" (Wright, 2004).
Wright argues that the decision making unit integrates a total of six roles, which can all be assumed by one single person or by several individuals. These six functions are:
The suggester
The purchaser
The advisor
The decision maker
The end user
The gatekeeper
a) The suggester is the person who initiates the purchasing process by identifying a necessity for a respective product or service and suggesting its acquisition.
b) The purchaser is the person who actually completes the purchase, but he might easily be different from the other persons. The actual role of the purchaser varies based on the power to actually decide -- as opposed to the possibility of him only being delegated to complete the acquisition -- but also based on the access he has to information.
c) The advisor is someone outside the vendor or the prospective buyer who is brought in -- especially by the buyer -- to offer his objective opinion. Within the organizational context, this advisor could be a consultant, whereas within the private field, it could be a simple friend or a family member.
d) The decision maker is the very person with the power to complete a purchase.
e) The end user is the person who will actually use the product considered for purchase. The end user can have a varying power, from the complete power to make the purchase to the lack of power and the situation in which he is only presented with the already purchased item. The role of the end user in the purchase decision is ultimately given by the features of the community in which the decision is made -- the organizational context or the family context for instance -- but in most cases, the end user has the ability to at least influence the final purchase decision.
f) Finally, the "gatekeepers control access and information into and out of the buying group. In some cases the gatekeeper can actively influence a buying decision by filtering the kind of information made available" (Wright, 2004). Within the organizational context, this role is mostly obvious in secretarial positions, but it can also be observed at the personal level from the part of a friend, a family member or even the vendor.
2.5. The purchase decision within the IT&S industry
While they are also integrated within the overall category of consumers, the buyers of Information Technology and Communications appliances are differentiated by varying values, such as the search for technological innovation as prestige and social statement, rather than actual necessity. Regardless of the elements which differentiate the IT&C consumers, fact remains that some sources in the specialized literature have indeed paid attention to them. P.J. Louis (2002) for instance, in the book Telecom management crash course: managing and selling Telecom products and services, argues that the IT&C products of today are extremely similar and all able to meet customer needs through high quality standards. This virtually means that the actual functionality and quality is no longer a major component of the purchase decision. From Louis's standpoint then, the decision to make an IT&C purchase is given by a combination of the following factors:
The price of the respective product or service -- the price remains the number one determinant of the purchase act
The ease of using the product or service
The levels of professionalism on the part of the staff members
In cases when the payment is more complex and handled by bill or by installments, a crucial element in the purchase decision is given by the buyer's ability to understand the payment scheme (Louis, 2002).
Chapter 3
3. Methodology
Throughout this section, the research project is focused onto three distinct directions -- (1) the explanation of the onion ring methodology to be used; (2) the construction...
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