An Empirical Model of Professional Buyers' Search Effort

Drawing on the similarities and differences between consumer and organizational search situations, this paper develops and tests a model of the professional buyer's external search for information. Key links between search effort and characteristics of the situation, the individual, and the org...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of business-to-business marketing Vol. 8; no. 4; pp. 55 - 84
Main Authors Bunn, Michele D., Butaney, Gul T., Hoffman, Nicole P.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Binghamton Taylor & Francis Group 05.11.2001
Taylor & Francis LLC
Subjects
Buyers
Correlation analysis
Information
Marketing
Organizational buying
professional buyers' decision uncertainty
search for information
Studies
United States > US
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Summary:Drawing on the similarities and differences between consumer and organizational search situations, this paper develops and tests a model of the professional buyer's external search for information. Key links between search effort and characteristics of the situation, the individual, and the organization are tested with a structural equation modeling approach. The data came from a sample of professional buyers involved in the purchase of a wide range of products. Results indicate that uncertainty surrounding the purchase plays a pivotal role in determining the amount of search effort expended. The importance of the purchase, however, and the organization's previous experience with the purchase are two main factors influencing that relationship. Marketing implications of these findings are discussed for industry practitioners.
ISSN:1051-712X
1547-0628
DOI:10.1300/J033v08n04_04