Compare The Buyer Behaviour Of Sponsors And Delegates

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Marketing orientated companies in the modern business world can be said to be engaged in attempts to satisfy customers through creating and adding value for these customers in order to compete more effectively than competitors in their industrial environment.

Of relevance to these activities have been the impacts of internationalisation and globalisation which have generated increased levels of competition in the marketplace in terms of both domestic and global competitors, (Sheth, 1973; Porter, 1980). Therefore the essence of formulating competitive strategy for a company is closely related to a complete understanding of industrial environment as this has a strong influence in determining the competitive forces with a bearing on the company. However the growth rate of the service industry which has mainly resulted from the development of technology, especially information technology, has focused attention on looking at the marketing aspect of service companies as they compete in the global business context, (Bradley, 2005). As such then the corporate hospitality sector of the events industry, for example, has as a key function a role in providing professional services such as sponsorship packages to sponsors and delegates which seeks to add value to the marketing efforts and efficiency made towards their customers, (Hoyle, 2002).

Along with growth in the service industry it is important to understand customer behaviour in terms of organisational buyers. This is discussed by Sheth (1973) who is one of the leading marketing thinkers in the area since organisational consumers purchase goods (or services in the CH sector) in order to satisfy organisational goals instead of individual demands. From this perspective organisational buyers are still composed of people with needs and attitudes yet their purchasing decisions are often part of a group or buying team which may be more rational and formal in outlook, (Blackwell et al, 2000). It can be argued that due to the rising power of consumers in the events industry and the complexity of organisational buying behaviour that it is essential for organisations within the corporate hospitality sector to be aware of the key influences and major trends related to the purchasing decision processes for sponsors and delegates.

Consumer Decision Making Process

One of the fundamental concepts for marketing orientated companies is the possession and generation of in-depth knowledge on targeted customer. These customers are those they aim to meet in satisfying their needs by offering better quality goods or services than those offered by competitors. According to Jobber (2001) customers are individuals who buy products for personal consumption however in the case of the CH event industry consumers are generally speaking organisational buyers. These are then principally focused on the purchasing of services in order to meet corporate needs as part of an organisational demand. At this stage the decision making processes is engaged in by a group of people. Engel, Blackwell and Miniard (1990) argue that five roles can be identified as being a part of the decision making process.

These are roles of initiator, influencer, decider, buyer and user with one person being able assume multiple roles within the process. Clearly each member in a buying group is influenced by psychological and sociological processes thus in order to reduce disagreement among team members the collection of additional information through search and discussion is often adopted during the decision making process as an aid. Additionally the roles of members often change in that namely the initiator in the sponsor company can be transferred to be a decider due to better personal knowledge than other members while delegates may be influencers at the beginning as well as users during the final stages. Therefore Engel, Blackwell and Miniard (1990) suggest that the marketing implications of understanding different roles in a buyer group can be used as essential component for developing persuasive communication and segmentation for marketers from the early stages of early decision making process onwards.

The decision making process can often be said to begin with a problem recognition and ends with a post evaluation of the purchasing decision. Engel, Blackwell and Miniard (2000) argue that it is a vital enterprise to understand the principles of how customers buy and what are the components and influences operating within the decision making process related to purchasing. Firstly the stage of problem awareness can be affected by functional and psychological factors and in the case of the CH sector consumer needs are largely related to their marketing purposes flowing from the achievement of other related corporate objectives. This is to say that when a customer’s situation is worse than the desired expectation there will be an increased need for improvement in their performance by purchasing effective and professional services which can be provided by the corporate hospitality sector. With this consideration in mind Sheth and Mittal (1996) believe that marketers do not create needs but engage in satisfying existing needs effectively. Thus marketing efforts and persuasive communication should be aimed at customers from the beginning steps in the decision making process of purchasing products. Additionally due to the complexity of organisational purchases the processes of information search and evaluation of alternatives tends to be characterised by a high involvement level for customers in order to reduce purchasing risks and reach agreement in the final purchase stages, (Jobber, 2001). It is important to mention that in considering the events industry different roles in the buyer group in terms of sponsors and delegates may evaluate services from different perspectives bearing in mind diversified organisational needs. Thus the corporate hospitality sector has to be able to satisfy these diverse and specific requirements within the context of complex purchasing decisions.