THE PURCHASER’S PERCEIVED RISKS IN DIFFERENT ECONOMIC SITUATIONS: IMPLICATIONS FOR B2B MARKETING MANAGEMENT

This paper tries to contribute to the research stream of organizational buying behavior by examining the impact of the economic situation on organizational buying. It aims to discover whether purchasing managers changed their behavior during the economic boom in 2007 and the subsequent crisis of 2008. On the basis of 84 interviews in the business-to-business field, the perceived risks and countermeasures revealed by purchasers in these exceptional economic circumstances were investigated. The empirical findings suggest that economic circumstances influence altered risk perception and also the type of risk which is perceived. The further research results indicate that purchasers adapt their countermeasures according to the types of risks they perceive. For instance, many purchasers still pursue a co-operative policy during times of economic boom but only change to aggressive buying behavior when recession afflicts business. Moreover, their openness and search for new suppliers are more important during economic booms. Based on the examined types of perceived risk, sales and marketing managers of B-to-B companies could provide specific information, support and argumentation to purchasing managers in different economic situations, e.g. support them in internal marketing activities during an economic boom or provide them data about internal production planning as well as non-confidential cost analysis. Conversely, during times of recession different information like financial performance compared to competitors might be consciously distributed to purchasers.