University of Dayton and TriComB2B Publish Research Report Benchmarking Business to Business Purchasing Decision Makers

VANDALIA, Ohio, Sept. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- TriComB2B, a BtoB Magazine Top 150 Agency dealing exclusively in the business to business marketing of technical products and services, and the University of Dayton School of Business Administration together published the results of a benchmarking research project focusing on decision makers in the purchasing process within the business to business (B2B) sector.

The University of Dayton's Business Research Group led the development of a comprehensive survey addressing different aspects of the considered purchase process. TriComB2B and the University conducted the survey online using MarketTools and garnered 448 responses from a variety of industries. All respondents were either decision makers or influencers in the considered purchase decision process. Among the highlights:

• "Green supply chain" highly overrated - only 27 percent of respondents indicated the benefit of buying a product with a "green" supply chain as an important differentiator in the majority of their purchases. The presence of a green supply chain was significantly less important than other factors such as safety features (57 percent) or energy efficiency (48 percent).

• Price continues to dominate - 64 percent of survey respondents indicated 60 percent or more of their purchase decisions were dominated by the immediate purchase price.

• Total cost of ownership more important to senior executives - more than half the survey respondents (56 percent) indicated the total cost of ownership had been calculated in their considered purchase decisions at least 60 percent of the time. Older respondents (>60 years) were two to three times more likely to evaluate the total cost of ownership for considered purchases versus all other age groups.

• Video works - slightly more than half (51 percent) of respondents have clicked on an online video to gather information as part of the purchase decision-making process. Of those who clicked, 44 percent sought it out.

• Digital documents trump the printed product catalog - technical data sheets, accessed from a company's website, were rated as "Important" or "Very Important" information sources in 65 percent of the responses. Printed product catalogs were rated as "Important" or Very important" by only 22% of the respondents.

"The results suggest business people will pay attention to a product difference that influences cost in the long run if they can get the information on that product difference," said  Dr. Richard Stock, director of the Business Research Group at the University of Dayton.

During the last decade, the amount of information available to help guide B2B marketing decisions has exploded. Information resources, such as MarketingSherpa, MarketingProfs and GlobalSpec, provide valuable insights to what other B2B marketers are doing and why.

"However, in all the research we've seen, one key ingredient seemed to be missing. What does the actual B2B decision maker or influencer think?" asks Chris Eifert, Principal, TriComB2B. "This collaborative report answers that question."

"We're pleased our research partnership with the University of Dayton has definitively validated and, in some cases, shed new light on the criteria that matter most in today's business to business purchasing environment," says Eifert.

The full research report is available at http://tricomb2b.com/about-us/Our-2011-B2B-Research.

About University of Dayton  (http://www.udayton.edu)

The University of Dayton is Ohio's largest private university and a top-tier national university with sponsored research totaling $95 million annually. As one of the top-10 Catholic universities in the nation, the University of Dayton emphasizes transformative education and prepares students for leadership and community service in the Marianist tradition. The Business Research Group focuses on program evaluation and economic analysis in the public and non-profit sectors.  It also has expertise in private sector market research including focus groups and on-line surveys.

About TriComB2B (www.tricomb2b.com)

Established in 1984, TriComB2B is a BtoB Magazine Top 150 agency with extensive expertise in the business to business marketing of technical products and services for manufacturers and providers of process equipment; electronics; climate control and refrigeration systems; electronic enclosures; data center solutions; information technology solutions; quartersawn hardwoods and millwork; engineering and construction services; air management systems; precision-manufactured components; and supply chain consulting and integration solutions. TriComB2B's staff provides a full range of marketing communications services to a worldwide client base from its headquarters in Vandalia, Ohio and through its strategic partners in the United Kingdom and Germany.

SOURCE TriComB2B