Organizational Buying Behavior: Where We Have Been and Where We Need to Go

29 Pages Posted: 29 Jan 2012

See all articles by Robert E. Spekman

Robert E. Spekman

University of Virginia - Darden School of Business

Robert J. Thomas

McDonough School of Business

Date Written: December 11, 2011

Abstract

After a strong start in the 1970s and 1980s, the field of organizational buying behavior (OBB) has been in the doldrums. The early conceptualizations by Wind, Webster, Sheth and other scholars provided a strong foundation for what we now call B2B (business-to-business) marketing. However, conceptual and methodological advancements beyond these early formulations have been minimal in the past 20 years, and the result is that we are not fully prepared to deal with the increasing complexity and dynamism of organizational buying behavior brought on by the impact of globalization, new digital communication technologies, and other market forces. In this paper, we provide an overview of the historical development of the OBB literature and attempt to identify issues and opportunities for bridge-building from the past to the future to stimulate a resurgence of interest in studying this important aspect of marketing.

Keywords: Business-to-Business marketing, organizational buying behavior, B2B marketing strategy

JEL Classification: M31

Suggested Citation

Spekman, Robert E. and Thomas, Robert J., Organizational Buying Behavior: Where We Have Been and Where We Need to Go (December 11, 2011). Darden Business School Working Paper No. 1993207, Georgetown McDonough School of Business Research Paper No. 2012-05, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1993207 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1993207

Robert E. Spekman (Contact Author)

University of Virginia - Darden School of Business ( email )

P.O. Box 6550
Charlottesville, VA 22906-6550
United States
434-924-4860 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.darden.virginia.edu/faculty/spekman.htm

Robert J. Thomas

McDonough School of Business ( email )

37th and O Streets NW
Washington, DC 20057
United States
2026873868 (Phone)
2026874031 (Fax)

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