Online Information Tools in Industrial Purchasing: An Exploratory Analysis of the Process of Business-Service

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore how the various stages of the purchasing process, and specific aspects of purchasing, impact the use of various Internet tools during a firm's procurement process. The hypotheses of this research are applied to a business service's purchase process. Information was gathered through a survey e-mailed to a sample of 103 industrial firms in Spain. Managers responded to a series of questions related to the purchasing of a service that had been acquired by their firm. The findings reveal that the novelty of the service for the organization, pressure due to time constraints to make a service-purchase decision, and individuals' personal stake in a service-purchase decision lead to an increase in Internet use in the purchasing process. Furthermore, the results show that the buying phase has a significant impact on the intensity of Internet tool use in service procurement. When purchasing services, firms must take advantage of the benefits the Internet has to offer as a channel for distribution and communication. Firms selling their services through the Internet should focus particular attention on the design of their webpages. The work is one of the first to explore service purchasing through the Internet. Moreover, it is based on a sample of firms and on the acquisition of a wide range of differing services, and is not confined to just one, as is frequently the case.

Keywords:

• e-commerce
• Internet marketing
• marketing management
• procurement
• purchasing

Notes

¹Several detailed interviews were carried out with purchase managers of several industrial companies chosen by convenience among different industries (electricity, textile, industrial, and food). The data obtained helped us to create the questionnaire for the research, which was forwarded again to the purchase managers of those companies to ensure that it was understandable and legible. This activity was the research pre-test and it took place during November and December 2003.

²In the sampling process, we considered that including several industries would provide better results, as this research is pioneering.