Abstract:

My purpose for being here today is to present the findings of communications studies conducted by Opinion Research Corporation, my parent company, among industrial customers. Opinion Research Corporation does not suggest itself as expert in such detailed problems as industrial pricing strategy and product line decisions. What is presented are the insights gained from studying a variety of industries. We hope that a contribution might be made toward constructing communications systems for the industrial marketer that will include consideration of the psychological aspects of industrial marketing. The research evidence for this presentation is gained from two sources. The first source is personal interviews conducted among top executives, technical personnel, and purchasing agents and directors of case study companies. These companies were chosen to represent a wide range of industry problems. The typical, or more usual, approach to such a study would be to talk to purchasing people exclusively. This study includes these 3 key groups and looks at industrial purchasing and communications problems in depth. The second source of research evidence is ORC's background of experience in conducting industrial marketing studies for individual clients.