Business marketing as “Politics”: Identifying and managing political buying situations

Abstract

Politics tends to be an ugly word in management and business, yet most issues concerning strategic buying decisions, or any strategic decisions, involve political behavior. Although the notion of political buying is by no means new, there do not exist many suggestions on how the marketer should handle “politicking buyers.” The paper provides simple diagnostic tools for organizational marketers to help them to evaluate the potential of facing a political buying situation, to identify the power players, and to examine their relative influence on the decision process. Typical forms of political behavior are described, and suggestions for handling political buying are given.

Citation

Möiler, K.E.K. (2001), "Business marketing as “Politics”: Identifying and managing political buying situations", Woodside, A.G. (Ed.) Getting Better at Sensemaking (Advances in Business Marketing and Purchasing, Vol. 9), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 399-417. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1069-0964(00)09014-1