The Buying Center: Who Really Decides on an Industrial Purchase

The buying center is the group of people inside a customer's organization who take part in a purchase decision. In industrial companies it typically includes the people who will use the product, the engineers who influence the specification, the purchasing staff who manage the process, the managers who approve it and the people who control what information reaches the group. Research shows its size and makeup change with the type of purchase and the buyer's organization, and that it is widening into a "buying ecosystem" that can include end users, sustainability leads, public bodies and AI tools. For marketers, the practical point is simple: you are never selling to one person.

Where the idea comes from

Business researchers have studied organizational buying as a group decision since the 1960s and 1970s. Webster and Wind (1972) proposed one of the foundational models of industrial buying as an organizational decision-making process. The roles most often used to describe buying-center members come from this tradition: users, influencers, buyers, deciders and gatekeepers.

• Users work with the product day to day, for example operators and maintenance technicians.
• Influencers shape the specification and the shortlist, often engineers or technical specialists.
• Buyers manage the commercial process and negotiate terms, usually purchasing or procurement.
• Deciders have the authority to approve the choice, such as a plant manager, director or executive.
• Gatekeepers control the flow of information and access to the group, for example an assistant, a procurement analyst or an engineer who screens suppliers.

One person can play several roles, and on a large purchase several people may share one.

What the research says about how buying centers work

The purchase shapes the group. Johnston and Bonoma (1981) studied purchases of capital equipment and industrial services in 31 firms and found that equipment and service purchases differed reliably on several measures of the buying group. Organizational structure and the attributes of the purchase situation correlated with the group's dimensions in generally expected directions.

But the evidence is less tidy than the textbooks. Lewin and Donthu (2005) ran a meta-analysis of studies linking the purchase situation to buying-center structure and involvement. Some cumulative findings held up across studies; others did not, and the design of the studies explained much of the variation. The honest conclusion is that general rules ("new purchases involve more people") are a starting point, not a substitute for knowing the specific account.

More than one person decides, almost always. Grewal and colleagues (2015) note that purchasing managers rarely make decisions independent of other stakeholders, inside or outside the buying organization, and that the decision group is itself embedded in a network of individual and organizational relationships.

Users matter after the sale, too. Purmonen, Jaakkola and Terho (2023) frame the B2B customer journey around both buying-center and usage-center members, giving equal weight to the purchase and usage stages.

The buying center is becoming an ecosystem. Ehret, Johnston and Ritter (2024) argue that changes in business and society are turning buying centers into buying ecosystems. Information technology is shifting from something being bought to an AI-enabled agent in the buying process. Servitization is raising the importance of users. Public actors are taking on roles from passive buyer to innovator, and sustainability goals are changing both who sits in the group and what they are responsible for.

Research keeps returning to practical questions. Chandler and Johnston (2012), reviewing emerging research on the buying center, list questions managers still face: how to connect the buying process with product design and innovation, how to use technology, media and automation in the buying process, how to build on established trust, and how to manage buying processes across international markets.

Emotions run through the group. Kemp and colleagues (2018) found emotions present at every stage of organizational decision-making. Different members carry different worries: the engineer fears a technical failure, the purchasing manager fears overpaying, the plant manager fears downtime.

What this means for industrial marketing

• One message won't do. Each role asks a different question, so your website, proposals and sales materials need answers for each.
• Influencers decide the shortlist. Engineers and technical specialists often eliminate suppliers before procurement gets involved. Technical content and specifications reach them early.
• Gatekeepers can block you silently. If the person screening suppliers can't quickly confirm you meet the requirements, you may never be considered.
• Users create your next sale. The operators and technicians who live with your product become your references, or your critics.
• New members are arriving. Sustainability, compliance and IT staff increasingly take part, and buyers may use AI tools to research and compare suppliers.

How to map the buying center for your deals

Use this with your sales team, one deal type at a time.

1. Choose a recent deal type. For example, a first-time equipment purchase by a mid-sized manufacturer.
2. List everyone who took part. Include people who joined late or appeared only once. Check emails and meeting notes, not just memory.
3. Assign roles. For each person, mark user, influencer, buyer, decider or gatekeeper. Note where one person held several.
4. Write each person's main question and main fear. "Will it integrate with our existing line?" "What if installation overruns?"
5. Note where each person got information. Your website, a distributor, a peer, a trade show, a search, an AI tool.
6. Score your coverage. For each person, did you give them what they needed? Mark green, amber or red.
7. Fill the red gaps. A technical guide for the engineer, a total-cost model for finance, an installation plan for operations, a reference call with a similar customer.
8. Repeat for lost deals. The gaps are usually clearer in the deals you didn't win.

Frequently asked questions

What is a buying center in B2B marketing?

It is the group of people in a customer organization who take part in a purchase decision, each with a different role, such as users, influencers, buyers, deciders and gatekeepers.

What are the five roles in a buying center?

Users, influencers, buyers, deciders and gatekeepers. These roles come from the classic organizational buying research tradition associated with Webster and Wind (1972). One person can hold several roles.

How big is a typical buying center?

There is no fixed size. Research links the size and makeup of the buying group to the type of purchase and the buyer's organizational structure (Johnston & Bonoma, 1981), but the findings across studies are mixed (Lewin & Donthu, 2005). Map it for each type of deal.

What is a buying ecosystem?

A term used by Ehret, Johnston and Ritter (2024) for the wider set of people, organizations and technologies now involved in B2B purchases, including users, public actors, sustainability stakeholders and AI-enabled tools.

The bottom line

Take your last lost deal, map the buying center with your sales lead, and find the one person whose question you never answered. That gap is usually where the deal was lost. For the broader picture, read how industrial buyers actually buy.

About the author

Mo Farrokhi, PhD, is the founder of AXXEN in Calgary, Alberta. His path runs from electrical engineering through an MBA and a PhD in marketing to industry roles, including VP Marketing & Product at a TSX-listed clean-tech company. AXXEN builds marketing systems for technology, manufacturing and industrial companies that have outgrown ad-hoc marketing.

Sources

• Chandler, J. D., & Johnston, W. J. (2012). The organizational buying center as a framework for emergent topics in business-to-business marketing. In Advances in Business Marketing and Purchasing (Vol. 18, pp. 41–87). Emerald. https://doi.org/10.1108/s1069-0964(2012)0000018008
• Ehret, M., Johnston, W. J., & Ritter, T. (2024). From buying centers to buying ecosystems: Advancing the B2B research journey. Industrial Marketing Management, 117, A10–A16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2023.12.020
• Grewal, R., Lilien, G. L., Bharadwaj, S., Jindal, P., Kayande, U., Lusch, R. F., Mantrala, M., Palmatier, R. W., Rindfleisch, A., Scheer, L. K., Spekman, R., & Sridhar, S. (2015). Business-to-business buying: Challenges and opportunities. Customer Needs and Solutions, 2(3), 193–208. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40547-015-0040-5
• Johnston, W. J., & Bonoma, T. V. (1981). The buying center: Structure and interaction patterns. Journal of Marketing, 45(3), 143–156. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224298104500312
• Kemp, E. A., Borders, A. L., Anaza, N. A., & Johnston, W. J. (2018). The heart in organizational buying: Marketers' understanding of emotions and decision-making of buyers. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 33(1), 19–28. https://doi.org/10.1108/jbim-06-2017-0129
• Lewin, J. E., & Donthu, N. (2005). The influence of purchase situation on buying center structure and involvement: A select meta-analysis of organizational buying behavior research. Journal of Business Research, 58(10), 1381–1390. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2004.09.004
• Purmonen, A., Jaakkola, E., & Terho, H. (2023). B2B customer journeys: Conceptualization and an integrative framework. Industrial Marketing Management, 113, 74–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2023.05.020
• Webster, F. E., & Wind, Y. (1972). A general model for understanding organizational buying behavior. Journal of Marketing, 36(2), 12–19. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224297203600204