International Journal of Marketing Studies; Vol. 4, No. 4; 2012 ISSN 1918-719X E-ISSN 1918-7203 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education 78 Price-quality Dimensions of Organizational Buying Behaviour in Cross River State, Nigeria Ezekiel Tom Ebitu 1 , Eyo Emmanuel Essien 1 & Glory Basil 1 1 Department of Marketing, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria Correspondence: Eyo Emmanuel Essien, Department of Marketing, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria. Tel: 234-803-320-6386. E-mail: ecubed2006@yahoo.com Received: March 13, 2012 Accepted: May 21, 2012 Online Published: July 25, 2012 doi:10.5539/ijms.v4n4p78 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ijms.v4n4p78 Abstract This study examined the roles of price differentials offered by industrial goods vendors and quality specifications for industrial products in determining organizational buyer decision to patronize one vendor rather than another. Using survey data generated from 321 respondents in the three categories of business consumers in the Southern Senatorial district of Cross River State, our hypotheses were supported. Results of data analysis show that price differentials and quality requirements for industrial product significantly influence organizational buying behaviour. Our findings also suggest that because price differential are perceived by the customers as a gauge of value and quality, marketing managers of industrial goods and services stand to gain more by adopting strategies which give special attention to the ways buyers trade-off costs and benefits of various products. Keywords: price differentials, quality requirements, organizational buying behaviour 1. Introduction Organizational buying behaviour has been shown to be significantly different from that of the ultimate consumer (Hutt and Speh, 1998, Ekerete, 2005; Agbonifoh, et al., 2007). Consequently, the motives for organizational buying differ from those for consumer buying and because of the differences in buying motive, the factors or determinants of organizational buying as well as the marketing strategies designed for business marketing are different from those of ultimate consumers. The organizational buyer is influenced by a wide array of forces inside and outside the organization, and unlike the ultimate consumer, the organizational buyer is largely rational in his choice and motivated by budgetary considerations such as profit goals, expense quotas, and cost benefit guidelines. The organizational buyer must be prepared to justify his purchases on the basis of measurable performance. Consequently, the variables which influence the professional buyer’s decision to patronize one industrial product vendor/supplier rather than another tend to be quality, service and price-frequently in that order. These are not the only variable weighed by industrial goods purchaser, but according to Webster (1970), they are the most common ones. Although the supplier’s quality and price of offerings – along with other considerations are typically evaluated by the buying organization as a package with the possibility of trade-offs, this paper considers them separately and examines how they influence organization buying behaviour. 2. Statement of Problem Over the years, theorists and practitioners of business marketing management have tried to provide the marketing manager with a conceptual framework within which to analyze their customers and thus be able to tailor their products/services and communication to reach the appropriate audience. Equally, several studies have resulted in models that explain the factors influencing purchasing decisions or organizational buyers. Unfortunately however, these studies and the models derived from them, tend to be limited, at least, for one significant reason. Most of the studies are concerned with behaviour of organizational buyers in developed and industrialized economics. According to Agbonifoh, et al., (2007), the rather low level of industrialization and purchase of industrial goods in Nigeria makes it difficult to appreciate the need for the separate treatment of industrial marketing. Unlike in most developed and competitive economics where the organizational buyer must justify his decisions on the basis of measurable performance, the legal requirement of “local content”, the pervasive problem of corruption and “man-know-man”, etc. may influence how organizations buy in Cross River