University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Marketing and Supply Chain Marketing & Supply Chain 2018 AN EXPLORATION OF ORGANIZATIONAL BUYING BEHAVIOR IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR Kevin S. Chase University of Kentucky, [email protected] Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.13023/ETD.2018.119 Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Chase, Kevin S., "AN EXPLORATION OF ORGANIZATIONAL BUYING BEHAVIOR IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR" (2018). Theses and Dissertations--Marketing and Supply Chain. 7. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/marketing_etds/7 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Marketing & Supply Chain at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Marketing and Supply Chain by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained needed written permission statement(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine) which will be submitted to UKnowledge as Additional File. I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless an embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. I understand that I am free to register the copyright to my work. REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s thesis including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. Kevin S. Chase, Student Dr. Brian R. Murtha, Major Professor Dr. Brian R. Murtha, Director of Graduate Studies AN EXPLORATION OF ORGANIZATIONAL BUYING BEHAVIOR IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR DISSERTATION A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Business and Economics at the University of Kentucky By Kevin S. Chase Lexington, Kentucky Co-Directors: Dr. Brian R. Murtha, Associate Professor of Marketing Dr. David Hardesty, Professor of Marketing Lexington, Kentucky Copyright © Kevin S. Chase 2018 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION AN EXPLORATION OF ORGANIZATIONAL BUYING BEHAVIOR IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR This dissertation begins with a comprehensive examination of the current state of research regarding organizational buying behavior. Through this review we identify a significant gap in our existing knowledge regarding organizational buying behavior in the public sector. Due to the high level of impact that government purchasing has on the economy, and the nuances that differentiate public from private sector purchasing practices, I further explore organizational buying behavior in the public sector to make the following contributions. First, I highlight the common practice in business-to-government (B2G) and business-to- business (B2B) transactions where buyers limit suppliers’ access to them during the buying process. This research terms these buyers “barricaded buyers.” Despite their prominence in practice, research related to barricaded buyers remains virtually non-existent. Therefore, the present research draws on insights gleaned from eight case studies over a period of approximately eighteen months to shed light on this important topic. Second, this dissertation advances a conceptual framework highlighting competitive actions a focal supplier can take to improve its selection likelihood when selling to barricaded buyers. The framework identifies novel ways suppliers can gain advantage by reducing competitive intensity in the pre-barricade phase (e.g., by peacocking) and by enhancing their RFP response quality in the post-barricade phase (e.g., by offering consummate solutions). Importantly, the framework invokes the notion of strategic information disclosure whereby a focal supplier may gain advantage by knowing when to convey what types of information in barricaded buying environments. Keywords: organizational buying behavior, sales, business-to-government, B2G, RFP, barricaded buyers Kevin S. Chase April 16th, 2018 Date AN EXPLORATION OF ORGANIZATIONAL BUYING BEHAVIOR IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR By Kevin S. Chase Dr. Brian Murtha Co-Director of Dissertation Dr. David Hardesty Co-Director of Dissertation Dr. Brian Murtha Director of Graduate Studies April 16th, 2018 Date To my wife and daughters, without you this would not have been possible. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the incredible guidance of my advisor Brian Murtha. I cannot begin to express my gratitude for the amount of time and effort you spent helping me reach my goals. I look forward to our continued work and hope that this dissertation is the beginning of a long and co productive career. I would also like to thank Dr. David Hardesty and Dr. John Peloza for their assistance on this dissertation as well as the research training they provided during my doctoral seminars. In addition to the guidance of my faculty advisors I would also like to acknowledge Sarah Magnotta, James Mead, Alex Ziegler, Wenjing Li, and Molly Burchett for their support in helping me through the PhD program at Kentucky over the last five years. Thank you all for both the academic collaboration as well as the social reprieve from the rigors of the PhD program. Finally, I would like to thank Dr. Sam Holloway for having a beer with me to discuss a career in academia. Without you, I would never have considered academia and cannot thank you enough. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. vi LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... vii 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 2. Organizational Buying Behavior Research: A Review and Future Directions ........... 3 2.1 Seminal Models of Organizational Buying .......................................................... 3 2.2 Defining the Organizational Buying Process ....................................................... 6 2.3 Inputs to the Organizational Buying Process ..................................................... 11 2.3.1 Environmental Inputs .................................................................................. 12 2.3.2 Organizational Inputs .................................................................................. 15 2.3.3 Buying Task Inputs ..................................................................................... 19 2.3.4 Group and Individual Inputs ....................................................................... 23 2.4 Organizational Buying Processes ....................................................................... 25 2.4.1 Information Search...................................................................................... 26 2.4.2 Individual Participation ............................................................................... 30 2.4.3 Interpersonal Influence ............................................................................... 32 2.4.4 Conflict Management.................................................................................. 35 2.5 Organizational Buying Outcomes ...................................................................... 37 2.6 Discussion .......................................................................................................... 39 2.7 Tables and Figures ............................................................................................. 42 3 Selling to Barricaded Buyers ..................................................................................... 52 3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 52 3.2 Method ............................................................................................................... 55 3.2.1 Research Setting.......................................................................................... 56 3.2.2 Case Selection ............................................................................................. 56 3.2.3 Data Collection and Analysis...................................................................... 57 3.2.4 Purchasing Process in the Present Setting .................................................. 60 3.3 Conceptual Framework .....................................................................................