Over the years I’ve witnessed people question the influence of brand in B to B purchasing. Afterall, an industrial buyer is making their decision based on product specs and price, right? A study by James G. Hutton provides adequate support for brand supporters. Hutton’s research found that brand accounted for price premiums ranging from 12% to 19% for commodities like floppy disks, fax machines and personal computers. Interestingly, when a purchase was mission critical for the buyer’s organization, the buyer was most likely to select an extremely well known brand.
Hence the phrase, “Nobody ever got fired for hiring IBM.”