Professional buyers purchase much of the material used in business and industry. They buy such things as durable goods, office furniture, presses, lathes, motors. They purchase expendable goods, such as oil, paint, typewriter ribbons. They are in the market for raw materials for conversion into parts. They also select the most reliable sources of accessories for assembly into the company’s finished products.
A merchant is also a professional buyer. Most department heads in large retail stores are trained buyers. They give first consideration to such factors as turnover and profit. They buy a product to pass it along to consumers without change of packaging, form, size, or quality of the product. They are motivated by such reasoning factors as completeness of the line, dealer protection, salability, merchandising aids, advertising assistance.
On the other hand, both professional industrial buyers and merchants, although they apply reason to the purchase of products for the use of their company or for resale, often are influenced by universal buying motives. They seldom depend solely on reason in their personal purchases. For example, the buyer for a chain store who prides himself on having a practical reason for every purchase is likely to buy his wife a mink coat He decides on mink, not because mink wears better than beaver, or looks better than seal, or will keep his wife warmer than dyed skunk. He buys this coat to show off his wife’s youthful appearance and because he is fond of his wife. His wife wants a mink coat because the other women on Terrace Drive have natural mink coats and she wants to top them, since none of their husbands makes as much money as her Harry.
A dentifrice manufacturer may advertise that his tooth paste (1) is antiseptic and kills germs, (2) is astringent and hardens gums, and (3) removes tartar that discolors teeth. While most people know that germs in the mouth cause bad breath, only a dentist is likely to know that firm gums resist gingivitis, or that tartar combines with tar from cigarettes to discolor enamel and sometimes is associated with cancer of the oral cavity. This appeal is primarily to reason. Most people don’t have the background to appreciate the claims, and for them the ad packs no punch.
Another manufacturer of dentifrices may base his appeal solely on emotions. He does this by showing the picture of a pretty girl with gleaming well formed teeth. Using a purely emotional appeal, he merely writes, ‘For the smile of youth, use Colgate.” This ad is an appeal to the universal motive of pride.
