EOC Week 4: Consumer vs Business Marketing

There are many differences in marketing and many different consumers. Take for example a single person buying a computer compared to a business buying a whole stock of them. A well known company that does this is GE. Many people buy GE products that are used around the house. “For more than 130 years, we’ve packed our homes with GE products—from good ol’ GE lightbulbs to refrigerators, ranges, clothes washers and dryers, microwave ovens, dishwashers, coffee makers, room air conditioners, and hundreds of other products bearing the familiar script GE logo.” (Marketing : An Introduction. pg 158). Along with these products, GE also sells to many different commercial and industrial customers. But the products it sells to these customers are completely different to what people would buy for their houses. ”Beyond light bulbs and electronics, GE sells everything from medical imaging technologies, water processing systems, and security solutions to power generation equipment, aircraft engines, and diesel locomotives.” (Marketing : An Introduction. pg 158). Though the products might be different the thing that GE wants to do is sell the product. Selling an aircraft engine to a company is still the same as trying to sell a refrigerator to a single person. But that’s similarity that a single customer and a company share. When it comes down to it, GE would rather lose a single person who decides to buy a fridge that’s only a couple hundred dollars than to lose a company that wants to buy  airplane engines that will cost millions of dollars in losses. “Whereas it might be disappointing when a refrigerator buyer chooses a competing brand, losing a single sale to a large business customer can mean the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in business.” (Marketing : An Introduction. pg 158). And that’s something GE wouldn’t want.