Marketing to Public- and Private-Sector Companies in Emerging Countries: A Study of Indian Purchasing Managers

Existing literature provides little guidance to international managers for selling to public- and private-sector companies in emerging countries. This research attempts to fill this gap using the context of India. The study focuses on the criteria used by industrial buyers to evaluate suppliers. Four hypotheses related to the differences in the importance placed on economic criteria, familiarity with the supplier, reliability of the supplier, and other capabilities of the supplier by purchasing managers from public- and private-sector companies in India are proposed and tested. Purchasing managers from private-sector organizations place more importance on economic criteria and other capabilities of the supplier than do purchasing managers from public-sector organizations. However, there is no difference in the importance placed on the reliability of the supplier by public- and private-sector purchasing managers. Also, no differences in the perception of familiarity as a supplier evaluation dimension are found. Specific recommendations are made on the basis of the findings that can aid managers in making marketing strategy decisions, including positioning, pricing, product, promotion, and distribution decisions. Finally, limitations of the study and extensions for further research are provided.