The Influence of the Digital Environment on Decision-making in Procurement

Today Buyers Meeting Point welcomes two guests from Wake Forest University: Dr. Jim Narus and Dr. Michelle Steward. They have been conducting research into the role of social media in procurement since this summer and have some results to share with us.

In this conversation, they share some of the results and conclusions from their research, including:

• Some of the trends being seen in the B2C 'customer journey' are relevant to B2B customers as well.
• Procurement is spending more time using technology at the beginning and end of the process - supplier evaluation and management - than during the middle of the process.
• Leading procurement adopters of digital technology are most likely to be new or in tech-savvy industries.

Dr. Jim Narus serves as a Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Business Markets at Pennsylvania State University. Professor Narus is involved in a variety of international marketing research projects and also regularly teaches abroad. He has worked as a marketing professor at Wake Forest University since January 1988.

Dr. Michelle Steward is an Associate Professor at the School of Business at Wake Forest University. Her research interests center on issues involving role management and the coordination of internal working relationships, and how each drive superior performance in business-to-business markets.