Tech buying
Does Buyer Age Affect Tech Purchasing Practices?
New research examines the B2B tech buying practices of three age groups. Surprisingly, Millennials prefer face-to-face meetings with vendors, not social media.
Purchasing Power
33% of Millennials said they have budget and/or sign-off on enterprise technology purchases of $10,000 or more. Meanwhile, 23% of Baby Boomers and 27% of Gen Xers have the same authority.
Selecting Vendors
28% of Millennials said they research potential providers for inclusion on their short lists, compared with 14% of Baby Boomers and 24% of Gen Xers.
Final Selection
One-fifth (20%) of Baby Boomers and 23% of Gen Xers evaluate providers on the short list and select the best solution, compared with 13% of Millennials.
Decision Makers
44% of Baby Boomers provide input to help the evaluators and decision makers, compared with 28% of Gen Xers and 26% of Millennials.
Trusted Sources
When considering B2B tech purchases of $10,000 or more, respondents said the top source of information to evaluate technology solutions is industry analysts (42%), followed by internal colleagues (40%), vendor face-to-face meetings (40%), vendor Websites (40%), case studies or customer testimonials (36%).
Top Tools for Millennials
Millennials often refer to industry analysts (38%), vendor face-to-face meetings (36%) and Websites (33%) when evaluating tech purchases.
Top Tools for Older Workers
Baby Boomers rely more on analysts (50%), colleagues (49%) and vendor meetings (48%), while Gen Xers prefer colleagues and vendor Websites (both 40%), analysts and trade shows (both 38%).
Millennials: Seeking Experts
Millennials turn to internal colleagues and industry analysts (both 29%) and case studies or customer testimonials (24%) when looking to understand and explore a possible business problem.
Older Workers: Evaluation Stage
Baby Boomers go to industry analysts (41%) and industry/professional online communities or forums (35%), while Gen Xers prefer industry analysts (31%) and internal colleagues (28%) for initial problem solving.
Millennials: Second-Phase Research
When researching for available technology solutions, Millennials prefer internal colleagues (26%), vendor face-to-face meetings (25%) and vendor Websites (21%).
Older Workers: Search for Tech
Baby Boomers prefer industry/professional online communities or forums and vendor Websites (both 36%); industry analysts, live or in-person demos and Web searches (all 34%); Gen Xers prefer vendor face-to-face meetings and vendor Websites (both 33%); and industry analysts (28%).
Final Decisions
When selecting a short list of solutions, the top information source for Millennials is vendor face-to-face meetings (24%), while Baby Boomers prefer live or in-person demos (39%) and Gen Xers choose case studies or customer testimonials and vendor face-to-face meetings (both 27%).