New Research Suggests Marketers May Want to Cater to B2B Buyers’ Emotions

As B2B marketers face several challenges when it comes to resonating with their target audience, new research shows that B2B buyers may place more emphasis on their emotions during the customer journey than previously thought.

Ipsos recently published the “GBI USA Launch Presentation” to gauge some of the factors that B2B buyers weigh during the customer journey. Although Global Business Influencers (GBIs) represent less than 1 percent of the population, according to the report, they are critical to B2B marketers.

Statistics showed that 74 percent of GBIs score highly on willingness to embrace emotion in their lives. Sixteen percent “strongly agree” that they rely on gut feelings to make work decisions as well.

The majority of GBIs (42 percent) at least “somewhat agree” that they rely on gut feelings to make work decisions, and this could apply to buying decisions as well.

32 percent of GBIs also state that they “somewhat agree” that they have confidence in intuition for their decision making, as well as emotion. These individuals noted that they are comfortable with an element of intuition when they make decisions.

Social Media and the Influence on the Buying Process

While emotions may play a role in the purchase decisions of B2B buyers, what other factors contribute to the final decision made by customers?

Previous research suggests that social media may have an influence during the buying process. SUMO Heavy published the “2018 Social Commerce Revisited” report and found that 58 percent of buyers claimed that social media has influenced a purchase decision in the past, even if it is not initially where a product or service was discovered. This is an increase from the 45 percent who said the same two years ago.

About 48 percent of customers can now say they have purchased products or services through social media.