Investigation of purchasing behavior in industrial markets and buyer-supplier relationship quality

The impact of firms engaged in product and/or service sales on buyers when selling a product and/or service is highly significant. Understanding the factors that buyers prioritize in maintaining or enhancing relationship quality during the purchasing process is crucial for developing effective strategies. The objective of this dissertation is to investigate the role of rational factors and emotional factors, particularly from the buyer's perspective, in developing behaviors or tendencies such as satisfaction, loyalty, and long-term relationship tendency, which are important in buyer-supplier relationships. In line with this objective, data were collected through a survey from 213 individuals representing firms operating in Türkiye and actively working in these companies. The collected data were analyzed using frequency analyses of demographic questions, normality tests, reliability, factor analysis, standard multiple regression, Pearson correlation analysis, and ANOVA. The findings indicate that attendees positively perceive relationship quality between buyers and sellers. Additionally, statistically meaningful positive relationships were found between the sub-dimensions of relationship quality and feelings of satisfaction, commitment, and relationship tendency. In addition, It was concluded that the sub-dimensions of relationship value affect levels of loyalty, with adaptation to innovation and brand portfolio reputation; levels of loyalty are influenced by the reputation of the brand portfolio, the supplier's previous reputation, and innovation to adaptation; finally, the brand portfolio reputation and the supplier's reputation from the past affect levels of relationship orientation. The results of this study are expected to provide significant contributions to practitioners in the field.