All of us buy different services for various reasons. One person may prefer to go to a restaurant for good food while the other may opt for an exclusive restaurant, for status. One person may prefer to read ‘The Times of India’ early in the morning, while the other may prefer to read the same newspaper after coming back from the office. There are women who don’t go to beauty parlors at all, whereas there are others who go regularly. Similarly, there are many such examples telling us that people show different behavior in buying and using different products and services.
In the purchase of any particular service six distinct roles are played. These are:
* Initiator: The person who has a specific need and proposes to buy a particular service.
* Influencer: The person or the group of people who the decision maker refers to or who advise. These could be reference groups, both primary and secondary. It could be even secondary reference group like word of mouth or media, which can influence the decision maker.
* Gatekeepers: The person or organization or promotional material which act as a filter on the range of services which enter the decision choice set.
* Decider: The person who makes the buying decision, irrespective of whether he executes the purchase himself or not. He may instruct others to execute. It has been observed at times, more typically in house hold or family or individual related services, one member of the family may dominate in the purchase decision.
* Buyer: The person who makes the actual purchase or makes bookings for a service like travel, hotel room, hospital, diagnostic lab, etc.
* User: The person who actually uses or consumes the product. It can be other than the buyer. In a number of services, it has been observed that users are also the influencers.
