Marketing to businesses, governments, and nonprofit organizations is termed business-to-business (B2B) marketing. Understanding the concepts and principles of B2B marketing is crucial for all entrepreneurs. Although some entrepreneurs may deal with consumer markets, all participate in B2B markets, either as vendors or as purchasers, and generally both. Additionally, the B2B market is larger than the consumer market (B2C) and has more points of entry to participation. Although the underlying philosophy of B2B and B2C is the same—to earn profits through satisfying the needs and wants of the customer—there are substantial differences between B2B and B2C. Traditional marketing classes, focusing almost exclusively on B2C, rarely discuss these differences.

First among those differences is that the underlying basis for consumer decision making is the psychology of the individual. ...