The Perception of Import’s Buyer Selection’s Criteria of Industrial Machinery Product from Japan, Germany, and United States: An Investigation on Textile Industry in Thailand

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to investigate the nature and relative importance of selection criteria of a foreign supplier of industrial machinery products in both supplier and product characteristics among Japanese, the United States, and German exporters. The research model and research hypotheses were developed of three industrial buying behavior concepts; one by Webster & Wind (1972), one by Sheth (1973), and one by Samli, Grewal & Mathur (1988). The survey method was used in this research study through a personal interview of 310 textile companies that imported textile machinery product from Japan, the United States, and Germany. The statistical technique of an analysis of co-variance (ANCOVA) was used in this research study. The results indicated that there was a significant relationship between selection criteria and decision making for buying industrial machinery products by Thai import purchasing managers. There were significant diferrences of product characteristics and supplier’s country image among Japanese, the United States, and German exporters by Thai import purchasing managers’ perceptions.

Meanwhile the satisfaction with a past purchase and supplier’s characteristics show no direct effect on the selection decision on a foreign supplier by Thai imported purchasing managers.