Marketing innovative technology to institutional buyers in educational settings

In institutional settings, the decision to adopt technically innovative products is usually made jointly by individuals representing various functional groups. Each individual participant exerts significant influence over the adoption decision; and often the needs and concerns of various participants and groups differ. These characteristics contribute to the complexity of the purchase decision process and accentuate barriers to adoption, thus presenting special challenges for marketers of technically innovative products. The research discussed was designed to investigate the purchase decision process for technically innovative products in institutional markets. The US educational market provides the setting for the investigation. This market’s purchasing process is similar to a variety of tax‐funded institutional markets (e.g. governmental agencies, public health care facilities). Additionally, this market is significant ‐ in its own right ‐ for two important reasons: (1) it currently spends $225 billion annually, and (2) it significantly affects the future socio‐economic success of the USA. The results of the investigation provide important insights into the problems associated with marketing technically innovative products to these types of institutional markets.