How Brand Trust and Relationships Drive IT Purchase Decisions

When asked what they primarily look for when making decisions, IT purchasers are most likely to say they need to “trust” a tech brand before moving forward with a sales agreement, according to a recent survey from Spiceworks. They also take comfort in acquiring enterprise products that reflect their own, personal-use consumer choices. When evaluating vendors rather than IT products, decision-makers strongly consider brand reputation and market dominance. Nearly 675 IT purchase decision-makers took part in the research, which includes generational comparisons of influences on enterprise tech acquisition choices among Millennials, Gen Xers and Baby Boomers. This slide show highlighting the survey results includes charts provided courtesy of Spiceworks.

Spiceworks reports that 87 percent of Gen X IT purchase decision-makers need to “trust” a tech brand before making an acquisition for their organization. In comparison, 84 percent of Millennial and 83 percent of Baby Boomer IT purchasers need to do so.

Nearly two-thirds of Millennial survey respondents said that the technology they buy for their personal use influences their tech purchase decisions for their organizations. Among older generations, 57 percent of Baby Boomer and 55 percent of Gen X respondents are also influenced by the tech they purchase for their personal use.

Three of five Millennial respondents said they prefer to purchase from tech providers that focus on building a relationship rather than securing a “deal.” Among older generations, 53 percent of Gen X and 51 percent of Baby Boomer respondents feel the same way.

In ranking the tech vendor brand attributes that matter the most, 75 percent of survey respondents overall said that they consider whether the company has a strong brand reputation. For personal purchases, however, just 66 percent of respondents cited this.

Nearly one-half of survey respondents overall said that for business-related decisions, they consider whether a vendor is a market leader. For personal purchases, 43 percent look for this quality.

More than three of 10 Baby Boomer and Gen X tech purchase decision-makers want to deal with vendors that have been in business for at least a decade. Less than one-quarter of Millennial survey respondents prioritize this.

In ranking product attributes that matter the most for business decisions, 98 percent of survey respondents overall cited reliability. For personal purchases, 95 percent cited reliability.

Security, of course, weighs heavily in business-related tech purchase decisions, as cited by 91 percent of respondents overall. Interestingly enough, just 81 percent said they strongly assess security attributes when buying tech products for their personal use.

Baby Boomer IT purchasers are most likely to value high-quality support in evaluating a tech product for purchase, as cited by 85 percent of survey respondents from this generation. To compare, 82 percent of Gen X and 74 percent of Millennial respondents said they do this.

When evaluating devices for new end users, 82 percent of respondents consider the needs of the employees as a top purchase driver. Seven of 10 will take into account any performance issues with existing devices.