Buying centers in SMEs and the rapidly changing business environment: An exploratory study

This paper aims to extend the buying center literature by exploring the impact of the digitalization of communications and hybrid selling on the buying centers and their operations in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) context. Specifically, we analyze the impact of remote selling, hybrid selling and emerging digital technologies on the internal and external activities of buying centers. We use an qualitative and discovery-oriented approach with case study methodology that allows us to portray complex realities within the buying centers, especially in the SME context. We selected five cases related to Italian SMEs to portray the characteristics, practices, policies of different and relevant interlocutors to reach the saturation of the phenomenon explored. We combine the findings from our qualitative study with our literature review to offer nine propositions. We also discuss the conceptual contribution and managerial implications of our findings followed by the limitations of our study and directions for future research.