The demand for industrial products and services does not survive by itself. It is derived from the ultimate demand for consumer goods and services. Therefore, industrial demand is called derived demand. Sometimes, the demand for industrial product is called joint demand, when the demand for a product depends upon its use along with the existence of other product or products. Cross elasticity of demand exists for some substitute products in industrial market. These concepts are detailed as follows:
Derived Demand
The single most important force in marketing of industrial products and services is derived demand. Industrial customers buy goods and services for making the use in producing other goods and services and finally produced product/service sold to the consumers. In industrial marketing, the demand for industrial goods and services is derived from consumer goods and services. For example, the demand for precision steel tubes does not exist in market. It is demanded for the production of bicycles, motorcycles, scooters, and furniture (steel tables and chairs), which are consumed by the consumers. Thus, the demand for precision steel tubes is derived from the forecast of consumer demand for bicycles, motor-cycles, scooters, and furniture. In case of capital goods, such as machinery and equipment (e.g. machine tools, textile machinery, leather machinery, etc.) that are used to produce other goods, the purchases are made not only for the current requirements, but also in anticipation of profit; form the future usage. If businessmen of feel that there may be a recession in near future, their purchases will be drastically curtailed. On the other hand, if the attitude of businessmen is favorable (i.e. they feel the business is on the upswing) their investment in capital goods and other industrial products will increase. Thus, the attitude of businessmen is very important, as it reflects the optimism or pessimism about the future. During the periods of recession, or reduced consumer demand, industrial firms reduce their inventories/stocks, or reduce the production, or do both. On the other hand, during the period of prosperity, there is an increased production and sales of consumer goods, which results in an increased demand for industrial goods. This may be the right time for price increases and building stocks as ready availability and shorter delivery period becomes very important.
An industrial marketing firm should be in close touched customers purchase, finance, quality, R&D and marketing departments, so as to get information on changes in customers’ sales, new product development, financial condition, and the quality of its products.
Joint Demand
Joint demand is common in the industrial market because it occurs when one industrial product is useful if other product also exists. For example, a pump-sets cannot be used for pumping water, if the electric motor or diesel engine is not available. Similarly, the department of telecommunication, which requires a complete kit, consisting of different items, for joining the under ground telecom cables, cannot buy only some of the items from a supplier as it does not contented the kit. Thus, some industrial products do not have industrial demand, but are demanded only if the other products are available from the the industrial supplier.
Cross-Elasticity of Demand
Simply, elasticity is the change in demand from a change in price. The demand for most of the industrial goods can be inelastic (i.e. insensitive to changes in prices) for a particular industry, but at the same time, highly elastic (i.e. sensitive to changes in prices) for individual suppliers. This is because, the total industry demand comes from the united needs of all the customers rather than price, and hence it is relatively inelastic. Though, between the various suppliers, a slight change in the price by one firm may create a major change in the quantity and thereby, be highly elastic for anyone firm. Cross-elasticity of demand is the reaction of the sales of one product to a price change in another product. This concern present in both consumer and industrial marketing, but it is more imperative in industrial marketing as it can have a dramatic impact on the marketing strategy of an industrial firm. For example, the demand for aluminum is related to the prices of wood and steel for the doors and window frames, as they are close substitutes. Apart from other advantages of aluminum doors and windows, the cost comparison with steel and wooden door and window frames play an important role in the purchase decisions in the construction of houses, commercial offices, factories, hotels, hospitals, and so on. Aluminum extrusion companies regularly collect the information on cost of steel and wood, and advertise the advantages of use of aluminum in terms of negligible maintenance cost, elegant looks, environment, friendly in comparison to wood, and so on. Whenever there is a change in the price of aluminum due to changes in excise duty or other input costs, there is an impact on the sales of doors and windows made out of wood or steel. The reverse is applicable for changes in the prices of steel or wood. Thus, the marketing persons working in the aluminum extrusion companies should recognize that the cross-elasticity of demand exists for their products. If the cross-elasticity of substitute products is high, it indicates that these products compete in the same market. An industrial marketer must know how the demand for his products is likely to be affected by the changes in the prices of substitute products. Because of the unique characteristics of derived demand, the industrial marketing persons would anticipate any increase or decrease in the demand for their products, based on the changes in the demand for their customers’ products. They must know that existence of cross-elasticity of demand for their products so as to recognize both direct and indirect competition.