## 2 Theoretical Background
### Organizational Buying versus Individual Buying in Achieving Sustainable Development Goals  
Since the 1960s, organizational buying behavior has been widely discussed by scholars as an important factor affecting the sustainability of organizational marketing and growth. Organizational buying decisions usually involve many individuals from different functions within an organization. [PERSON] et al. [32] proposed the BUYGRID model, which considers organizational buying behavior as a series of activities that includes new task buying, modified rebuying, and straight rebuying. Subsequently, [PERSON] and [PERSON] [33] identified five buying roles within the context of these buying centers: users, influencers, buyers, deciders, and gatekeepers. Organizational buying behavior is, thus, regarded as a process [17; 22; 34; 35; 36; 37] consisting of a series of complex and interdependent activities [17], such as requirements, technical specifications, supplier evaluations, and final purchase decisions [36]. The specific decision stages and roles in organizational buying may vary across buying situations. The same individual could occupy a number of roles (e.g., buyer and user) and a number of individuals could occupy the same role (e.g., there may be a number of users). [PERSON] and [PERSON] [33] conducted in-depth research and found four types of factors that affect organizational buying behavior: environment, organization, interpersonal, and personal. Many scholars since have expanded on this research [16; 17; 22; 24; 38]. [PERSON] [34] considered the influence of information factors and psychological factors on organizational buying behavior. Research has posited that organizational buying behavior in the manufacturing industry in particular, is influenced by six main factors: supplier flexibility, supplier reliability, cross-departmental communication, top management support, daily procurement, and buyers' price sensitivity [17]. In addition, advances in information technology have affected the structure and processes of the purchasing center, significantly increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of organizational buying activities [36]. Cultural differences across countries are also important factors influencing organizational buying activities [24]. In the process of organizational buying, the purchaser should consider the operation and development of the whole company, choose the most advantageous purchasing mode for the company, and be able to prove to the other members of the organization that the purchasing decision is correct. Therefore, the organization's buying behavior may be more rational than that of individual consumers. But, because organizational buying decisions are ultimately made by individuals, organizational buying behavior is often guided by both rational economic motivation and the emotional motivation of the purchasing decision makers [39]. Compared with individual customers, organizational customers have wide geographical coverage, larger single purchases, more complex purchase decision-making processes, customized services or products, and more stable and continuous customer relationships [40; 41; 42]. Individual buying in general is characterized by a relatively leisurely and casual overtone, which means that consumers, unlike purchasing professionals, shop also for social, recreational, and even therapeutic reasons. Consumer buying behavior involves a large number of decisions, ranging from the identification of a need through various stages of generation and evaluation of alternatives to the selection of a product, specific features of a given brand, and time and place of purchase. Specific differences between organizational and individual buying behavior include: (1) Individual buying behavior usually involves only the individual, perhaps with a few friends or family members. But organizational buying behavior involves a large number of people representing different departments and holding different roles; thus, involving a variety of appeals and interests [17].