The influence of sustainability aspects on B2B purchasing decisions: The special case of the healthcare industry

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Companies are increasingly under pressure to report not only on their financial performance but also on their social and environmental performance in their entire supply chain. Regulations such as ISO 14001 or the new supply chain act provide a normative framework for sustainable corporate practices. Though, evidence on how sustainability aspects influence purchasing decisions is yet still limited. This research takes up from this point and investigates the influence of sustainability aspects on B2B purchasing decisions in German listed firms. Hence, we conducted a quantitative survey using a set of criteria. The goal of the survey was to determine 1) the level of sustainability maturity in general, as well as 2) the level of integration of sustainability into B2B purchasing decisions. We find that the respondents are already aware of the need to integrate sustainability aspects into different business areas, but sustainability aspects have no significant impact on B2B purchasing decisions yet. As a result, price and quality still play a crucial role in B2B purchasing decisions. Our findings shed new light on this under-researched area of B2B purchasing and could be of interest to policy-makers, companies and stakeholders.

Keywords: Sustainability, Purchasing, B2B

JEL Classification: G00, G30, L20

Received: 08.11.2022
Accepted: 15.11.2022

How to cite: Ulrich, P., & Häußler, S. (2023). The influence of sustainability aspects on B2B purchasing decisions: The special case of the healthcare industry. In E. Karger & A. Kostyuk (Eds.), Corporate governance: An interdisciplinary outlook (pp. 68–72). Virtus Interpress. https://doi.org/10.22495/cgaiop15