Institutional Purchase Behaviour and Consumer Satisfaction toward Hygiene and Housekeeping Products: A Study of a Regional B2B Supplier

Abstract

The hygiene products market in India is experiencing rapid growth; however, there has been very little academic research on consumer behaviour and satisfaction related to regional institutional business-to-business (B2B) supply chain operations. This research attempts to determine the factors affecting institutional purchase decisions and subsequent customer satisfaction with ABC Care Private Limited, a regional manufacturer/wholesaler of hygiene and cleaning products for institutional consumers located in Bhopal and Indore, Madhya Pradesh. In this quantitative research, a descriptive-correlational cross-sectional survey research design was utilized. The sample consisted of 120 institutional respondents who were chosen using purposive convenience sampling from four types of institutions. Approximately 30% of surveys were completed in each of the following sectors: hotels and guesthouses, hospitals and clinics, corporate offices, and educational institutions. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire with a five-point Likert-type scale, then analyzed through frequency distributions, descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation), inter-rater reliability assessment (Cronbach's alpha), and Pearson's correlation coefficients to evaluate the strength and direction of the two constructs.
The major criteria driving purchase decisions were product quality and cleaning effectiveness (31.7%), followed by perceived price/value (20.0%) and product availability (15.0%). All core satisfaction areas produced average scores greater than 4.00 (with 84.2% of respondents reporting some or high level of satisfaction) on a 5 point scale. The scale demonstrated an acceptable level of reliability (α = 0.84). Resulted in a strong positive correlation between product quality and overall satisfaction (r = 0.76, p < 0.01) and also between overall satisfaction and intention to repurchase (r = 0.80, p < 0.01). The safe packaging and product info received the lowest average score (M = 3.96) indicating that this is an area for management improvement. While the correlational analysis found statistically significant associations, it does not allow for causal conclusions. To determine directionality will require conducting experimental or quasi-experimental studies outside of this applied research. This research advances the theoretical understanding of the Theory of Planned Behaviour, Expectation-Disconfirmation Theory and SERVQUAL in a unique regional B2B hygiene supply market in Central India, providing practical suggestions to improve supplier performance and retain institutional customers.