市场学case6organizationalbuyingbehavior.doc

Company Case 6 (organizational buying behavior) Biofoam: not just peanuts Like diamonds, polystyrene peanuts are forever and every year – the stash of them is growing at a rate of at least 50 million pounds (300 million cubic feet of peanuts) annually. Since their introduction in 1970, they have become one of the most popular forms of packaging material. They are light weight, inexpensive, and resilient. They conform to any shape, protect superbly, resist shifting in transit, and leave no dusty residue on the goods they protect. Of course, too, they are indestructible. In fact, that’s the problem. Nearly every one of those peanuts used since 1970 is still with us – blowing in the wind or taking up space in a landfill. Worse yet, they will be with us for another 500 years. They’re wonderful, but they’re just not environmentally sound. A small firm in Phoenix, Arizona – Biofoam- thinks it has solved this problem. It sells a peanut made from grain sorghum that it calls, well, Biofoam. To make these sorghum peanuts, the company strips the grain of its nutritional value, presses it into pellets, and conveys it through a giant popper. The process creates a product that looks like tan cheese doodles, not so surprising given that the inventors started out to make a snack food. But no one wanted to eat these tan cheese doodles, so the inventors had to find other uses for them. According to Ed Alfke, Biofoam’s CEO, the sorghum peanuts do just as good a job as the best foam peanuts and they don’t cost any more. Moreover, they hold no electrostatic charge, so they won’t cling to nylons or other synthetic fibers (such as your carpet or clothes). Better yet, they are “absolutely, frighteningly natural,” says Tom Schmiegel, a veteran of the plastics industry. To dispose of a Biofoam peanut, you can: (a) put it in your trash can, (b) throw it on your front lawn, (c) dump it into your compost bin, (d) put it in your dog’s or cat’s bowl, (e) set it out with salsa at your next party,