Hierarchy of benefits achieved by final purchasers thanks to cooperation with offerors vs. the environment and specifics of this cooperation

Purpose: The aim of the article is to identify the hierarchy of benefits achieved by final purchasers as a result of their cooperation with offerors, taking into account the environment and specifics of this cooperation. Design/methodology/approach: A cognitive-critical analysis of the world literature on the subject indicates that these issues have not been studied so far. Therefore, it can be concluded that there is a cognitive and research gap in this regard. In order to reduce the gap, six research hypotheses were formulated. Primary research was carried out to verify the hypotheses. It covered 1,196 adult representatives of final purchasers in Poland. The collected data was subjected to quantitative analysis, using, inter alia, average scores analysis, comparative analysis, Pearson’s chi-square independence test, and an analysis of the V-Cramer contingency coefficient value. Findings: The results allowed, among other things, the following conclusions to be drawn: (1) non-material benefits of cooperation with offerors were more valuable for the majority of respondents, (2) the majority of respondents believed that the online and offline environments should be used in parallel as a place of this cooperation, (3) the respondents were more likely to express positive opinions on offers and offerors than negative ones, (4) dependencies were identified between non-material benefits and the environment of cooperation in the case of four benefits (those related to enriching the marketing potential of purchasers and meeting their social expectations). Originality/value: The results obtained and conclusions drawn on their basis are characterised by high cognitive and readily application value, enriching the knowledge on purchaser behaviour and enabling offerors to take appropriate measures to encourage purchasers into cooperation.