USITC Staff Report: Quartz Surfaces from India and Turkey staff report USITC | Page 39

As shown in table II-5, most purchasers never make purchasing decisions based on the
producer or country of origin. Reasons cited for making decisions based on the manufacture
include it being their customers’ decision, price, delivery times, exclusivity arrangement with
one supplier (specifically Caesarstone and Silestone), preference for domestic product
specifically from Cambria, and buying “from the best supplier.”
Table II-5
Quartz surface products: Purchasing decisions based on producer and country of origin
Decision Always Usually Sometimes Never
Purchases based on producer:
Purchaser's decision 6 5 7 19
Purchaser's customer's decision --- 3 16 12
Purchases based on country of origin:
Purchaser's decision 6 --- 4 25
Purchaser's customer's decision --- --- 18 12
Source: Compiled from data submitted in response to Commission questionnaires.
Factors affecting purchasing decisions
The most often cited top three factors firms consider in their purchasing decisions for
quartz surface products were quality (19 firms), color/design (16 firms), and price/cost (15
firms) as shown in table II-6. Quality and contract/exclusivity were the most frequently cited
first-most important factors (cited by 8 firms each), followed by color/design (7 firms); and
price/cost was the most frequently reported second-most and third-most important factor (7
firms and 6 firms, respectively).
Table II-6
Quartz surface products: Ranking of factors used in purchasing decisions as reported by U.S.
purchasers, by factor
1st 2nd 3rd Total
Item
Number of firms
Quality 8 6 5 19
Contract / Exclusivity 8 1 --- 9
Color / Design 7 6 3 16
Price / Cost 2 7 6 15
Availability / Supply --- 3 2 5
All other factors 10 5 12 NA
Note: Other factors include customer service, lead time, and other terms.
Source: Compiled from data submitted in response to Commission questionnaires.
A plurality of purchasers (17 of 36) reported that they never purchase the lowest-priced
product, while the remaining firms reported either always (4), usually (6), or sometimes (9)
purchasing the lowest-priced product.
II-13