A supplier may have a more compelling offer and still lose the business because the buyer finds it easier to justify choosing a familiar name. In The Future Buyer Report 2026, presented by agency VML on 10 November, 71% of surveyed B2B buyers said they had previously chosen a safer supplier over a competitor they believed offered better value. At the same time, 73% believe that a poor purchase could seriously damage their career.
VML calls this tendency Defensibility Bias, meaning a preference for a familiar, proven choice that is easier to defend within the company. It therefore recommends that lesser-known brands support the advantages of their offering with verified results and references. There is room to make the shortlist: 59% of respondents included a previously unfamiliar supplier among their candidates thanks to expert content that demonstrated its knowledge of its field.
How buyers search is also increasingly influencing which suppliers enter consideration. Among the study participants, 55% named generative AI tools as the starting point for supplier research, while 45% chose traditional search engines. For B2B marketing, this expands the work involved in content: product specifications, case studies and technical documentation need to be clear and consistent enough for AI systems to find and understand them, and for buyers to verify them.
A convinced buyer, however, does not mean the deal is closed. Significant purchases involve an average of 6.8 stakeholders, and internal alignment takes another 5.35 weeks after a preferred supplier has already been identified. Finance influences final approval for 63% of respondents, senior management for 57%, and IT for 56%. Materials intended for buyers therefore also need to address questions of cost-effectiveness, data security and integration with existing systems.
As many as 38% of significant purchasing initiatives end without a decision, most often because of concerns about risk and regulatory compliance, as well as uncertainty about budgets or return on investment. Provable return on investment is cited as a selection criterion by 49% of respondents, a clear implementation plan by 43%, and the lowest price by 19%. These findings steer communication towards explaining the expected results and how they will be achieved.
Buyers also want to maintain direct human contact during negotiations, post-purchase issue resolution and the evaluation of complex solutions. VML therefore recommends that sales teams take on an advisory role at stages where buyers need expert assessment and help with decision-making.
The research was conducted by VML’s research practice SONAR between late July and early August 2026, among 750 B2B buyers across seven sectors in eight markets: the US, the UK, France, Germany, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.
