Know-How Exchange : Student Questions

There are many differences in ethical, legal, and regulatory between B2B and B2C. But there are also a lot of differences in these areas between products within B2B and B2C, so I will stick to a specific example.

B2C generally has a much more rigorous standard to ensure safety. For example, if you sell electrical fixtures B2C, you have to assume that a non-trained person may be installing it, so need to make it extra safe and fool proof. But if you sell the same fixture for use in an Industrial Plant (B2B), it is safer to assume that a trained electrician will be installing it.

In the U.S., the regulations would change for these two cases. Consumer use would require UL (Underwriter's laboratories) listing, where the plant would require FM (Factory Mutual). Both these organizations perform similar functions, but because they target different areas (consumer versus plants), how they go about it is very different.

Legal follows a similar pattern. There would be less potential liability on the B2B side, as companies generally take more responsibility for their actions than consumers do (and correspondingly less lawsuits and damages on the B2B side).