A probabilistic model of consumer purchase behavior for frequently purchased, low cost items is presented. The concept of maximum entropy is used to specify the model. The only empirical data required are market shares; all other brand selection statistics, such as repeat and switch rates, are derived quantities.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
HerniterJerome D.“A Probabilistic Market Model of Purchase Timing and Brand Selection,”Management Science, 18(December 1971), 102–13.
2.
HerniterJerome D.“An Entropy Model of Brand Purchase Behavior,” Technical Report, Cambridge, Mass.: Marketing Science Institute, December 1972.
3.
HerniterJerome D., and HowardRonald A.“Stochastic Marketing Models,” in HertzDavid B., and EddisonRoger T., eds. Progress in Operations Research, Vol. II. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1964, 33–96.
4.
JaynesE. T.“Information Theory and Statistical Mechanics,”Physical Review, 106(May 1957), 620–30.
5.
KhinchinA. I.Mathematical Foundations of Information Theory.New York: Dover, 1957.
6.
LanczosCornelius. The Variational Principles of Mechanics.Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1949.
7.
MassyWilliam F., MontgomeryDavid B., and MorrisonDonald G.Stochastic Models of Buying Behavior.Cambridge, Mass.: M. I. T. Press, 1970.
8.
ShannonClaude, and WeaverW.The Mathematical Theory of Communication.Evanston, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 1949.
9.
WilsonA. G.“The Use of the Concept of Entropy in System Modeling,”Operational Research Quarterly, 21(June 1970), 247–65.