Buyer usage behavior data are used to compare the relative performance of a linear discriminant analysis and several multinomial classification methods. The potential shortcomings of each of the procedures investigated are cited, and a new method for determining the contribution of a variable to discrimination in the context of the multinomial classification problem also is presented.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BanksSeymour. “The Relationship Between Preference and Purchase of Brands,” Journal of Marketing, 15 (October 1951), 145–57.
2.
BishopYvonne M. M., FienbergStephen E., and HollandPaul W.Discrete Multivariate Analysis: Theory and Practice. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1975.
3.
ClaycampHenry R. “Characteristics of Owners of Thrift Deposits in Commercial Banks and Savings and Loan Associations,” Journal of Marketing Research, 2 (May 1965), 163–79.
4.
CochranWilliam G. and HopkinsCarl E. “Some Classification Problems with Multivariate Qualitative Data,” Biometrics, 17 (March 1961), 10–32.
5.
CraskMelvin R. and PerreaultWilliam D.Jr. “Validation of Discriminant Analysis in Marketing Research,” Journal of Marketing Research, 14 (February 1977), 60–8.
6.
DardenWilliam R. and ReynoldsFred D. “Backward Profiling of Male Innovators,” Journal of Marketing Research, 11 (February 1974), 79.
7.
DillonWilliam R. and GoldsteinMatthew. “On the Performance of Some Multinomial Classification Rules,” Journal of the American Statistical Association, forthcoming.
8.
DillonWilliam R. and GoldsteinMatthew, “VARSEL: A Stepwise Discrete Variable Selection Program,” Journal of Marketing Research, 14 (August 1977), 419–20.
9.
DolanRobert J. “Market Segmentation Via Alternative Discriminant Procedures,” Combined Proceedings, American Marketing Association, 1975, 132–6.
10.
EtzelMichael J. “Using Multiple Discriminant Analysis to Segment the Consumer Credit Market,” Combined Proceedings, American Marketing Association, 1974, 35–40.
11.
EvansFrank B. “Psychological and Objective Factors in the Prediction of Brand Choice: Ford versus Chevrolet,” Journal of Business, 31 (October 1959), 340–69.
12.
FisherR. A. “The Use of Measurements in Taxonomic Problems,” Annals of Eugenics, 7 (1936), 176–84.
13.
FrankRonald E., MassyWilliam F., and MorrisonDonald G. “Bias in Multiple Discriminant Analysis,” Journal of Marketing Research, 7 (August 1965), 250–8.
14.
GilbertEthel S. “On Discrimination Using Qualitative Variables,” Journal of American Statistical Association, 63 (December 1968), 116–22.
GoldsteinMatthew and WolfEdward. “On the Problem of Bias in Multinomial Classification,” Biometrics, 33 (June 1977), 325–31.
17.
GoldsteinMatthew and WilliamR. Dillon. “A Stepwise Discrete Variable Selection Procedure,” Communications in Statistics, forthcoming.
18.
GreenPaul E. “Bayesian Classification Procedures in Analyzing Customer Characteristics,” Journal of Marketing Research, 1 (May 1964), 44–50.
19.
GreenPaul E., CarmoneFrank J., and WachspressDavid P. “On the Analysis of Qualitative Data in Marketing Research,” Journal of Marketing Research, 14 (February 1977), 52–9.
20.
HillsM. “Discrimination and Allocation with Discrete Data,” Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series C, 16, No. 3 (1967), 237–50.
21.
KullbackS.Information Theory and Statistics. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1959.
22.
LachenbruchPeter A. and Ray MickeyM. “Estimation of Error Rates in Discriminant Analysis,” Technometrics, 10 (1968), 1–9.
23.
LinhartH. “Techniques for Discriminant Analysis with Discrete Variables.” Metrika, 2 (May 1959), 138–49.
24.
MassyWilliam R. “On Methods: Discriminant Analysis of Audience Characteristics,” Journal of Advertising Research, 5 (March 1965), 39–45.
25.
MatusitaKameo. “Decision Rule, Based on Distance, for the Classification Problem,” Annual Institute of Statistical Mathematics, 8 (1956), 67–77.
26.
MontgomeryDavid B. “New Product Diffusion—An Analysis of Supermarket Buyer Decision,” Journal of Marketing Research, 12 (August 1965), 255–65.
27.
MooreDan H.II. “Evaluation of Five Discrimination Procedures for Binary Variables,” Journal of the American Statistical Association, 68 (June 1973), 399–404.
28.
MorrisonDonald G. “On Interpretation in Discriminant Analysis,” Journal of Marketing Research, 6 (May 1969), 156–63.
29.
PerryMichael. “Discriminant Analysis of Relations Between Consumer's Attitude Behavior and Intention,” Journal of Advertising Research, 9 (1969), 34–9.
30.
RobertsonThomas S. and KennedyJames N. “Prediction of Consumer Innovators: Application of Multiple Discriminant Analysis,” Journal of Marketing Research, 5 (February 1968), 64–9.
