This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

Determining the Number of Market Segments Using an Experimental Design

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Ana Oliveira-Brochado () (EDGE, CESUR, DECIVIL-IST, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa)
Francisco Vitorino Martins () (EDGE, Faculdade de Economia da Universidade do Porto)
Abstract

The aim of this work is to determine how well criteria designed to help the selection of the adequate number of mixture components perform in mixture regressions of normal data. We address this research question based on results of an extensive experimental design. The simulation experiment compares several criteria (26), including information criteria and classification-based criteria. In this full factorial design we manipulate 9 factors and 22 levels, namely: true number of segments (2 or 3), mean separation between segments (low, medium or high), number of consumers (100 or 300), number of observations per consumer (5 or 10), number of predictors (2, 6 or 10), measurement level of predictors (binary, metric or mixed), error variance (20% or 60%), minimum segment size (5-10%, 10-20% or 20-30%) and error distribution (normal versus uniform). The performance of the segment retention criteria is evaluated by their success rates; we also investigate the influence of experimental factors and their levels on success rates. The best results were obtained for the criteria AIC3, AIC4, HQ, ICLBIC and ICOMPLBIC. BIC and CAIC also perform well with large samples and a large number of market segments.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help file. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://www.fep.up.pt/investigacao/workingpapers/08.01.17_wp263.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: no

Publisher Info
Paper provided by Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto in its series FEP Working Papers with number 263.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML, plain text, BibTeX, RIS (EndNote), ReDIF
Length: 16 pages
Date of creation: Jan 2008
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:por:fepwps:263

Contact details of provider:
Postal: Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200 PORTO
Phone: 351-22-5571100
Fax: 351-22-5505050
Email:
Web page: http://www.fep.up.pt/
More information through EDIRC

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Sandra Silva).

Related research
Keywords: Market segmentation information criteria classification criteria experimental design simulation

Find related papers by JEL classification:
C15 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: General - - - Statistical Simulation Methods
C52 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Model Evaluation and Testing
M31 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting - - Marketing and Advertising - - - Marketing

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Gilles Celeux & Gilda Soromenho, 1996. "An entropy criterion for assessing the number of clusters in a mixture model," Journal of Classification, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 195-212, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Wayne DeSarbo & William Cron, 1988. "A maximum likelihood methodology for clusterwise linear regression," Journal of Classification, Springer, vol. 5(2), pages 249-282, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Hawkins, Dollena S. & Allen, David M. & Stromberg, Arnold J., 2001. "Determining the number of components in mixtures of linear models," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 15-48, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Michel Wedel & Wayne DeSarbo, 1995. "A mixture likelihood approach for generalized linear models," Journal of Classification, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 21-55, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Full references

Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? Each page is provided with a technical contact, in case something is not right with the supplied information. See under "publisher info".

This page was last updated on 2008-11-5.


This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.