A Note on ‘Random’ Purchasing: Additional Insights from Dunn, Reader and Wrigley

Barbara E. Kahn and Donald G. Morrison

Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series C, 1989, vol. 38, issue 1, 111-114

Abstract: The most common method for testing the individual level Poisson assumption of the negative binomial distribution model of purchasing behaviour is to calculate the coefficient of variation (or its squared value, C2) for interpurchase times. In this paper we show that the effect of regularly scheduled shopping trips will underestimate the randomness of purchasing behaviour if the usual interpretation of the coefficient of variation is applied. We propose two models for ‘random’ purchasing behaviour that yield coefficients of variation which appear more regular than implied by the exponentially distributed interpurchase times of the Poisson process.

Date: 1989
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.2307/2347685

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:jorssc:v:38:y:1989:i:1:p:111-114

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://ordering.onli ... 1111/(ISSN)1467-9876

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series C is currently edited by R. Chandler and P. W. F. Smith

More articles in Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series C from Royal Statistical Society Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().