An Algorithmic Aid for Intensity Measures of Consumer Preference

K. Pasumarty, D. F. Karney and T. D. Morley
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K. Pasumarty: Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey
D. F. Karney: University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas
T. D. Morley: Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia

Operations Research, 1987, vol. 35, issue 3, 437-444

Abstract: Recently, J. R. Hauser and S. M. Shugan, and K. Pasumarty, have used constant-sum paired comparisons to estimate the intensity of consumer preferences for various products. Both studies use the consumer's responses to determine whether his/her preference function is ratio, interval or ordinal in nature. This determination involves performing a statistical analysis based upon the experimental design matrix, M , which identifies the various transitivity tests designed into the experiment, and upon a companion matrix, W . Unfortunately, both studies generated W by means of exhaustive enumeration, a costly computational technique. In this paper, we propose an algorithm that generates the matrix W cheaply and efficiently. The algorithm is based in part upon modular arithmetic and a technique developed by R. J. Duffin and T. D. Morley for meshing electrical networks. When implemented on a Zenith 150 personal computer, the proposed algorithm found W , for the examples given in both Hauser and Shugan and Pasumarty, in a fraction of the time (at most 0.032) required by exhaustive enumeration. We also show that even when W is not unique, the statistical measurements that utilize W are.

Keywords: 411 consumer preference; 437 marketing application (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1987
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