Response Modeling with Nonrandom Marketing-Mix Variables

Sales response models are widely used as the basis for optimizing the marketing mix. Response models condition on the observed marketing-mix variables and focus on the specification of the distribution of observed sales given marketing-mix activities. The models usually fail to recognize that the levels of the marketing-mix variables are often chosen with at least partial knowledge of the response parameters in the conditional model. This means that contrary to standard assumptions, the marginal distribution of the marketing-mix variables is not independent of response parameters. The authors expand on the standard conditional model to include a model for the determination of the marketing-mix variables. They apply this modeling approach to the problem of gauging the effectiveness of sales calls (details) to induce greater prescribing of drugs by individual physicians. They do not assume a priori that details are set optimally, but instead they infer the extent to which sales force managers have knowledge of responsiveness, and they use this knowledge to set the level of sales force contact. The authors find that their modeling approach improves the precision of the physician-specific response parameters significantly. They also find that physicians are not detailed optimally; high-volume physicians are detailed to a greater extent than low-volume physicians without regard to responsiveness to detailing. It appears that unresponsive but high-volume physicians are detailed the most. Finally, the authors illustrate how their approach provides a general framework.