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Choosing among diffusion models: Some empirical evidence

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Abstract

Is there a ‘best’ diffusion model? How many and which parameters will adequately represent the long-run diffusion process? Two studies using first purchase data for nineteen durable goods are used to systematically compare twenty-four alternative diffusion models: a meta-analytic study, which pools across categories, and an economic approach, which determines the best fitting model for each category individually. A number of guidelines are produced, which stand to improve the choice of diffusion models in forecasting, theory testing, and normative studies.

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Thanks are owed to members of INSEAD's faculty for comments during earlier phases of this research, and to Asa Lundquist and Pamela McNeill for their excellent research support.

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Parker, P.M. Choosing among diffusion models: Some empirical evidence. Marketing Letters 4, 81–94 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00994190

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