Inferring an Ideal-Point Product-Market Map from Consumer Panel Data

Abstract

A recent paper (see Elrod (1987)) introduced Choice Map, a model for inferring a product-market map from consumer panel data. Choice Map combines the rationale of random utility models, the parsimony of stochastic brand choice models, and the ability of multidimensional scaling procedures to simultaneously infer brand positions and consumer preferences for attributes from preference (choice) data. In its initial formulation, Choice Map represented consumers by vectors in one or two dimensions.