Using Weibull Distribution for Modeling Bimodal Diffusion Curves: A Naive Framework to Study Product Life Cycle

Abstract

With the purpose of understanding differing shapes of sales curve (unimodal and bimodal) this paper discusses a naive way for viewing the diffusion process for consumer durables. In this paper, a step functional model involving two-step Weibull distribution with four unknown parameters is characterized wherein the shape of the density function of the models depends upon the shape and scale parameter of Weibull distribution. Empirical analysis on real life sales datasets indicates that the Weibull step function model is more flexible and fits better than the other models.