Robert Rooderkerk
| Date of Ph.D. defense: | 15 June 2007 |
| Title of thesis: | Optimizing Product Lines and Assortments |
| ISBN: | 978 90 5668 192 0 |
| Promotores: | Prof.dr. H.J. van Heerde and Prof.dr. T.H.A. Bijmolt |
Abstract:
How should manufacturers and retailers optimize the sets of products they offer? Increasing product proliferation forces firms to solve these complex optimization problems ever more frequently. While the existing literature has made some headway in solving these problems, the three essays in this dissertation advance current knowledge on several important dimensions. The first essay augments the standard product line design problem by incorporating insights from behavioral decision making to account for the influence of context effects on consumer choices. The second essay develops a parsimonious yet flexible sales model and an efficient approach to optimize the retail assortment optimization problem based on store-level scanner data. The third essay studies the influence of parameter uncertainty on the optimal assortment composition. By integrating techniques and insights from consumer behavior, marketing, statistics, and operations research, the three essays in this dissertation address the product line and assortment optimization problems that are of central importance to marketing.
Global / English