Mathematical models in retailing Available to Purchase

LAST April, when he announced his recommendations concerning the detergent industry, the then President of the Board of Trade told the House of Commons that too little was known about the economic effects of advertising in general and its relationship to competition. If he had been speaking in a wider context, he might have said that the descriptive theories of marketing are inadequate when complex decisions have to be made. In an increasingly numerate society, it is important to develop mathematical models which at one extreme will allow the Monopolies Commission to resolve questions relating to company mergers and at the other will enable the small shopkeeper to take decisions about his retail outlet.