Author(s)

J. K. Ho

Abstract

A topological model for a survey of customer attitude is a simultaneous graphical display of all the dimensions of its relevant data base, which provides a geometrical shape as a descriptive, visual statistics of the customer base at any particular instance of its development. In particular, various dimensions were identified from available data for constructing a multi-attribute dichotomy that can help discern customers’ orientation toward costs and benefits. Such a model provides a visual cue for the preference structure of the market. Using a reference subset of prejudged cases, the configuration of the dimensions and the angles among them can be optimized for a topology that maximizes the resolution of such dichotomies. The approach is illustrated in a survey of fans of a major league sports team. It can be a useful tool for data mining and visualization in market research, product/service design, and strategic planning for customer relations management. Keywords: customer relations management, market research, cost-benefit focus, multi-attribute dichotomy, data mining, visualization. 1 Introduction In customer relations management (CRM), consumers are often surveyed for their attitude toward various attributes of products and services for insight into their perception of price, quality and value [1]. The results of analysis can be used in market segmentation for more effective design and promotion of future offerings. In this work, we focus on surveys that ask customers to rate the importance of the attributes directly. As an additional tool for exploratory data analysis in market research, a new methodology in data mining is presented to

Keywords

customer relations management, market research, cost-benefit focus, multi-attribute dichotomy, data mining, visualization.