IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ormnsc/v43y1997i3p257-275.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Breeding Competitive Strategies

Author

Listed:
  • David F. Midgley

    (Australian Graduate School of Management, University of New South Wales, Australia 2052)

  • Robert E. Marks

    (Australian Graduate School of Management, University of New South Wales, Australia 2052)

  • Lee C. Cooper

    (Anderson Graduate School of Management, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095)

Abstract

We show how genetic algorithms can be used to evolve strategies in oligopolistic markets characterized by asymmetric competition. The approach is illustrated using scanner tracking data of brand actions in a real market. An asymmetric market-share model and a category-volume model are combined to represent market response to the actions of brand managers. The actions available to each artificial brand manager are constrained to four typical marketing actions of each from the historical data. Each brand's strategies evolve through simulations of repeated interactions in a virtual market, using the estimated weekly profits of each brand as measures of its fitness for the genetic algorithm. The artificial agents bred in this environment outperform the historical actions of brand managers in the real market. The implications of these findings for the study of marketing strategy are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • David F. Midgley & Robert E. Marks & Lee C. Cooper, 1997. "Breeding Competitive Strategies," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 43(3), pages 257-275, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:43:y:1997:i:3:p:257-275
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.43.3.257
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.43.3.257
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/mnsc.43.3.257?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:43:y:1997:i:3:p:257-275. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.