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The Kohonen self-organising map as an alternative to cluster analysis: an application to direct marketing.

Curry, Bruce, Davies, Fiona, Evans, Martin, Moutinho, Luiz, Phillips, Paul A. (2003) The Kohonen self-organising map as an alternative to cluster analysis: an application to direct marketing. International Journal of Market Research, 45 (2). pp. 191-211. ISSN 1470-7853. (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:10305)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.

Abstract

This paper examines the potential of the Kohonen self-organising map (SOM) in a marketing context. It deals specifically with consumer attitudes towards direct marketing. The SOM belongs to the general class of neural network (NN) models, but differs from the now orthodox way in which NNs are implemented. The major difference is that network learning is 'unsupervised', in which case the SOM is related ro clustering methods. The result of an SOM is a two-dimensional grid of related 'prototypes' rather than non-overlapping clusters. The method involves iterative adjustment of the prototypes in such a way as to capture and preserve the properties of the data. We show how the resulting maps offer useful new perspectives.

Item Type: Article
Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Divisions: Divisions > Kent Business School - Division > Department of Leadership and Management
Depositing User: Paul Phillips
Date Deposited: 21 Oct 2008 16:11 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 09:49 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/10305 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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