A dynamic model of purchase timing with application to direct marketing

Predicting changes in individual customer behavior is an important element for success in any direct marketing activity. In this article we develop a hierarchical Bayes model of customer interpurchase times based on the generalized gamma distribution. The model allows for both cross-sectional and temporal heterogeneity, with the latter introduced through the component mixture model dependent on lagged covariates. The model is applied to personal investment data to predict when and if a specific customer will likely increase time between purchases. This prediction can be used managerially as a signal for the firm to use some type of intervention to keep that customer.