Simulating Customer Experience and Word-of-Mouth in Retail - A Case Study

32 Pages Posted: 15 Aug 2016

See all articles by Peer-Olaf Siebers

Peer-Olaf Siebers

The University of Nottingham - School of Computer Science

Uwe Aickelin

University of Melbourne - School of Computing and Information Systems

Helen Celia

Independent

Chris Clegg

University of Leeds - Division of Management (deceased)

Date Written: January 1, 2010

Abstract

Agents offer a new and exciting way of understanding the world of work. In this paper we describe the development of agent-based simulation models, designed to help to understand the relationship between people management practices and retail performance. We report on the current development of our simulation models which includes new features concerning the evolution of customers over time. To test the features we have conducted a series of experiments dealing with customer pool sizes, standard and noise reduction modes, and the spread of customers’ word of mouth. To validate and evaluate our model, we introduce new performance measure specific to retail operations. We show that by varying different parameters in our model we can simulate a range of customer experiences leading to significant differences in performance measures. Ultimately, we are interested in better understanding the impact of changes in staff behavior due to changes in store management practices. Our multi-disciplinary research team draws upon expertise from work psychologists and computer scientists. Despite the fact we are working within a relatively novel and complex domain, it is clear that intelligent agents offer potential for fostering sustainable organizational capabilities in the future.

Keywords: agent-based modeling, agent-based simulation, retail performance, management practices, shopping behavior, customer satisfaction, word of mouth

Suggested Citation

Siebers, Peer-Olaf and Aickelin, Uwe and Celia, Helen and Clegg, Chris, Simulating Customer Experience and Word-of-Mouth in Retail - A Case Study (January 1, 2010). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2823390 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2823390

Peer-Olaf Siebers (Contact Author)

The University of Nottingham - School of Computer Science ( email )

Jubilee Campus
Wollaton Road
Nottingham, NG8 1BB
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://www.cs.nott.ac.uk/~pos/

Uwe Aickelin

University of Melbourne - School of Computing and Information Systems ( email )

Australia

Helen Celia

Independent

Chris Clegg

University of Leeds - Division of Management (deceased)

United Kingdom

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