Assessing efficiency and effectiveness in marketing: Applications of data envelopment analysis—prelude to chapters 15 and 16

Abstract

Academic theory and marketing practice have both grappled with the problem of assessing marketing performance, either in terms of effectiveness of marketing strategies and/or the efficiency of marketing operations. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is an important tool for the assessment of marketing efficiency, or the relation between marketing inputs and outputs, as well as marketing effectiveness, or the impact of marketing actions on specific performance results. The following pages provide an introduction to various challenges in the assessment of marketing performance followed by two articles that demonstrate the application of DEA in two different contexts. In the retail context, DEA is used to highlight the importance of considering regional factors when evaluating the efficiency of individual stores within the same retail chain. In the global marketing context, DEA is used to address the fact that most marketing actions involve the creation of marketing assets that in turn impact performance.