STAT8019 Assignment 1
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STAT8019
Assignment 1 (submit all questions)
Due on Sep 21, 2023
When R output is included in the answers, only the relevant output should be included. Submit your answers andR programs via Moodle.
1. Do not use computer for this question. Suppose we measure 2 variables X1 and X2 for 6 items. The data are as follows.
|
Observations |
||
|
Item |
X1 |
X2 |
|
A |
0 |
1.1 |
|
B |
-0.6 |
-0.5 |
|
C |
0.9 |
0.9 |
|
D |
0 |
0 |
|
E |
0.2 |
-0.5 |
|
F |
-0.5 |
0 |
Do not standardize the data. Apply a cluster analysis applying the average linkage method to the squared Euclidean distance. Report the clustering, distance between merged clusters and the updated distance matrix at each step. Draw a dendrogram.
2. Do not use computer for this question. Refer to Q1. Use a K-means clustering technique with the squared Euclidean distance to divide the items into K = 2 clusters. Do not standardize the data.
Start with initial groups (ABC) and (DEF).
3. The purpose of the paper is to present an empirical study that examines the impact of digitalization on informative, strategic and operational marketing activities in manufacturing companies from the entrepreneurial perspective. It was carried out in 205 manufacturing companies by using the questionnaire method. Eight questions were designed to identify the impact of the Internet and digital technologies on eight key marketing activities. The question was “How positive is the impact of the Internet and digital technologies on the company’s marketing activities?” The items corresponding to the marketing activities were the following:
|
Variable |
Description |
|
X1 |
Customer analysis (digitalization allows businesses to collect vast amounts of data on customers) |
|
X2 |
Competitor analysis (digitalization allows businesses to collect vast amounts of data on competitors) |
|
X3 |
Promotion or communication policy (digitalization has increased the opportunities to communicate and interact with customers) |
|
X4 |
Place or distribution policy (digitalization has increased the opportunity to distribute products/services) |
|
X5 |
Customer segmentation (digitalization allows businesses to profile significantly better online customer segments and identify new segments) |
|
X6 |
Brand positioning (digitalization has increased the opportunities for companies to build and reinforce their brand positioning with respect to competitors) |
|
X7 |
Price policy (digitalization allows the adoption of dynamic prices) |
|
X8 |
Product policy (digitalization has improved product innovation and management) |
A 7-point Likert scale is adopted where 1 represented “not at all positive” and 7 represented “very positive” .
Two items were also included aiming to understand, from the entrepreneur’s perspective, the
level of innovation of the company and the positive influence of the digitalization of marketing activities on customer value.
|
Variable |
Description |
|
innoc |
level of innovation |
|
cv |
customer value |
A 7-point Likert scale was employed, where 1 represented “not at all” and 7 represented “very much”. The data are stored in ‘digital’ .
(a) Apply a cluster analysis by the Ward’s method based on the standardized values of X1 to X8.
(i) Plot the between-group sum of squares (height) and the dendrogram.
(ii) How many groups do you suggest? State the reason(s).
(iii) Find the means for the standardized values of X1 to X8 for the clusters.
(iv) Produce a profile plot.
(v) Comment the difference among the groups based on the cluster sizes and the cluster means.
(vi) A researcher suggested that there were 7 groups of respondents which were ‘Digital price and product leaders’, ‘Small digital communicators’, ‘Digital product and analysis leaders’, ‘Digital informative and strategic distributors’, ‘Digital competitor analysts’, ‘Medium digital experts in price and customer segmentation’ and ‘Digital brand positioning leaders’. Comment on the suggestion.
(b) Apply a K-means method based using the cluster centres obtained from (a) as the initial seeds. Use the default Hartigan and Wong algorithm.
(i) Write down the cluster centers and sizes.
(ii) Produce a cross tabulation between the clustering obtained here and in (a).
(iii) Is the result consistent with the researcher’s suggestion in (a)?
(iv) Based on the 7-cluster solution, describe how the 7 clusters are related to the entrepreneur’s perspective, innoc and cv.
(v) (optional) Conduct an ANOVA for the analysis in (iv).
2023-09-13