Andrew Ehrenberg
Andrew Ehrenberg, pioneering UK market researcher and winner of 2010 ARF Lifetime Achievement Award, died last week at the age of 84.
The Ehrenberg-Bass Institute in South Australia was named after the research luminary and leads the tributes to a man who has left a remarkable legacy for the industry: “We are very sad to lose a legendary figure in marketing, market research and the statistics field. Over his life Professor Andrew Ehrenberg’s contribution to the development of marketing science has been enormous. The Ehrenberg-Bass Institute (with colleagues at the Ehrenberg Centre, London SouthBank) will build on his legacy as we continue to develop empirical generalizations in marketing.”
Professor Andrew Ehrenberg's contribution to marketing science extends over a wide range of topics. He pioneered the development of scientific laws about marketing, contributing empirical generalizations in areas such as brand buying, TV viewing, attitudes, and reactions to price changes.
Ehrenberg is famous for introducing the NBD (Negative Binomial Distribution) model of buying and (with Gerald Goodhardt) extending this to brand choice with the NBD- Dirichlet model. In doing so he helped to introduce the concept of thinking of brand choice in probabilistic terms.
More information about Andrew Ehrenberg’s life can be found at Wikipedia.
For an overview of Andrew Ehrenberg’s research visit “The Contribution of Andrew Ehrenberg to Social and Marketing Research”, by John A. Bound
First of all, let me say how very sorry I am that my current state of health does not allow me to travel to receive this award in person.I
I am extremely honoured by this award. The ARF has been an important part of my professional life, almost from the beginning. Anybody who knows me, knows that I enjoy a good argument, and some of the best have been at ARF meetings and conferences over the years. Starting in volume 1 in 1961 up to volume 42 in 2002, I have published nineteen papers in the Journal of Advertising Research, not counting those the editors, in their wisdom, decided not to publish. It really has been a lifetime of research, and to have it recognized by my peers and colleagues is immensely satisfying.
Over those years I have been fortunate to have had many talented collaborators, colleagues, students, students who became colleagues, far too many to name except for Professor Gerald Goodhardt, my close associate and friend for more than fifty years. All of them have a share in this honour, and I thank them all.
I would also like to thank Professor Malcolm Wright for accepting this award on my behalf. Malcolm is one of that group of young men and women associated with the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science at the University of South Australia in Adelaide under the inspired leadership of Professor Byron Sharp who continue to develop and disseminate the ideas for which you are honouring me today. Because of their efforts, those ideas are more prevalent among marketing practitioners today than at any time during my active career. That fact, plus the recognition of my fellow toilers represented by this award is all I could ask for. Thank you.
Sourced from LSBU/Ehrenberg-Bass Institute; Warc.com and ARF archives.
