Find, Process, and Share: An Optimal Control in the Vidale-Wolfe Marketing Model

Abstract

The Vidale-Wolfe marketing model is a first-order, linear, nonhomogeneous ordinary differential equation (ODE) where the forcing term is proportional to advertising expenditure. With an initial response in sales as the initial condition, the solution of the initial value problem is straightforward for a first undergraduate ODE course. The model serves as an excellent example of many relevant topics for those students whose interests lie in economics, finance, or marketing. Its inclusion in the curriculum is particularly rewarding at an institution without a physics program. The model is not new, but it was novel to us when a group of students chose it for an exploratory project that we designed in order to help students acquire the ability to interpret and communicate mathematical results. In addition to describing the project in this work, we discuss the Vidale-Wolfe model and show how it can lead one to use Green's theorem in a real situation. CODEE Journal