An intelligent system for customer targeting: a data mining approach

We propose a data mining approach for market managers that uses artificial neural networks (ANNs) guided by genetic algorithms (GAs). Our predictive model allows the selection of an optimal target point where expected profit from direct mailing is maximized. Our approach also produces models that are easier to interpret by using a smaller number of predictive features. Through sensitivity analysis, we also show that our chosen model significantly outperforms the baseline algorithms in terms of hit rate and expected net profit on key target points.