MARKETING ACTIVITY MODELING: ONTOLOGICAL APPROACH

Abstract

The problems of modeling complex systems are considered on the example of modeling marketing activity, in general, and marketing research and marketing management, in particular. Some aspects, stages and principles of modeling marketing activity and its various spheres are analyzed. The main requirements for modeling tools for marketing research and marketing management for solving a wide range of theoretical and practical problems of marketing activity and its individual areas are defined. Modeling based on the ontological approach (analysis and appropriate classification of the elements of such a model) was chosen as the way to solve the problems.

The ontological approach is based on the understanding of ontology as a universal form of knowledge presentation. Ontology is an effective tool for modeling various subject areas, objects, processes and information resources. Ontological modeling of the subject area "Marketing activity" will contribute to the solution of practical and theoretical problems thanks to the consideration of factors affecting different levels of the ontological model and its elements. The main provisions and tools for building a meta-level ontology for defining the conceptual ontological model of the subject area under consideration are given. The toolkit is the OWL ontology description language and the Protégé ontology editor.

In the subject area of the study, the expediency of using ontological modeling as a method capable of reflecting such a complex subject area as "Marketing activity" at the macro level was substantiated. The methodology of ontological modeling of marketing concepts at the macro level was developed. The developed ontological model of the subject area "Marketing activity" can be used to optimize the marketing structure of a specific enterprise (when realizing its capabilities in full and under specific conditions), as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of marketing research and marketing management. The proposed ontological model is a dynamic model in accordance with the principles of the logic of increasing the depth of coverage of related concepts, accounting for dependencies and regularities.