Which of the following is a quantitative approach used to
develop sales forecasts based on analysis of consumer behavior?

(a) The requirement is to identify the sales forecasting
technique that involves estimating sales based on analysis of consumer
behavior. Answer (a) is correct because Markov techniques
attempt to forecast consumer purchasing by considering
factors such as brand loyalty and brand switching behavior. Answer
(b) is incorrect because regression analysis forecasts sales
based on the relationship between sales and one or more predictors.
Answer (c) is incorrect because econometric models forecast
sales based on the relationship between sales and economic
data. Answer (d) is incorrect because exponential smoothing is
used to forecast sales based on historical data.