An efficient 0–1 integer programming algorithm for advertising media selection

Advertising is one of the important instruments in the success and continued growth of a product. Total expenditures for advertising in the United States may run into many billions of dollars. In this paper, an efficient algorithm for allocating scarce advertising resources is developed. The advertising media selection problem is formulated in terms of a 0–1 integer programming problem. An iterative solution procedure for this formulation is presented. A simple numerical example which illustrates the steps of the algorithm is also presented. The algorithm can generate efficient solutions to large media selection problems with relative computational ease, and may be of practical significance to decision makers.