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Home→The Westburn Dictionary of Marketing→N→normal distribution

normal distribution

Definition:
A distribution in which the elements are distributed symmetrically about the mean with many small deviations and few large ones. The characteristics of normal distributions are known precisely and provide the basis of sampling theory. Thus it is known that in a normal distribution 68 per cent of all cases will fall within plus or minus 1 standard deviation of the MEAN, 95 per cent within plus or minus 2 standard deviations and 99 per cent with plus or minus 2.6 standard deviations. Accordingly if one knows that the distribution of a sample is approximately normal then one may use the parameters of the normal distribution to make statements about the population from which the sample was drawn with a given level of confidence. The normal distribution has many applications in marketing and underlies the concept of the PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE and the classification of adopters.

Cross-References:
[mean] [product life cycle (PLC) concept] [adopter categories]

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© Westburn Publishers Ltd 2002, The Westburn Dictionary of Marketing edited by Michael J Baker, ISBN 978-0-946433-01-8. www.themarketingdictionary.com. Entry: [Michael J. Baker], [1998].