There are a few commonly used attribution models that can help us understand customer interaction. Each of these models attributes a purchase to a different customer interaction. In class, we went over five common attribution models used in digital marketing: first interaction, last interaction, linear, time decay and position based.
First Interaction
The first interaction attribution model credits the customer’s first interaction with the website for their purchase. Someone clicking a link found on a company’s page and then purchasing a product from their website is a great example of the first interaction model.
Last Interaction
Similarly to the first interaction model, this attribution model attributes a purchase to the final activity completed before the purchase, like clicking a “buy now” button on a website.
Linear
Linear attribution attributes the purchase to all of the the activity leading up to it. Thus, all actions leading to the purchase are equally attributed to its success.
Time Decay
This attribution model, like linear attribution, attributes the purchase with all the activity leading up to it, but associates actions closer to the purchase to be more significant to the purchase occurring.
Position Based
The position based attribution model attributes the purchase with specific points in the online engagement process, like the first and last interaction.
