Perspectives on Bayesian Methods and Big Data

Researchers and practitioners are facing a world with ever-increasing amounts of data and analytic tools, such as Bayesian inference algorithms, must be improved to keep pace with technology. Bayesian methods have brought substantial benefits to the discipline of Marketing Analytics, but there are inherent computational challenges with scaling them to Big Data. Several strategies with specific examples using additive regression trees and variable selection are discussed. In addition, the important observation is made that there are limits to the type of questions that can be answered using most of the Big Data available today.