Decision Analysis Working Paper Abstract
Archive
WP030002
|
Title: Enabling E-transactions with Multi-attribute Preference
Models
Authors: John
Butler The Ohio State University, James
Dyer The University of Texas, Jianmin
Jia The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Date: January 2003
Status: working paper
Why don’t more e-commerce web sites use multi-attribute preference models
to aid decision makers? Our conjecture is that consumers have difficulty
in specifying the mental models that capture the complex relationship that
maps preference for fundamental objectives to preference for product attributes.
This concept is related to Value Focused Thinking and the concept of means
vs. ends objectives. We outline how the errors in this process propagate
and impact the ability of attribute models to capture preference in fundamental
objectives. We also describe existing and potential applications
of multi-attribute preference models (MAPM) in e-commerce and offers some
guidelines for their implementation. Here, the focus is on applications
of MAPM models in B2C and B2B web sites, where preferences of consumers
or customers are assessed for the purpose of identifying products or services
that closely match their needs.
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