Consumer Preference Judgments: An Exposition with Empirical Applications

The modeling of preferences for multiattribute alternatives has received an increased attention in marketing (consumer behavior) and management science (decision analysis). The research in the two disciplines is closely related and can be applied to predicting consumer preferences for multiattribute options. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate and discuss several preference models and measurement techniques that have been used mainly by decision analysts and which are applicable in the consumer preference judgment context. A pilot application of the measurement techniques which provides some insight on their relative predictive accuracy and on the usefulness of empirically verifying the conditions necessary for the existence of the preference models is reported, too.marketing: buyer behavior, multi-attribute utility/preference theory, decision analysis