Acceptability measurement and priority weight elicitation of triangular fuzzy multiplicative preference relations based on geometric consistency and uncertainty indices

Abstract

This paper investigates consistency and uncertainty measurements as well as acceptability checking for triangular fuzzy multiplicative preference relations (TFMPRs). A geometric consistency index is proposed to measure the consistency degree of a TFMPR, and thresholds of acceptable consistency are discussed for TFMPRs. Uncertainty indices are introduced to measure indeterminacy degrees of triangular fuzzy judgments and of TFMPRs and a notion of acceptable TFMPRs are put forward by considering both acceptable consistency and acceptable uncertainty in TFMPRs. We also explore the elicitation of triangular fuzzy weights from acceptable TFMPRs and the aggregation of local triangular fuzzy weights for solving hierarchical multi-criteria decision-making problems. A geometric mean-based equation and a logarithmic least square model are developed to elicit normalized acceptable triangular fuzzy multiplicative weights from an acceptable TFMPR. An equation and a linear program are established to transform triangular fuzzy multiplicative weights into triangular fuzzy additive weights. A geometric weighting-based equation and a pair of linear programs are devised to generate global priority fuzzy weights from local triangular fuzzy multiplicative weights. Three numerical examples, including a hierarchical multi-criteria decision-making problem, are used to illustrate how to apply the developed framework, and comparative studies are provided to show its availability and advantages.