Interval type-2 trapezoidal fuzzy multi-attribute decision-making method and its application to the corporate investment selection

Abstract

Interval type-2 trapezoidal fuzzy (IT2TrF) number is a powerful tool to depict fuzzy information. Information measures methods have received more and more attention in recent years as they play an important role in decision-making theory. A new multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) method supported by IT2TrF information measures is investigated in this paper under the IT2TrF information environment. Firstly, three axiomatic definitions of IT2TrF information measures are introduced, which include information entropy, similarity measure and cross-entropy. Secondly, with the help of the exponential function, we formulate some information measure formulas, which are followed by the proofs that the exponential entropy, exponential similarity measure and exponential cross-entropy fit the three axiomatic definitions. Subsequently, a novel IT2TrF MADM method is designed, in which the IT2TrF exponential entropy and cross-entropy are utilized to generate the attribute weights, the IT2TrF exponential similarity measure is employed to obtain the closeness degree of the ideal solution and derive the most satisfying solution. Lastly, we provide a numerical example of corporate investment to demonstrate the applicability and feasibility of the proposed MADM method. The robustness and merits of the developed MADM method are highlighted by the comparative analysis.