The strategy of consensus and consistency improving considering bounded confidence for group interval-valued intuitionistic multiplicative best-worst method

Abstract

To significantly and reasonably enhance the individual consistency and group consensus in group best-worst method (GBWM) under interval-valued intuitionistic multiplicative environment, this study proposes a strategy of consensus and consistency improving considering bounded confidence. Firstly, based on the consistency definition of interval-valued intuitionistic multiplicative preference relations (IVIMPRs), the consistency definition for interval-valued intuitionistic multiplicative reference comparison relations (IVIMRCRs) is proposed. Subsequently, a two-stage consistency improving optimization model is constructed. Then, an interactively iterative consistency improving algorithm considering bounded confidence is designed. For GBWM with IVIMRCRs, the concept of consensus measure is first defined to assess the consensus level among individual IVIMRCRs, and then a two-stage consensus improving optimization model considering bounded confidence is constructed. Additionally, based on the above theories and models, an interactively iterative consensus improving algorithm considering bounded confidence and consistency management is designed for GBWM with IVIMRCRs. Finally, the practicality and effectiveness of the proposed GBWM are verified through an actual application case and simulation analyses. Meanwhile, the advantages of this method are explained through comparative analyses with the existing BWMs and group decision making (GDM) with IVIMPRs.