Discussion Forum on Decision Making
In what ways do your friends influence the types of information that you seek about products? Think of a time when a friend led you to consider specific information about a product that you hadn't previously considered. How did this affect your decision making?
DECISION RULES
Suppose you have 6 laptops in your evoked set and that you have assessed them on six evaluative criteria: price, weight, processor, battery life, after-sale support and display quality. Further suppose that each brand excels on one attribute but falls short on one or more of the remaining attributes, as shown in the table below:
|
Evaluative Criteria
|
Criteria Importance
|
Sony
|
HP
|
Asus
|
Dell
|
Lenovo
|
Toshiba
|
|
Price
|
30
|
5
|
3
|
3
|
4
|
2
|
1
|
|
Weight
|
25
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
4
|
3
|
4
|
|
Processor
|
10
|
5
|
5
|
5
|
3
|
5
|
5
|
|
Battery Life
|
05
|
1
|
3
|
1
|
3
|
1
|
5
|
|
After-sale Support
|
10
|
3
|
3
|
4
|
3
|
5
|
3
|
|
Display Quality
|
20
|
3
|
3
|
3
|
5
|
3
|
3
|
Rating for each brand: 1 = very poor, 5 = very good; Criteria Importance totals 100 points.
Conjunctive Decision Rule - Assume that the following represent your minimum standards:
|
Price
|
3
|
|
Weight
|
4
|
|
Processor
|
3
|
|
Battery life
|
1
|
|
After Sale Support
|
2
|
|
Display Quality
|
3
|
Disjunctive Decision Rule - The attribute cutoff criteria are shown below:
|
Price
|
5
|
|
Weight
|
5
|
|
Processor
|
Not critical
|
|
Battery life
|
Not critical
|
|
After Sale Support
|
Not critical
|
|
Display Quality
|
5
|
Lexicographic and Elimination by Aspects Decision Rule - the rank order and cutoff points are shown below:
|
|
Rank
|
Cutoff Point
|
|
Price
|
1
|
3
|
|
Weight
|
2
|
4
|
|
Display Quality
|
3
|
4
|
|
Processor
|
4
|
3
|
|
After Sale Support
|
5
|
3
|
|
Battery Life
|
6
|
3
|
Compensatory decision rule - which brand would you choose?
Decision Rules
The table below represents a particular consumers' evaluative criteria, criteria importance, acceptable levels of performance, and judgments of performance with respect to several brands of mopeds. Discuss the brand choice this consumer would make when using all the five decision rules.
|
Evaluative Criteria
|
Criteria Importance
|
Minimum Acceptable Performance
|
Performance Standards for Disjunctive
|
MOTRON
|
VESPA
|
CIMATTI
|
GARELLI
|
PUCH
|
MOTOBECANE
|
|
Price
|
30
|
4
|
5
|
2
|
4
|
2
|
5
|
2
|
4
|
|
Horsepower
|
15
|
3
|
5
|
4
|
2
|
5
|
5
|
4
|
5
|
|
Weight
|
5
|
2
|
Not important
|
3
|
3
|
3
|
3
|
3
|
3
|
|
Gas Economy
|
35
|
3
|
5
|
4
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
4
|
5
|
|
Color Selection
|
10
|
3
|
Not important
|
4
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
5
|
3
|
|
Frame
|
5
|
2
|
Not important
|
4
|
2
|
3
|
3
|
3
|
3
|
1 = very poor, 5 = very good