Modeling agent‐based consumers decision‐making with 2‐tuple fuzzy linguistic perceptions

International Journal of Intelligent SystemsVolume 35, Issue 2 p. 283-299 RESEARCH ARTICLE Modeling agent-based consumers decision-making with 2-tuple fuzzy linguistic perceptions Jesus Giráldez-Cru, Corresponding Author Jesus Giráldez-Cru jgiraldez@ugr.es Andalusian Research Institute DaSCI "Data Science and Computational Intelligence", University of Granada, Granada, Spain Correspondence Jesus Giráldez-Cru, Andalusian Research Institute DaSCI "Data Science and Computational Intelligence", University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain. Email: jgiraldez@ugr.esSearch for more papers by this authorManuel Chica, Manuel Chica Andalusian Research Institute DaSCI "Data Science and Computational Intelligence", University of Granada, Granada, Spain School of Electrical Engineering and Computing, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, AustraliaSearch for more papers by this authorOscar Cordón, Oscar Cordón Andalusian Research Institute DaSCI "Data Science and Computational Intelligence", University of Granada, Granada, SpainSearch for more papers by this authorFrancisco Herrera, Francisco Herrera Andalusian Research Institute DaSCI "Data Science and Computational Intelligence", University of Granada, Granada, SpainSearch for more papers by this author Jesus Giráldez-Cru, Corresponding Author Jesus Giráldez-Cru jgiraldez@ugr.es Andalusian Research Institute DaSCI "Data Science and Computational Intelligence", University of Granada, Granada, Spain Correspondence Jesus Giráldez-Cru, Andalusian Research Institute DaSCI "Data Science and Computational Intelligence", University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain. Email: jgiraldez@ugr.esSearch for more papers by this authorManuel Chica, Manuel Chica Andalusian Research Institute DaSCI "Data Science and Computational Intelligence", University of Granada, Granada, Spain School of Electrical Engineering and Computing, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, AustraliaSearch for more papers by this authorOscar Cordón, Oscar Cordón Andalusian Research Institute DaSCI "Data Science and Computational Intelligence", University of Granada, Granada, SpainSearch for more papers by this authorFrancisco Herrera, Francisco Herrera Andalusian Research Institute DaSCI "Data Science and Computational Intelligence", University of Granada, Granada, SpainSearch for more papers by this author First published: 26 November 2019 https://doi.org/10.1002/int.22211Citations: 11Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Abstract Understanding consumer behaviors and how consumers react to marketing campaigns and viral word-of-mouth processes is crucial for marketers. Classical approaches try to infer this information from a global top-down perspective. However, a more suitable and natural approach is to model consumer behaviors in a heterogeneous and decentralized bottom-up approach. In this case, each virtual consumer has her own mental state and decision-making strategies to simulate her purchase decisions. The system of virtual consumers generates the global sales and a marketer can understand the rules that govern the market. A well-known paradigm to model these systems is agent-based modeling (ABM). In this manuscript we present an ABM where the brand preferences of the consumer agents are modeled using 2-tuple fuzzy linguistic variables. These variables represent the perceptions these consumers have on the different aspects or drivers every product available in the market has (e.g., price or quality). The product selection process of the agents is based on those perceptions and a utility maximization rule. This rule requires a fuzzy aggregation of the fuzzy linguistic perceptions about the products. Our proposal employs an ordered weighted average (OWA) to aggregate them. Our experiments show this approach does not suffer any loss of information when applied on data from real markets. Hence it is a suitable representation of the products preferences, normally represented by qualitative values in marketing surveys. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work integrating a marketing ABM with fuzzy linguistic modeling. Citing Literature Volume35, Issue2February 2020Pages 283-299 RelatedInformation