Modeling the Multi-Criteria Choice Behaviour of Target Groups Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process

Abstract

A typical decision making problem is the selection of the best alternative with respect to multiple criteria. In the field of marketing, it is often important not only to make the best choice but also to understand the choices of the targeted audience. The aim of this paper is to use the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) in a representative decision making problem, in order to study how objective information is combined with human judgment derived from questionnairebased surveys to explain the decision behaviour of customers. The AHP method, developed by Saaty as a structured technique for analyzing complex decisions, was applied to rank University courses, according to student evaluations, with respect to three criteria: “Teaching effect of professor”, “Effect of good course book” and “Easiness of getting pass grade”. A random sample of 480 students responded to a questionnaire including pairwise comparisons of the courses with respect to the above criteria and their sub-criteria. After applying the AHP, we found the final ranking of the courses and the importance of each decision element. The analysis revealed the most influential decision elements, such as that the “communication ability” and “friendly conduct” of a professor carries more weight than his “research activity