A multi-attribute motivational model of consumer choice based on a new outranking relation

Multiple models have been proposed to describe different patterns of consumer behavior, that is becoming more complex and diversified (so called “postmodern consumer”), but little attention has been given to explore the potential of the approach based on pairwise comparisons. In this paper, a new model of consumer choice is developed considering that: the space of the perceptual attributes includes two sub-spaces; the motivational attributes which are responsible for the generation of a motivational drive or force; other relevant decisional attributes. The process of choice is modeled by an outranking relation that is appropriate to describe pairwise comparisons. An example is presented illustrating the applicability of this model to the choice of a sport car, based on the two groups of attributes. There is general agreement about the impossibility of developing a universal model for consumer choice but it is expected that this model can enrich the list of available candidates. Major advantages are: the explicit distinction between motivational and non-motivational attributes. These two groups play a different role in the process of consumer decision making; the description of the consumer choice in terms of successive pairwise comparisons; and the use of a new outranking relation appropriate to model the choice made by the consumer in terms of his motivation and avoiding the integration of multiple attributes through the usual weighting functions which are hardly confirmed by empirical evidence.