A context-aware and social model of dynamic multiple criteria preferences

Abstract

We discuss a social decision making model in which individuals, represented by nodes, interact with each other through ties in a social network. Each node takes its decisions considering a set of points of view in a multiple criteria decision making perspective. Our model suggests the interplay of the following two features in the decision making process: the dynamic nature and the context-awareness of decisions. The dynamic nature is the result of the interaction among nodes producing a changing in preferences. The context-awareness, instead, represents the capability to take into account the knowledge background exploited by nodes to take their decisions. Thus, the two factors affecting the dynamics of preferences are: the inclination of each node to be influenced by the other nodes in the network and the variability of the context-awareness. As a result, the network could oscillate between several configurations or it could converge to a fixed one. From this new social perspective of multiple criteria decision making, the behaviour of each node is represented by different parameters whose variation determines the dynamics of the social network. The proposed model could be applied to various socio-economic contexts, such as fashion economy, housing location and viral marketing.