Truth beyond common beliefs – boosting the validity of conjoint-based modelling
Florian BauerVocatus AG, Germany
PREFACE
The deduction of partial utilities within conjoint analyses is based on the assumption that people maximise their utility (“homoeconomicus”). This assumption is contradicted by a broad swathe of empirical findings which have demonstrated that people systematically fail to make rational decisions. They nonetheless make predictable errors, so their decisions essentially remain 'calculable'. Consciously or unconsciously, they simply follow a decision rule that complements utility-maximising choice behaviour.
In a first step, we were able to statistically model this sub-optimal choice behaviour, and in a...