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arXiv · 1802.07126

On Estimating Multi-Attribute Choice Preferences using Private Signals and Matrix Factorization

Venkata Sriram Siddhardh Nadendla·Cedric Langbort
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Abstract

Revealed preference theory studies the possibility of modeling an agent's revealed preferences and the construction of a consistent utility function. However, modeling agent's choices over preference orderings is not always practical and demands strong assumptions on human rationality and data-acquisition abilities. Therefore, we propose a simple generative choice model where agents are assumed to generate the choice probabilities based on latent factor matrices that capture their choice evaluation across multiple attributes. Since the multi-attribute evaluation is typically hidden within the agent's psyche, we consider a signaling mechanism where agents are provided with choice information through private signals, so that the agent's choices provide more insight about his/her latent evaluation across multiple attributes. We estimate the choice model via a novel multi-stage matrix factorization algorithm that minimizes the average deviation of the factor estimates from choice data. Simulation results are presented to validate the estimation performance of our proposed algorithm.

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Venkata Sriram Siddhardh Nadendla, Cedric Langbort. 2018-02-19. On Estimating Multi-Attribute Choice Preferences using Private Signals and Matrix Factorization. https://arxiv.org/abs/1802.07126

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