Using a hybrid method to evaluate service innovation in the hotel industry

The process of evaluating perceptions (qualitative scale) and data from operations (quantitative scale) should be merged for service innovation analysis.Hybrid MCDM methods (TFNs, TODIM and Choquet integral) deal with dependence relations and the shortcomings. This study develops a hybrid method to improve selection decision making in service innovation. Because criteria for customer perceptions tend to be vague and conflicting, the process of evaluating perceptions (qualitative scale) and operational data (quantitative scale) should be combined. This study proposes the concomitant evaluation of qualitative and quantitative scales using a hybrid approach that combines fuzzy set theory, a discrete multi-criteria method based on prospect theory (known as TODIM in Portuguese) and the non-addictive Choquet integral. The study assumes that the criteria possess interdependent relationships. The advantages of the proposed hybrid approach, which exhibits a hierarchical structure, have been demonstrated throughout the hot spring hotel industry. The proposed method demonstrates that it can be extremely useful for recommending operational alternatives because it clearly identifies the main criteria of the expressed alternatives. The results indicate that the approach easily and effectively accommodates criteria with gain and loss functions and can help practitioners improve their performance and reduce overall service innovation risks.