A Choice Set-Sensitive Analysis of Preference Information Acquisition about Discrete Resources

The theory of questionnaires deals with the design of experiments for eliciting information with a view to making a decision. The need for eliciting information arises in the problem of allocation of discrete and indivisible scarce resources among consumers by a coordinator. Resource allocation is carried out based on consumer preference information about the discrete resources. This information is acquired by the coordinator by administering a questionnaire, a sequential experimental process that allows the mapping of consumer preference profiles. Questionnaires are comprised of paired comparison experiments. The research questions posed in the paper are akin to those asked in the marketing literature of tailored interviewing: which experiment should be conducted first, and given the answer to the first, which experiment should be conducted next. The focus of this paper is the analysis of the process of preference information acquisition in a choice set-sensitive scenario. A general nonparametric measure of entropy is used for the analysis.