A generalized TODIM-ELECTRE II method based on linguistic Z-numbers and Dempster-Shafer evidence theory with unknown weight information

How to effectively reflect the randomness and reliability of decision information under uncertain circumstances, and thereby improve the accuracy of decision-making in complex decision scenarios, has become a crucial topic in the field of uncertain decision-making. In this article, the loss -aversion behavior of decision-makers and the non-compensation between attributes are considered. Furthermore, a novel generalized TODIM-ELECTRE II method under the linguistic Z-numbers environment is proposed based on Dempster-Shafer evidence theory for multi-criteria group decision-making problems with unknown weight information. Firstly, the evaluation information and its reliability are provided simultaneously by employing linguistic Z-numbers, which have the ability to capture the arbitrariness and vagueness of natural verbal information. Then, the evaluation information is used to derive basic probability assignments in Dempster-Shafer evidence theory, and with the consideration of both inner and outer reliability, this article employed Dempster's rule to fuse evaluations. Subsequently, a generalized TODIM-ELECTRE II method is conceived under the linguistic Z-numbers environment, which considers both compensatory effects between attributes and the bounded rationality of decision-makers. In addition, criteria weights are obtained by applying Deng entropy which has the ability to deal with uncertainty. Finally, an example of terminal wastewater solidification technology selection is offered to prove this framework's availability and robustness. The predominance is also verified by a comparative analysis with several existing methods.