AN EMPIRICAL-COMPARISON OF 3 VARIANTS OF THE AHP AND 2 VARIANTS OF CONJOINT-ANALYSIS

This paper provides an empirical comparison of two methods of attribut e valuation: the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and conjoint analysi s. Variants within each approach are also examined. The results of two empirical studies indicate that the methods differ in their predictiv e and convergent validity. Within the AHP methods no significant diffe rence in predictive validity was found. Within the conjoint methods, t he ranking method significantly outperformed the rating method. The di fference in predictive validity between the AHP and conjoint methods w as significant in the second study but not in the first study, suggest ing superior performance of the AHP over conjoint analysis in complex problems. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.