A Fuzzy Semantic Representation Model of EHFLTS: Application to Tire Supplier Selection Problem

Group decision making (GDM) problems widely exist in various scenarios of daily life. In most GDM scenarios, decision makers are not able to express their opinions on a certain solution/alternative with precise numerical values, but express preferences in the form of linguistic variables. So how to efficiently compile linguistic information more completely is an important issue that scholars have to overcome. This paper proposes a new GDM method based on extended hesitant fuzzy linguistic term set (EHFLTS). A fuzzy semantic representation model named type-1 fuzzy envelope of EHFLTS is presented to assist the computing with words processes, and to reduce the possible information loss. A concept of extended context-free grammar related to rough comparison linguistic expression (RCLE) is proposed to facilitate the extraction of decision maker preferences in the decision-making process. Finally, the GDM method on the basis of EHFLTS fuzzy envelope is applied to a scenario where a vehicle company chooses a tire supplier.