Unit consensus cost-based approach for group decision-making with incomplete probabilistic linguistic preference relations

In group decision-making, the incomplete probabilistic linguistic preference relation (InPLPR) has been widely studied because it can flexibly reflect the decision psychology of decision makers (DMs). In addition, to help DMs revise their opinions and reach a consensus, a large number of scholars have conducted research on the consensus reaching process. Therefore, this study proposes a group consensus decision approach based on InPLPR, considering consistency, the social trust network (STN), and unit cost consensus adjustment. First, an InPLPR consistency measure formula is proposed, based on which a multi-stage missing value estimation method based on optimal consistency and STN is offered for the missing information problem in InPLPR. Thereafter, the hesitation index and unit consensus cost measurement formulas are presented for incomplete probabilistic linguistic term set. Subsequently, consensus reaching and ranking selection are performed based on the proposed unit minimum cost consensus model. Finally, a numerical example of the future development choice problem for new energy vehicle enterprises is provided to demonstrate the applicability of the decision process, and the advantages of the method are derived through comparative analysis.