TRIANGULAR INTUITIONISTIC FUZZY (TIF) TOPSIS AND STATISTICAL APPROACH FOR CONVENIENCE STORE PREFERENCE RANKING

Abstract

Convenience store selection often involves subjective judgement and uncertainty, making fuzzy decision-making approaches highly suitable. This study employs the Triangular Intuitionistic Fuzzy TOPSIS (TIF-TOPSIS) method, which integrates membership and non-membership functions to better capture uncertainty in consumer preferences. Five convenience stores anonymised as Store A, Store B, Store C, Store D, and Store E, were assessed based on four benefit criteria (cleanliness, store image, product assortment and service quality) and one cost criterion (price). Data was collected from undergraduate students enrolled in a mathematics degree programme at a public higher-learning institution in the Klang Valley. The TIF-TOPSIS procedure was implemented in two phases: (i) Conversion of linguistic evaluations into triangular intuitionistic fuzzy numbers, followed by aggregation, normalisation, and weighting; and (ii) computation of the Intuitionistic Fuzzy Positive Ideal Solution (IFPIS), Intuitionistic Fuzzy Negative Ideal Solution (IFNIS), and the closeness coefficient for ranking alternatives. Results indicate that Store C is the most preferred option, followed by Store B, Store D, Store A, and Store E. Cleanliness and service quality emerged as the most important criteria, while price was identified as the key cost factor. The fuzzy findings were supported by statistical analysis, which produced results that were both consistent with the ranking patterns and of acceptable reliability. The integration of TIF-TOPSIS with statistical validation enhances decision reliability and provides a comprehensive assessment framework for convenience store selection.