Why to use PROMETHEE / GAIA instead of AHP?

The methods PROMETHEE and GAIA present countless advantages over AHP. AHP is based on a principle of pair-wise evaluation of alternatives, according to a built-in scale valued from 1 to 9. So, for every pair of alternatives and every used criterion, the user has to indicate his preference of an alternative on every other. If, such as recommended within the framework of AHP, the user makes a decomposition downward from the generic to the specific, it will force the user to perform a huge number of comparisons and to remain coherent by establishing the relations of dominance. This last point is commonly viewed as a major problem with AHP. For example, if A is preferred to B with a note of 6 on 9 and, B to C with a note of 4 on 9, does it mean that A have to be preferred to C with a note of 4x6=24 on 9x9=81? And as AHP imposes a built-in scale of 9 values, how to characterize the dominance of A on C by remaining consistent with A/B=6 AND B/C=4. AHP imposes so on the user to worry about the coherence of the comparisons which he peforms...

Unlike AHP, PROMETHEE allows the user to directly use the data of the problem in a simple multicriteria table. Instead of having to perform a large number of comparisons, the decision-maker has only to define his own scales of measure (without limitation), to indicate his priorities and his preferences for every criterion (by focusing on value, without having to worry about the method of calculation). PROMETHEE allows to lead, quickly, analyses of sensibility in a visual manner, impossible matter with AHP. PROMETHEE automatically calculates the robustness of the current classification for each criterion. AHP, not.

Finally, due to the use of the method PROMETHEE, the data and the results of the multicriteria problem can be analyzed in a plan called GAIA so as to put visually in evidence: conflicts, convergences, strengths / weaknesses, classifiations, essential or useless information, and especially the direction of the best theoretical decision. Here is in some words why we believe that PROMETHEE and GAIA methods are more effective and richer in information than AHP, while allowing the decision-maker to concentrate on his priorities, preferences and hypotheses of analysis, and not on the underlying method!

PROMETHEE: Preference Ranking Organization METHod for Enrichment Evaluations
GAIA: Geometrical Analysis for Interactive Assistance