Preference

What is a preference?

A preference is a relative ranking of options. Preferences can reflect what a person wants and the tradeoffs they face, but the way the options are presented or the question is asked can also affect their ranking.

That does not mean preferences are arbitrary. It means the method used to elicit a preference is part of the evidence. A person may give a different answer when choosing between two options than when assigning each one a price.

Source

Paul Slovic (1995), “The construction of preference”, reviews research on constructed preferences and elicitation effects.