Elimination by aspects
We cut options by ruling out whatever fails one attribute at a time.
What it means
Elimination by aspects is a noncompensatory choice rule in which we whittle a large set down by taking one attribute at a time and discarding everything that lacks it, rather than scoring every option on every dimension. The mechanism is sequential filtering: an aspect is selected with probability tied to its importance, all options missing it are eliminated, and the process repeats until one survivor remains. It describes how people actually work through filter panels, sift resumes, and pick a restaurant, which is why faceted search and comparison tables feel so natural. Because a strength on one attribute cannot offset a failure on another, an excellent option can be knocked out early by a single missed cutoff, and the order in which aspects come up changes the winner. It matters because whoever controls the filters, and their sequence, quietly controls the choice.
Examples
Shopping for a laptop, you click 'under $1,000,' then '16GB RAM,' then 'in stock,' and each filter wipes out whole swathes of the catalogue. You buy whatever survives.
A recruiter screens 400 applicants by rejecting anyone without a degree, then anyone under five years' experience, then anyone needing a visa, never comparing the survivors' actual strengths.
Picking dinner with friends, you rule out anywhere without vegetarian options, then anywhere over a twenty-minute walk, then anywhere fully booked, and the last place standing wins by default.
First described in Tversky (1972); Tversky & Sattath (1979).