► A new distance measure by using the induced OWA operator. ► The induced Choquet integral with distance measures. ► A new multi-person decision-making method. ► The multi-person IOWAD operator. In this paper, we present a new decision-making approach that uses distance measures and induced aggregation operators. We introduce the induced ordered weighted averaging distance (IOWAD) operator. IOWAD is a new aggregation operator that extends the OWA operator by using distance measures and a reordering of arguments that depends on order-inducing variables. The main advantage of IOWAD is that it provides a parameterized family of distance aggregation operators between the maximum and the minimum distance based on a complex reordering process that reflects the complex attitudinal character of the decision-maker. We studied some of IOWAD’s main properties and different particular cases and further generalized IOWAD by using Choquet integrals. We developed an application in a multi-person decision-making problem regarding the selection of investments. We found that the main advantage of this approach is that it is able to provide a more complete picture of the decision-making process, enabling the decision-maker to select the alternative that it is more in accordance with his interests.