Augmenting short cheap talk scripts with a repeated opt-out reminder in choice experiment surveys
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Augmenting short cheap talk scripts with a repeated opt-out reminder in choice experiment surveys. / Ladenburg, Jacob; Olsen, Søren Bøye.
In: Resource and Energy Economics, Vol. 37, 2014, p. 39-63.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Augmenting short cheap talk scripts with a repeated opt-out reminder in choice experiment surveys
AU - Ladenburg, Jacob
AU - Olsen, Søren Bøye
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Hypothetical bias continues to be a major challenge for stated preference methods. Cheap Talk (CT) has been found to be an effective remedy in some applications, though empirical results are ambiguous. We discuss reasons why CT may fail to effectively remove specific types of hypothetical bias in Choice Experiments. We suggest augmenting CT in Choice Experiments with a so-called Opt-Out Reminder (OOR). Prior to each choice set, the OOR explicitly instructs respondents to choose the opt-out alternative, if they find the experimentally designed alternatives too expensive. In an empirical survey we find the OOR to significantly reduce total WTP and to some extent also marginal WTP beyond the capability of the CT applied without the OOR. This suggests that the CT practice should be adapted to fit the potentially different decision processes and repeated choices structure of the Choice Experiment format, rather than merely being adopted directly from Contingent Valuation.
AB - Hypothetical bias continues to be a major challenge for stated preference methods. Cheap Talk (CT) has been found to be an effective remedy in some applications, though empirical results are ambiguous. We discuss reasons why CT may fail to effectively remove specific types of hypothetical bias in Choice Experiments. We suggest augmenting CT in Choice Experiments with a so-called Opt-Out Reminder (OOR). Prior to each choice set, the OOR explicitly instructs respondents to choose the opt-out alternative, if they find the experimentally designed alternatives too expensive. In an empirical survey we find the OOR to significantly reduce total WTP and to some extent also marginal WTP beyond the capability of the CT applied without the OOR. This suggests that the CT practice should be adapted to fit the potentially different decision processes and repeated choices structure of the Choice Experiment format, rather than merely being adopted directly from Contingent Valuation.
KW - Cheap Talk
KW - Opt-Out Reminder
KW - Choice Experiments
KW - Hypothetical bias
KW - Stream re-establishment
KW - Opt-out effect
U2 - 10.1016/j.reseneeco.2014.05.002
DO - 10.1016/j.reseneeco.2014.05.002
M3 - Journal article
VL - 37
SP - 39
EP - 63
JO - Resource and Energy Economics
JF - Resource and Energy Economics
SN - 0928-7655
ER -
ID: 132015128