Choice Experiment

The motivation for the present study is to understand food choice in relation to animal food production and to study how preferences are influenced by information. To do this, we carried out a choice experiment. In the analysis, we focus on chickens reared indoors and outdoors and chicken labelled campylobacter-free versus non-labelled chicken. The results suggest that there is a positive willingness to pay (WTP) both for chicken reared outdoors and for campylobacter-free labelled chicken. Information about rearing methods resulted in a higher WTP for chicken reared outdoors, while information about campylobacter had both positive and negative effects on respondents’ WTP. The highest increase in WTP for campylobacter-free labelled chicken was found for one of the high risk groups, individuals with poor kitchen hygiene.

This study used experiments at several spatial scales to determine whether (1) intraspecific competition occurs among larvae of the leafmining sawfly Profenusa thomsoni (Konow) (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae) on birch (Betula spp.), (2) oviposition site preferences of P. thomsoni maximize offspring performance, and (3) early-season damage by external folivores or the leafminer Fenusa pumila Leach (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae) affects oviposition preferences or larval performance of P. thomsoni.Larval P. thomsoni competed at natural densities; survival and weight of larvae were reduced under crowded conditions. Despite this, females of P. thomsoni tended to lay eggs on leaves already bearing eggs from other females and discriminated only weakly among leaves of different sizes on a branch. Both damage by F. pumila and artificial damage to leaves early in the season decreased survival of P. thomsoni larvae on the same branch, and ovipositing P. thomsoni females avoided damaged leaves but not other leaves on the same branch. In general, oviposition choices by P. thomsoni reduced larval survival. Possible reasons for the lack of a strong preference–performance relationship in P. thomsoni are discussed.

This paper presents the results of stated-preference, discrete choice experiments designed to examine potential consumer reactions to various options emerging in the embryonic space tourism industry. The research investigated choice behaviour between four types of space tourism: high-altitude jet fighter flights, atmospheric zero-gravity flights, short-duration sub-orbital flights, and longer duration orbital trips into space. Each type of space tourism was represented in terms of an array of major features that potentially may have a major ...

This paper consists of two parts. In the first, we discuss the neuropsychological correlates of belief in a 'paranormal' or magical causation of coincidences. In particular, we review experimental evidence demonstrating that believers in ESP and kindred forms of paranormal phenomena differ from disbelievers with respect to indices of sequential response production and semantic-associative processing. Not only do believers judge

The European Union is witnessing a rising level of concern regarding the relationship between diet and health. In response to this demand the food industry has developed so-called “functional foods”. Demand for these products is increasing in both volume and expenditure and the food industry is witnessing developments trying to expand the functional attribute to new groups of products. In this context we carried out an exploratory valuation exercise regarding the potential market for functional wine, a wine produced from grapes, in which the resveratrol content has been enhanced. A choice experiment approach has been used to assess the impact of the functional attribute on the probability of choosing a given wine among consumers of red wine in Granada, Spain, and their willingness to pay for different wine attributes. Results suggest that the functional attribute positively and significantly affects the probability of selecting a red wine and that the willingness to pay for this attribute is as important as for ageing in wine.

Downloadable! This paper provides with a review of the state of the art of environmental valuation with discrete choice experiments (DCE). The growing body of literature on this field serves to emphasise the increasing role that DCE are playing in environmental decision making ...

This study explores the benefits of combining independent results of qualitative focus group discussions (FGD) with a quantitative choice experiment (CE) in a developing country context. The assessment addresses the compensation needed by local communities in Central Kalimantan to cooperate in peatland restoration programs by using a CE combined with a series of FGD to validate and explain the CE-results. The main conclusion of this study is that a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods is necessary to assess the economic value of ecological services in monetary terms and to better understand the underlying attitudes and motives that drive these outcomes. The FGD not only cross-validate results of the CE, but also help to interpret the differences in preferences of respondents arising from environmental awareness and ecosystem characteristics. The FGD confirms that the CE results provide accurate information for ecosystem valuation. Additional to the advantages of FGD l...

This paper addresses three key empirical questions related to health, nutrient, and process claims on front-label packaging; namely, 1) How do consumers value alternative claims on product and process-based attributes for fresh produce; 2) Are these values additively separable; and 3) To what degree is there heterogeneity between consumers on these values? We use a hypothetical choice experiment on red