Measuring Hypothetical Bias in Choice Experiments: The Importance of Cognitive Consistency
Abstract
A choice experiment eliciting environmental values with both real and hypothetical trade-offs is set up in order to test for hypothetical bias. A larger hypothetical bias was found in a between-subject than in a within-subject design, using otherwise identical scenarios, which can explain previous diverging results in the literature. We argue that people strive for consistency between their attitudes and behaviors, leading them to act in ways that correspond with their prior hypothetical statements. People hence seem to prefer to do what they say they would do, although this may not always reflect their true preferences regarding the good being valued.Download Info
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.
Bibliographic Info
Article provided by De Gruyter in its journal The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy.
Volume (Year): 8 (2008)
Issue (Month): 1 (September)
Pages: 1-10
Contact details of provider:
Web page: http://www.degruyter.com
Order Information:
Web: http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/bejeap
Related research
Keywords:References
No references listed on IDEASYou can help add them by filling out this form.
Citations
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.Cited by:
- Frode Alfnes & Chengyan Yue & Helen H. Jensen, 2009.
"Cognitive Dissonance as a Means of Reducing Hypothetical Bias,"
Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) Publications
09-wp486, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University.
- Frode Alfnes & Chengyan Yue & Helen H. Jensen, 2010. "Cognitive dissonance as a means of reducing hypothetical bias," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Foundation for the European Review of Agricultural Economics, vol. 37(2), pages 147-163, June.
- Alfnes, Frode & Yue, Chengyan & Jensen, Helen H., 2010. "Cognitive Dissonance As a Means of Reducing Hypothetical Bias," Staff General Research Papers 31300, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
- Carlsson, Fredrik & Kataria, Mitesh & Krupnick, Alan & Lampi, Elina & Löfgren, Åsa & Qin, Ping & Sterner, Thomas, 2013.
"A fair share: Burden-sharing preferences in the United States and China,"
Resource and Energy Economics,
Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 1-17.
- Carlsson, Fredrik & Kataria, Mitesh & Krupnick, Alan & Lampi, Elina & Löfgren, Åsa & Qin, Ping & Sterner, Thomas & Chung, Susie, 2010. "A Fair Share : Burden-Sharing Preferences in the United States and China," Working Papers in Economics 471, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
- Frederik Carlsson & Mitesh Kataria & Alan Krupnick & Elina Lampi & Åsa Löfgren & Ping Qin & Thomas Sterner & S. Chung, 2010. "A Fair Share - Burden-Sharing Preferences in the United States and China," Jena Economic Research Papers 2010-074, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Max-Planck-Institute of Economics.
- Carlsson, Fredrik & García, Jorge H. & Löfgren, Åsa, 2008.
"Conformity and the demand for environmental goods,"
Working Papers in Economics
286, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
- Fredrik Carlsson & Jorge García & Åsa Löfgren, 2010. "Conformity and the Demand for Environmental Goods," Environmental & Resource Economics, European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 47(3), pages 407-421, November.
- Karagözoğlu Emin, 2010. "A Dynamic Model of Decision-making Under Cognitive Dissonance and Modularity of Mind," Research Memoranda 014, Maastricht : METEOR, Maastricht Research School of Economics of Technology and Organization.
- Craig E. Landry & Paul Hindsley & Okmyung Bin & Jamie B. Kruse & John C. Whitehead & Kenneth R. Wilson, 2009.
"Weathering the Storm: Measuring Household Willingness-to-Pay for Risk-Reduction in Post-Katrina New Orleans,"
Working Papers
09-18, Department of Economics, Appalachian State University.
- Craig E. Landry & Paul Hindsley & Okmyung Bin & Jamie B. Kruse & John C. Whitehead & Ken Wilson, 2011. "Weathering the Storm: Measuring Household Willingness-to-Pay for Risk-Reduction in Post-Katrina New Orleans," Southern Economic Journal, Southern Economic Association, vol. 77(4), pages 991-1013, April.
- Shi, Lijia & House, Lisa & Gao, Zhifeng, 2011. "Consumer WTP for Blueberry Attributes: A Hierarchical Bayesian Approach in the WTP Space," 2011 Annual Meeting, July 24-26, 2011, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 103524, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
- Kimberly Scharf & Sarah Smith, 2011.
"Rational Inattention to Subsidies for Charitable Contributions,"
The Centre for Market and Public Organisation
11/269, Department of Economics, University of Bristol, UK.
- Scharf, Kim; Smith, Sarah, 2010. "Rational Inattention to Subsidies for Charitable Contributions," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 02, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
- Scharf, Kimberley Ann & Smith, Sarah L., 2010. "Rational Inattention to Subsidies for Charitable Contributions," CEPR Discussion Papers 7760, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
- Fredrik Carlsson, 2010.
"Design of Stated Preference Surveys: Is There More to Learn from Behavioral Economics?,"
Environmental & Resource Economics,
European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 46(2), pages 167-177, June.
- Carlsson, Fredrik, 2009. "Design of stated preference surveys: Is there more to learn from behavioral economics?," Working Papers in Economics 418, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
- Jacob Ladenburg & Jens Olav Dahlgaard & Ole Bonnichsen, 2010. "Testing the Effect of a Short Cheap Talk Script in Choice Experiments," IFRO Working Paper 2010/11, University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource Economics.
- Søren Olsen & Thomas Lundhede & Jette Jacobsen & Bo Thorsen, 2011. "Tough and Easy Choices: Testing the Influence of Utility Difference on Stated Certainty-in-Choice in Choice Experiments," Environmental & Resource Economics, European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 49(4), pages 491-510, August.
- Moser, Riccarda & Raffaelli, Roberta & Notaro, Sandra, 2010. "The Role Of Production Methods In Fruit Purchasing Behaviour: Hypothetical Vs Actual Consumers’ Preferences And Stated Minimum Requirements," 115th Joint EAAE/AAEA Seminar, September 15-17, 2010, Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany 116426, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
Lists
This item is not listed on Wikipedia, on a reading list or among the top items on IDEAS.Statistics
Access and download statisticsCorrections
When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bpj:bejeap:v:8:y:2008:i:1:n:41For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (Peter Golla).
If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.
If references are entirely missing, you can add them using this form.
If the full references list an item that is present in RePEc, but the system did not link to it, you can help with this form.
If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.
Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

