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Mitigating Hypothetical Bias In Stated Preference Data: Evidence From Sports Tourism

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  • John C. Whitehead
  • Melissa S. Weddell
  • Peter A. Groothuis

Abstract

type="main" xml:id="ecin12253-abs-0001"> One of the major criticisms of stated preference data is hypothetical bias. Using a unique dataset of both stated and actual behavior, we test for hypothetical bias of stated preference survey responses. We consider whether respondents tend to overstate their participatory sporting event behavior ex ante when compared to their actual behavior at different registration fees. We find that stated behavior accurately predicts actual behavior at a middle level of respondent certainty, overpredicts actual behavior at a lower level of certainty, and underpredicts behavior at a higher level of certainty. This result suggests that respondent uncertainty corrections can be used to mitigate hypothetical bias and stated preference data can be used to better understand actual behavior in situations where no data exist. (JEL L83, Q51, Z2)

Suggested Citation

  • John C. Whitehead & Melissa S. Weddell & Peter A. Groothuis, 2016. "Mitigating Hypothetical Bias In Stated Preference Data: Evidence From Sports Tourism," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(1), pages 605-611, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecinqu:v:54:y:2016:i:1:p:605-611
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/ecin.2016.54.issue-1
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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Hypothetical Bias presentation at TAMU; & et cetera
      by John Whitehead in Environmental Economics on 2014-04-11 14:37:46

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. John Charles Bradbury & Dennis Coates & Brad R. Humphreys, 2024. "Public policy toward professional sports stadiums: A review," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(3), pages 899-937, June.
    2. Peter Groothuis & Kurt Rotthoff & John Whitehead, 2023. "The Consumer Surplus and Economic Impact of a Participatory Micro-Event: The Beech Mountain Metric," Sports Economics, Management, and Policy, in: Victor A. Matheson & Robert Baumann (ed.), The Economic Impact of Sports Facilities, Franchises, and Events, pages 89-99, Springer.
    3. Trinh, Tra Thi & Munro, Alistair, 2024. "Climate change and migration decisions: A choice experiment from the Mekong Delta, Vietnam," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).
    4. John C. Whitehead & Pamela Wicker, 2025. "Willingness to travel with increased travel time:Comparison of payment card vs dichotomous choice questions," Working Papers 25-04, Department of Economics, Appalachian State University.
    5. Pamela Wicker & John C. Whitehead & Bruce K. Johnson & Daniel S. Mason, 2017. "The effect of sporting success and management failure on attendance demand in the Bundesliga: a revealed and stated preference travel cost approach," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(52), pages 5287-5295, November.
    6. Penn, Jerrod & Howard, Gregory E. & Hu, Wuyang, 2023. "Model Choice, Hypothetical Bias and Risk Aversion: A Charitable Donation Application," 2023 Annual Meeting, July 23-25, Washington D.C. 335998, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    7. John C. Whitehead & Pamela Wicker, 2024. "The effect of event quality on participants’ intention to revisit a sport event: Monetary valuation and mitigation of hypothetical bias," Working Papers 24-14, Department of Economics, Appalachian State University.
    8. John Charles Bradbury & Dennis Coates & Brad R. Humphreys, 2023. "The impact of professional sports franchises and venues on local economies: A comprehensive survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(4), pages 1389-1431, September.
    9. repec:ags:aaea22:335998 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. John C. Whitehead & Pamela Wicker, 2017. "Using Willingness to Travel to Estimate the Monetary Value of Intangible Benefits Derived from Active Sport Event Tourism," Working Papers 17-03, Department of Economics, Appalachian State University.
    11. Chen, Haojie & Zhang, Tong & Costanza, Robert & Kubiszewski, Ida & Sloggy, Matthew R. & Wu, Luhua & Luo, Haohan, 2025. "Assessing individual and social values of cultural services of a protected area through online deliberation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
    12. John C. Whitehead & Pamela Wicker, 2018. "Valuing Non-Market Benefits of Participatory Sport Events Using Willingness to Travel: Payment Card vs Random Selection with Mitigation of Hypothetical Bias," Working Papers 18-06, Department of Economics, Appalachian State University.
    13. Whitehead, John C. & Wicker, Pamela, 2018. "Estimating willingness to pay for a cycling event using a willingness to travel approach," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 160-169.
    14. Kevin Atkinson & John C. Whitehead, 2015. "Predictive validity of stated preference data: evidence from mountain bike park visits before and after trail system expansion," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(9), pages 730-733, June.
    15. Kaat de Corte & John Cairns & Richard Grieve, 2021. "Stated versus revealed preferences: An approach to reduce bias," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(5), pages 1095-1123, May.
    16. John C. Whitehead & Pamela Wicker, 2019. "Examining return visitation and the monetary value of participatory sport events: The role of attribute non-attendance," Working Papers 19-13, Department of Economics, Appalachian State University.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism
    • Q26 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Recreational Aspects of Natural Resources
    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects

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