Abstract
This study investigates "hypothetical bias," defined as the difference in the willingness to pay for a product attribute between hypothetical and non-hypothetical conditions in a choice experiment, for the carbon footprint of mandarin oranges in Japan. We conducted the following four treatments: a non-hypothetical lab economic experiment, a hypothetical lab survey, a hypothetical online survey, and a hypothetical online survey with cheap-talk. Each treatment asked participants to choose one of three oranges based on price and carbon emissions level. Next, participants were asked to answer questions on demographics and the following three kinds of environmental factors: environmental consciousness, purchasing behavior for goods with eco-labels, and daily environmental behavior. Using the random parameter logit model, the willingness to pay per 1g of carbon emission reduction were 0.53 JPY, 0.52 JPY, 0.54 JPY, and 0.58 JPY in the non-hypothetical lab economic experiment, hypothetical lab survey, hypothetical online survey and hypothetical online survey with cheap-talk, respectively. The complete combinatorial test of the willingness to pay for carbon emission reductions indicates no hypothetical bias between any treatment combinations. Our findings reveal that environmental attributes for food are less likely to show hypothetical bias than other goods. The results of the main effect with an interaction term show that environmental consciousness reduces the coefficients of carbon emissions in all treatments. Therefore, a psychological scale is useful for showing whether hypothetical bias emerges with treatment or participants' personal backgrounds.
Highlights
The choice experiment (CE) is a type of stated preference method [1] that elicits consumer preferences based on various scenarios, unlike the revealed preference method
Testing hypothetical bias in the choice of oranges according to carbon footprint import crops from remote regions is responsible for a good deal of carbon emissions in Japan
Since the estimated Price is Testing hypothetical bias in the choice of oranges according to carbon footprint normalized by the marginal WTP, we directly compare the estimation results of Carbon in each treatment
Summary
The choice experiment (CE) is a type of stated preference method [1] that elicits consumer preferences based on various scenarios, unlike the revealed preference method. B and c do not estimate WTP for each attribute in the studies This background prompted us to employ CE to investigate the existence of HB by comparing laboratory economic experiments with online surveys. In a pioneering hypothetical survey CE for Japanese consumer research, Kimura et al found that a carbon footprint label induces Japanese consumers’ WTP [31]. Along these same lines, Aoki and Akai investigated the value of the carbon footprint of Japanese oranges by comparing general environmental scales [32] in a hypothetical survey.
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