Choice-based Conjoint Experiment Research Articles

Veterinary students are willing to accept job flexibility by trading off some salary.

To determine the value veterinary students place on nonpecuniary job benefits related to working arrangements. 381 companion animal-focused veterinary students at 14 US veterinary colleges. We employed a survey with a choice-based conjoint experiment. The experimental data were analyzed with a random parameter logit model, from which willingness to accept was calculated. The results indicated that students would prefer working 4 days a week and closer to 40 hours per week, with 13 days of paid time off. Flexible working arrangements were valued from approximately $1,500 to $3,400, depending on the attribute being analyzed. Paid time off was most highly valued. These results will help employers better identify the current preferences of soon-to-be associate veterinarians and can match job offer/working arrangements to enhance recruitment and retention within veterinary practices.

Impact of Online Patient Reviews: Three Choice-based Conjoint Experiments of Hospital and Physician Ratings

Patients are increasingly using online healthcare reviews to make choices about their medical providers. This paper uses a series of three conjoint experiments, which required prospective patients to select a care provider, to examine how ratings of physicians and affiliated hospitals influence patients’ choice of medical providers. Participants (N = 1,030), recruited through a crowdsource website, were randomly assigned to online ratings corresponding to different choice-based experimental conditions. Study 1 (N = 263) showed that online quality ratings of a physicians’ hospital affiliation influenced people’s willingness to use the physicians’ service. This finding held in selection of both primary and specialty care. Study 2 (N = 511) demonstrated people were more willing to choose a physician when the physician’s affiliated hospital had higher clinical outcomes ratings versus patient experience ratings. This effect was stronger when people were choosing a specialist than a primary care physician. Study 3 (N = 256) utilizes the same materials as Study 2 within the context of seeking a physician to help with migraines and participants rated physician competence and perceived quality of medical care. Results show patients expected higher quality of medical care when they chose a physician with higher patient experience ratings. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

When to be vaccinated? What to consider? Modelling decision-making and time preference for COVID-19 vaccine through a conjoint experiment

How do citizens choose COVID-19 vaccines, and when do they wish to be vaccinated? A choice-based conjoint experiment was conducted in Hong Kong to examine factors that shape citizens’ preference toward COVID-19 vaccines and their time preference to be vaccinated, which is overlooked in extant literature. Results suggest people are most concerned about vaccines’ efficacy and severe side-effects, and that cash incentives are not useful in enhancing vaccine appeal. The majority of respondents show low intention for immediate vaccination, and many of them want to delay their vaccination. Further analysis shows that their time preference is shaped more by respondent characteristics than vaccine attributes. In particular, confidence in the vaccine, trust in government, and working in high-risk professions are associated with earlier timing for vaccine uptake. Meanwhile, forced COVID testing would delay vaccination. The findings offer a novel view in understanding how people decide whether and when to receive new vaccines, which have pivotal implications for a head start of any mass vaccination programs.

Information, ingestion, and impulsivity: The impact of technology-enabled healthy food labels on online grocery shopping in impulsive and non-impulsive consumers.

Unhealthy food consumption is a problem for society, companies, and consumers. This study aims to contribute to knowledge regarding such issues by investigating how technology-enabled healthy food labels can impact food choice in an online grocery store context. We conceptualized unhealthy and healthy food choice as a matter of impulsivity problems. Three technology-enabled healthy food labels were derived based on variables that might impact self-control, and their influence on food choice was investigated. The empirical study consisted of three parts. In the first part, participants' impulsivity was measured using an adjusting delay task. Part two investigated the effects of self-monitoring, pre-commitment, and social comparison-based technology-enabled healthy food labels on food choice in a hypothetical online grocery shopping setting using a choice-based conjoint experiment. Lastly, in the third part, three where demographical questions were asked. The results (n = 405) show that self-monitoring, pre-commitment, and social comparison-based technology-enabled healthy food labels had the most to least impact on food choice in that order. Furthermore, the results indicate that self-monitoring and pre-commitment labels had more impact on the choice for impulsive compared to non-impulsive participants. Similarly, the results indicate that social comparison had more impact on choice for non-impulsive participants. These findings suggest that self-monitoring of previous healthy food choices might be more effective than pre-commitment based on discounts for healthy food products. However, these differences were minor. This finding has managerial implications as grocery stores might increase their revenue by introducing self-monitoring labels in an online grocery shopping setting. Future research should investigate these technology-enabled healthy food labels in natural food purchase settings.

Consumer Preferences for Processed Meat Reformulation Strategies: A Prototype for Sensory Evaluation Combined with a Choice-Based Conjoint Experiment

Consumption trends demand healthier meat products and require research into reformulation strategies. Ambiguities in consumer preferences for two processed meat reformulation strategies (i.e., ingredient “reduction” and nutrient “addition”) were investigated. Using physical prototypes of omega-3-enriched pork sausages and sensory evaluation to reduce hypothetical bias, followed by a choice-based conjoint experiment, results suggested that consumers valued both “addition” and “reduction” reformulation strategies, and consumers’ willingness-to-pay (WTP) premiums were the highest for omega-3 addition, followed by fat reduction, and were lowest for salt reduction. Moreover, WTP was influenced by sensory preferences and was positively correlated with sensory liking levels. Providing health-related information improved consumers’ sensory perceptions of omega-3-enriched sausages. Findings imply that reformulated healthier meat products are acceptable to consumers. Moreover, to enhance consumers’ valuation on new launches of healthier processed meat products, meat manufacturers should inform consumers of health-related reformulation information, provide consumers with opportunities to taste newly developed healthier processed meat products, and continuously optimize consumers’ sensory experience.

How strong is demand for public transport service in Nepal? A case study of Kathmandu using a choice-based conjoint experiment

AbstractA public transport system is the most efficient and equitable solution to the challenges of urban mobility and climate change. To improve public transport, technological innovations, policy interventions, and behavioral changes should all be applied appropriately; however, there is a lack of information about the demand for public transport services in developing countries. This paper aims to measure the degree of demand for public transport services by comparing various factors used as a case study in Kathmandu, one of the most congested urban areas in a developing country. We designed a choice-based conjoint experiment with five attributes: mode of transport, waiting time, one-way fare per km, commute time per km, and payment method. Our results indicate that 73% of the respondents are in favor of changing the current transport policy and wish for a shift to public transport, which means that most commuters are in favor of the proposed mode of transport, that is, MRT. On the other hand, the study reveals that respondents have a negative evaluation of motorbikes, one of the most popular modes of transport in Kathmandu. Our results, showing users’ unsatisfactory situation with motorbikes as a transport measure, provide transport planners guidance for addressing current public transport policies, indicating a massive rapid transit system with a low fare would be highly welcome in a typical congestion area like Kathmandu.

The many aspects of voluntary sustainability governance: Unpacking consumers’ support for tea standards in China and the UK

Voluntary standards have become a promising mode of governance to promote sustainable production and consumption in global value chains. Despite a growing number of studies on consumers' preferences for sustainable products, insufficient attention has been paid to the heterogeneity of existing standard systems, which prioritize different issues (e.g., environment, labor, and health), have different origins and sponsors, imply different costs and stringency. How do these features affect consumer support across market contexts? By conducting a choice-based conjoint experiment with tea drinkers in China and the UK (N = 1823), we find that consumer support for sustainable tea standards in both countries is primarily driven by food safety concerns, to a lesser extent by concerns of environmental and labor issues. Moreover, Chinese consumers support highly stringent standards only, whereas British consumers also accept medium-level standards. Standard sponsor and origin matter for consumers in China only who favor government-designed, international standards. Consumers’ preferences for key standard features are associated with individual values, the warm glow of giving, and sustainability concerns but such relationships vary in the two markets. Our findings have important implications for scaling-up sustainability standards in both emerging and developed markets.

Investors’ Preference for Creating Impact: (A study to understand impact investors’ preference while making investment in India)

Purpose: The main aim of this article is to analyse the preference of impact investors when it comes to the selection of ventures for investment. The study has been conducted with the sole objective of trying to evaluate the choices of impact investors in the Indian market. In addition to this, the present study strives to find out how a certain venture turns out to be the most preferred area of investment and what instrument is preferred to invest in for impact investments, and the criteria that guide investors to arrive at their choice of investment portfolios in Indian impact investment market. Design/Methodology/Approach: A choice-based conjoint experiment has been done in which respondents have to rank the different options which were generated by orthogonal arrays based on their preference. The preference function was computed by using OLS regression. Findings: It has been revealed through this study that while deciding to invest for impact, first preference is accorded to stage of investment in terms of highest importance value which was ensued by their behavioural penchant to do impact investment. Impact investors are inclined to invest in social ventures having the most innovative ideas in response to addressing social problems. The most preferred area of investment is the healthcare sector which is ensued by agriculture and education. Research Limitations: The real behaviour of an individual cannot be predicted through an online survey, which restricts the generalization of the study. Practical Implications: This study presents a simple yet empirical tool that will undoubtedly aid social entrepreneurs, impact investors and other investors to understand the leanings of impact investors and allows them to understand in a better way, how investors’ behaviour differs while making investment decisions in India. The findings will also help policymakers to create a more conducive environment for impact investing in India. Originality/Value: The article is unique in the sense that it endeavours to analyse the impact investors’ preferences and choices with the application of conjoint analysis in the Indian perspective.

The Effects of Nutrition and Health Claim Information on Consumers' Sensory Preferences and Willingness to Pay.

As marketing tools, nutrition claims (NCs) and health claims (HCs) can be used to convey the nutritional properties and health benefits of food to consumers, but their respective effects on consumers' perceptions of healthier meat products are inconsistent in the literature. Using a physical prototype of omega-3-enriched sausages as a research interest, this paper explores how HCs and NCs differently influence consumers' sensory preferences and willingness to pay (WTP). Sensory tests were carried out among 330 participants, followed by a choice-based conjoint (CBC) experiment to measure consumers' WTP. Results indicate that, in comparison with the uninformed condition, labeling an omega-3 nutrition claim increased consumers' sensory liking for omega-3-enriched sausages in the attributes of appearance and texture. Moreover, consumers were willing to pay more for healthier sausages, but labeling HCs did not significantly improve participants' WTP for omega-3-enriched sausages more than NCs. Hence, HCs did not significantly outperform NCs, when it comes to positively influencing consumers' sensory liking and paying intentions for omega-3-enriched sausages. The findings of this study have implications for the meat industry in developing healthier sausage formulations with greater likelihood of success in the market.

From star rating to sentiment rating: using textual content of online reviews to develop more effective reputation systems for peer-to-peer accommodation platforms

ABSTRACT Star ratings on P2P accommodation platforms are highly positive. Such biases have led many users to utilise selective processing strategies to evaluate the textual content of online reviews. However, when many reviews are available for a product or a service, these strategies would be suboptimal at best, posing several challenges to the users of peer-to-peer (P2P) accommodation platforms. To enable the guests to perform more informed evaluations and overcome the challenges that the skewed distribution of star ratings creates for decision-making, we employ content analysis tools to derive an aggregated sentiment score for each listing. Using this score, we define a new measure, called “sentiment rating”, that compares a listing with other similar listings based on their textual reviews. Our choice-based conjoint experiment suggests that unlike users’ initial perception about the function of star rating as the most salient factor in evaluating P2P listings, users actually attribute more importance to sentiment ratings of P2P accommodations. Therefore, a text-based summary of online reviews would indeed help users in evaluating alternatives on a P2P platform and in decision making. We argue that a text-based quantitative summary of user reviews could be a useful supplements to (or substitutes for) star ratings on P2P accommodation platforms and even online retailing websites.

Who Contributes to Successful Urban Governance?

In three subsequent studies, we identified stakeholders that are considered influential in urban governance processes and uncovered certain stakeholders’ characteristics (‘attributes’) that are regarded as more assertive in trade-off situations. We chose our research setting in Vienna, Austria, given its consistently high position in various livability rankings. Our first study consisted of a large representative survey (n= 1,787) and probed for citizens’ opinions on the stakeholders that are influential to make Vienna a livable city. To narrow our research focus, we examined in our second study thirty-nine conflicts between five stakeholder types. Using an abductive media analysis, we find certain stakeholder characteristics reemerge and win over dilemma situations. In line with stakeholder theory, we find that respondents in our third study, five choice-based conjoint experiments (n = 1,354), show a sizeable preference for stakeholders with attributes of power, legitimacy, and urgency. Our research contributes to the theoretical understanding of urban governance structures and stakeholder theory, and provides insights on the role of different stakeholders and their trade-off decisions.

The effect of required warmth on consumer acceptance of artificial intelligence in service: The moderating role of AI-human collaboration

Recent technological advances allow artificial intelligence (AI) to perform tasks that require high warmth, such as caring, understanding others’ feelings, and being friendly. However, current consumers may be reluctant to accept AI for such tasks. This research investigates the impact of required warmth to conduct a task on consumer acceptance of AI service and the moderating role of AI-human collaboration. A series of choice-based conjoint experiments and one survey yield two main findings. First, consumers tend to refuse AI for tasks that require high warmth due to the low perceived fit between AI and the task at hand. Second, an AI-human collaboration of AI supporting a human employee increases consumer acceptance of AI service for tasks that require high warmth. This is not the case for AI-human collaboration in which AI performs a task that is supervised by a human employee. Theoretically, this study increases our understanding of how consumer acceptance of AI service varies across tasks and how AI-human collaboration can advance AI acceptance. These findings provide insightful suggestions for managers regarding designing AI service and framing AI-human collaboration.

Does office aesthetics drive job choice? Boosting employee experience and well-being perception through workplace design

PurposeDrawing from experiential theory and decision-making theory, this article aims to posit that workplace aesthetics acts as a driver for job choice when included with an employment offer. Whilst organisational literature has recognised that office experiential cues in general, and aesthetics in particular, affect employee performance and well-being, employer attractiveness scales have not yet incorporated office aesthetics as a component of job-offer choice.Design/methodology/approachA choice-based conjoint (CBC) experiment was conducted to estimate the weighted utilities of three aesthetic and three non-aesthetic employer attributes. Subsequently, the attributes' importance in the job choice decision was estimated.FindingsThe results indicate that aesthetic attributes in the workplace can be equally important in the decision-making process as non-aesthetic attributes and that aesthetic attributes deliver as much utility as non-aesthetic attributes in driving job choice.Practical implicationsThese conclusions are relevant for Human Resource (HR) managers engaged in crafting job offers, who should consider that employees may improve their assessment of a job offer as a result of superior organisational aesthetics demonstrated during the recruitment process as well as in contexts where employees would be expected to combine remote and office-based work.Originality/valueThe present study represents a novel approach to understanding job applicants' preferences for aesthetic elements in the workplace. The results suggest that the workplace experience is relativistic and that considering applicants' latent preferences is crucial when designing efficient job offers.

Same but different - The effect of the unit of measure on the valuation of a unit price

Unit prices are a ubiquitous phenomenon. The respective legal norms leave a certain freedom of choice with regard to the reference unit. However, research on the impact of alternative measurement units on consumer behaviour is still in its infancy and its findings are inconclusive. Moreover, this influence has so far only been measured directly. Investigating the product category bottled beer (with its essential product attributes ‘brand’, ‘price’, ‘alcohol content’ and ‘size of packaging unit’), a Choice Based Conjoint experiment provides empirical evidence that a large (per 1 L) compared to a small (per 100 mL) size unit of measurement leads to a significant shift of importance towards the product attribute ‘price’ at the expense of the ‘brand’. In addition, consumers react more sensitively to price changes. At the strategic level, retailers can use these insights to sharpen their positioning through a suitable unit price measure. When making operational decisions, retailers should bear in mind that the reference unit influences the likelihood of purchase, the scope for price increases and the opportunities for up-selling.

Analysis of Trip Preferences among E-bike Users in Commuting: Evidence from an Online Choice-based Conjoint Experiment

The present study reports on the preferences among e-bike users for commuting trips. An online survey with sixteen choice-based conjoint questions was conducted in March 2020 amongst 144 e-cyclists and non e-cyclists in Flanders (Belgium). Their choices were analysed using a no-choice binomial logit model. The impact of the following factors showed to be most important: weather conditions, trip time, type of e-bike, and financial support by the employer. The effect on e-bike users of factors such as cycling infrastructure, secure parking, and shower facilities at the workplace seems more limited. Based on the difference between male and female respondents, trip time and type of e-bike differed significantly. The only significant difference between e-bike owners and non e-bike owners was the type of e-bike. Trip time, weather conditions and financial intervention differed significantly between the young and old age group. Our findings suggest that policymakers should focus on investments in e-bikes, such as cycling infrastructure, mileage allowance and facilities at the workplace to make this a sustainable and socially inclusive mode of transport.

What Drives the Choice of Local Seasonal Food? Analysis of the Importance of Different Key Motives.

Local seasonal food choices are environmentally relevant behaviors and a promising opportunity for enhancing sustainable food consumption. Therefore, we need a more integrated understanding of motives driving consumers to opt for food that is produced locally and also in its natural growing season. The aim of this study is to (i) identify which motives for local food choices are also relevant for local seasonal food choices and (ii) investigate whether environmental motives become (more) relevant for these environmentally friendly choices. To assess consumer perceptions of socioeconomic, health, and environmental aspects, a survey in combination with a choice-based conjoint experiment to measure consumer preferences for seasonal (apples) and non-seasonal choices (tomatoes) was conducted. The data were collected by means of an online-panel survey (n = 499) and analyzed using two structural equation models. Results revealed that while the support of the local economy presents the most relevant driver, consumers’ price sensibility is even more relevant as a barrier. What differs is the relevance of authenticity and local identity. While local seasonal food provides environmental benefits to consumers, these benefits have no implications for the relevance of environmental motives. Based on these findings, we derive evidence-based recommendations for policymakers and marketers and propositions for future research regarding additional drivers and barriers for local seasonal food consumption.

Light at the end of the tunnel: Influence of vaccine availability and vaccination intention on people’s consideration of the COVID-19 vaccine

RationaleCountries worldwide rely on the COVID-19 vaccine to contain the spread of the pandemic. However, because of the inequality in distribution, people in many demographic groups and regions still do not have access to a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine. ObjectiveTo aid vaccine promotion campaigns that target populations with different access to the COVID-19 vaccine, this study examined how vaccine availability and vaccination intention influence people's consideration of the COVID-19 vaccine. MethodWe conducted a two-wave longitudinal survey and choice-based conjoint experiment to examine the influence of vaccine availability and vaccination intention on perceived barriers of vaccination (e.g., safety and cost concern) and preference in different vaccine features (e.g., FDA approval status and number of doses administered). ResultWe found that low availability and intention increased attention to global behavioral barriers such as safety concern and high-level vaccine attributes such as efficacy. In contrast, high availability articulates practical considerations such as cost and logistics associated with vaccination. ConclusionBased on such findings, we conclude that health communicators need to strategically customize their messages based on audience access to the COVID-19 vaccine and their intention to get vaccinated. Highlighting the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine may be more effective in low-accessibility and low-intention groups, while emphasis on practical considerations such as vaccine cost and logistics may be more effective in high-accessibility and high-intention groups.

British Nationals’ Preferences Over Who Gets to Be a Citizen According to a Choice-Based Conjoint Experiment

Abstract This article contributes new evidence about the types of immigrants that British nationals would accept as fellow citizens. I analyse the preferences of a large, nationally representative UK sample employing a choice-based conjoint-analysis experiment. Respondents were presented with paired vignettes of applicant types characterized by a combination of attributes chosen randomly. The attributes of immigrants with the largest impact on the probability of granting citizenship were occupation and religion: respondents especially penalized applicants who were Muslim or with no occupation. Respondents granted citizenship at different rates on average (from 64 per cent to 80 per cent): rates were lower among respondents who had voted to leave the EU, were older, less educated, and earned less. The types of immigrant who were most likely to be granted citizenship did not, however, vary by respondents’ income, education, or age, and varied little between Brexit Leave and Remain voters. My findings about nationals’ citizen preferences reflect the inclusive–exclusive nature of British citizenship and national identity, whereby inclusion is conditional on productivity and on the endorsement of liberal values.

Are Shareholders Willing to Pay for Financial, Social and Environmental Disclosure? A Choice-based Experiment

This study investigates whether shareholders are willing to pay for higher levels of corporate financial, social, and environmental disclosure. We conduct a choice-based conjoint experiment wherein 65 shareholders are asked to make 12 choices, choosing each time between two predetermined randomized combinations of different levels of investment returns, financial disclosure, environmental disclosure, and social disclosure. Results indicate that whereas shareholders are willing to pay for financial disclosure and environmental disclosure, they are unwilling to pay for social disclosure. Hence, the latter finding does not provide conclusive evidence on the overall question. However, the result that investors are willing to pay for non-financial disclosures – such as environmental information – constitutes our main contribution as prior research has not been able to provide strong evidence that investors are willing to forfeit investment returns in order to gain access to more corporate disclosures. The use of a choice-based conjoint experiment to examine these matters is novel and potentially opens avenues for future research. We believe our theoretical and practical contributions to be of interest to various stakeholders, including firms in making decisions about disclosure levels and regulators in assessing the need for disclosure regulation.

Air quality services on climate time-scales for decision making: An empirical study of China

The provision of climate services for assessing and governing environmental problems such as poor air quality requires interactions between scientists and decision-makers. Air quality information services in China mainly focus on the coming days to weeks. However, users may benefit from air quality information on climate time-scales—from months to decades; hereafter air quality climate services. We focused on key decision-makers and stakeholders that are users of air quality climate services and conducted five workshops with these identified users to ascertain their priorities for air quality climate services, and the reasoning behind these priorities. We also conducted a choice-based conjoint experiment via an online survey distributed amongst regional and local Climate Centres and Environmental Monitoring Centres to assess quantitatively the decision-makers’ needs. The results from the workshops and the survey showed that the needs for air quality climate services by users in China mainly relate to seasonal forecasting of winter haze events (PM2.5 levels and/or the meteorological conditions conducive to the dispersion of the air pollution); there is also some interest in long-term projections of haze under climate change and a growing interest in ozone pollution in summer. Spatial relevance is perceived to be important to regional and city-level stakeholders who prefer information on the city-level, whilst national-wide information is important for national government agencies. A high level of reliability of forecasts was needed for uptake. The findings on the needs for air quality climate services by potential users can support researchers and policy-makers in developing the scientific capacity and providing tailored and effective air quality climate services in China.