The construction of optimal stated choice experiments theory and methods
Street, Deborah J
2007-01-01
The most comprehensive and applied discussion of stated choice experiment constructions available The Construction of Optimal Stated Choice Experiments provides an accessible introduction to the construction methods needed to create the best possible designs for use in modeling decision-making. Many aspects of the design of a generic stated choice experiment are independent of its area of application, and until now there has been no single book describing these constructions. This book begins with a brief description of the various areas where stated choice experiments are applicable, including marketing and health economics, transportation, environmental resource economics, and public welfare analysis. The authors focus on recent research results on the construction of optimal and near-optimal choice experiments and conclude with guidelines and insight on how to properly implement these results. Features of the book include: Construction of generic stated choice experiments for the estimation of main effects...
Manipulating a stated choice experiment
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Fosgerau, Mogens; Borjesson, Maria
2015-01-01
This paper considers the design of a stated choice experiment intended to measure the marginal rate of substitution (MRS) between cost and an attribute such as time using a conventional logit model. Focusing the experimental design on some target MRS will bias estimates towards that value....... The paper shows why this happens. The resulting estimated MRS can then be manipulated by adapting the target MRS in the experimental design. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved....
Response time patterns in a stated choice experiment
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Börjesson, Maria; Fosgerau, Mogens
2015-01-01
This paper studies how response times vary between unlabelled binary choice occasions in a stated choice (SC) experiment, with alternatives differing with respect to in-vehicle travel time and travel cost. The pattern of response times is interpreted as an indicator of the cognitive processes...... employed by the respondents when making their choices. We find clear signs of reference-dependence in response times in the form of a strong gain–loss asymmetry. Moreover, different patterns of response times for travel time and travel cost indicate that these attributes are processed in different ways...
Hoehn, John P.; Lupi, Frank; Kaplowitz, Michael D.
2010-01-01
Stated choice experiments about ecosystem changes involve complex information. This study examines whether the format in which ecosystem information is presented to respondents affects stated choice outcomes. Our analysis develops a utility-maximizing model to describe respondent behavior. The model shows how alternative questionnaire formats alter respondents’ use of filtering heuristics and result in differences in preference estimates. Empirical results from a large-scale stated choice e...
Using respondent uncertainty to mitigate hypothetical bias in a stated choice experiment
Richard C. Ready; Patricia A. Champ; Jennifer L. Lawton
2010-01-01
In a choice experiment study, willingness to pay for a public good estimated from hypothetical choices was three times as large as willingness to pay estimated from choices requiring actual payment. This hypothetical bias was related to the stated level of certainty of respondents. We develop protocols to measure respondent certainty in the context of a choice...
Rasouli, S.; Timmermans, H.J.P.
2013-01-01
The use of stated-choice experiments in travel behavior research has increased dramatically over the past decade. Although considerable progress has been made, overprediction of market shares of new choice alternatives is often reported. This study is based on the contention that such overprediction
Testing Preference Axioms in Discrete Choice experiments
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Hougaard, Jens Leth; Østerdal, Lars Peter; Tjur, Tue
Recent studies have tested the preference axioms of completeness and transitivity, and have detected other preference phenomena such as unstability, learning- and tiredness effects, ordering effects and dominance, in stated preference discrete choice experiments. However, it has not been explicitly...... of the preference axioms and other preference phenomena in the context of stated preference discrete choice experiments, and examine whether or how these can be subject to meaningful (statistical) tests...
Robinson, Angela; Spencer, Anne; Moffatt, Peter
2015-04-01
There has been recent interest in using the discrete choice experiment (DCE) method to derive health state utilities for use in quality-adjusted life year (QALY) calculations, but challenges remain. We set out to develop a risk-based DCE approach to derive utility values for health states that allowed 1) utility values to be anchored directly to normal health and death and 2) worse than dead health states to be assessed in the same manner as better than dead states. Furthermore, we set out to estimate alternative models of risky choice within a DCE model. A survey was designed that incorporated a risk-based DCE and a "modified" standard gamble (SG). Health state utility values were elicited for 3 EQ-5D health states assuming "standard" expected utility (EU) preferences. The DCE model was then generalized to allow for rank-dependent expected utility (RDU) preferences, thereby allowing for probability weighting. A convenience sample of 60 students was recruited and data collected in small groups. Under the assumption of "standard" EU preferences, the utility values derived within the DCE corresponded fairly closely to the mean results from the modified SG. Under the assumption of RDU preferences, the utility values estimated are somewhat lower than under the assumption of standard EU, suggesting that the latter may be biased upward. Applying the correct model of risky choice is important whether a modified SG or a risk-based DCE is deployed. It is, however, possible to estimate a probability weighting function within a DCE and estimate "unbiased" utility values directly, which is not possible within a modified SG. We conclude by setting out the relative strengths and weaknesses of the 2 approaches in this context. © The Author(s) 2014.
On the meaningfulness of testing preference axioms in stated preference discrete choice experiments
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Hougaard, Jens Leth; Tjur, Carl Tue; Østerdal, Lars Peter Raahave
2012-01-01
A stream of studies on evaluation of health care services and public goods have developed tests of the preference axioms of completeness and transitivity and methods for detecting other preference phenomena such as unstability, learning- and tiredness effects, and random error, in stated preference...... discrete choice experiments. This methodological paper tries to identify the role of the preference axioms and other preference phenomena in the context of such experiments and discusses whether or howsuch axioms and phenomena can be subject to meaningful (statistical) tests....
Delayed-Choice Experiments and the Metaphysics of Entanglement
Egg, Matthias
2013-09-01
Delayed-choice experiments in quantum mechanics are often taken to undermine a realistic interpretation of the quantum state. More specifically, Healey has recently argued that the phenomenon of delayed-choice entanglement swapping is incompatible with the view that entanglement is a physical relation between quantum systems. This paper argues against these claims. It first reviews two paradigmatic delayed-choice experiments and analyzes their metaphysical implications. It then applies the results of this analysis to the case of entanglement swapping, showing that such experiments pose no threat to realism about entanglement.
Choice certainty in Discrete Choice Experiments
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Uggeldahl, Kennet Christian; Jacobsen, Catrine; Lundhede, Thomas
2016-01-01
In this study, we conduct a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) using eye tracking technology to investigate if eye movements during the completion of choice sets reveal information about respondents’ choice certainty. We hypothesise that the number of times that respondents shift their visual...
Jonker, Marcel F; Attema, Arthur E; Donkers, Bas; Stolk, Elly A; Versteegh, Matthijs M
2017-12-01
Health state valuations of patients and non-patients are not the same, whereas health state values obtained from general population samples are a weighted average of both. The latter constitutes an often-overlooked source of bias. This study investigates the resulting bias and tests for the impact of reference dependency on health state valuations using an efficient discrete choice experiment administered to a Dutch nationally representative sample of 788 respondents. A Bayesian discrete choice experiment design consisting of eight sets of 24 (matched pairwise) choice tasks was developed, with each set providing full identification of the included parameters. Mixed logit models were used to estimate health state preferences with respondents' own health included as an additional predictor. Our results indicate that respondents with impaired health worse than or equal to the health state levels under evaluation have approximately 30% smaller health state decrements. This confirms that reference dependency can be observed in general population samples and affirms the relevance of prospect theory in health state valuations. At the same time, the limited number of respondents with severe health impairments does not appear to bias social tariffs as obtained from general population samples. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Loureiro, Maria L; Rahmani, Djamel
2016-09-01
In order to test the effect of calorie information on fast food choices, we conducted a questionnaire employing two types of stated preferences methods (the best-worst-scaling and intentional questions) and a follow-up randomized field experiment in a sample of 119 participants. This combined approach allowed us to test the internal validity of preferences for fast food meals across elicitation scenarios. The results showed that calorie information reduces the probability of selecting high calorie meals only in the questionnaire, while it did not have any significant impact on actual purchasing behavior in the field experiment. Thus, the findings show that there is a clear difference between the role of calorie information on immediate stated preference choices, and the relatively low level of responsiveness in real choices in a restaurant. We believe that the current results are quite suggestive, indicating the limits of predicting actual fast food behavior, and may open the way to using data sources that combine stated methods with field experiments. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Hoffer, Brice
2015-01-01
The aim of this thesis is to analyze the potential of online survey services for conducting stated preference experiments in the field of transportation planning. Several web-products for hosting questionnaires are evaluated considering important features required when conducting a stated preference survey. Based on this evaluation, the open-source platform LimeSurvey is the most appropriated for this kind of research. A stated preference questionnaire about pedestrians’ route choice in a Sin...
Response time in online stated choice experiments
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Campbell, Danny; Mørkbak, Morten Raun; Olsen, Søren Bøye
2017-01-01
In this paper, we use paradata relating to the length of time respondents required in a self-administered online stated preference surveys. Although this issue has been previously explored, there is little guidance on how to identify and deal with ‘fast’ and ‘slow’ respondents. In this paper, we...... in Denmark. Results from our analysis corroborate that response latency has a bearing on the estimates of utility coefficients and the error variance. Although the results highlight the non-triviality of identifying fast and slow respondents, they signal the need to estimate a large number of candidate...... models to identify the most appropriate ‘fast’ and ‘slow’ thresholds. Not doing so is likely to lead to an inferior model and has repercussions for marginal willingness to pay estimates and choice predictions....
Designing Choice Experiments to Test for Anchoring and Framing Effects
Marit Kragt; Jeff Bennett
2008-01-01
Choice experiments (CE) are increasingly used as a stated preference technique to value changes in non-market goods. Respondents to a CE survey are asked to make repeated choices between alternatives. Each alternative is described by a number of attributes – the attributes levels vary across alternatives and choice sets. A monetary attribute is typically included so that marginal values for changes in the non-market attributes presented can be estimated. The monetary attribute has central imp...
An Introduction to Retail Electricity Choice in the United States
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Zhou, Shengru [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
2017-10-04
Retail electricity choice in the United States allows end-use customers (including industrial, commercial, and residential customers) to buy electricity from competitive retail suppliers. This brochure offers an overview of retail electricity choice in the United States, and its impact on prices and renewable energy procurement. It concludes with three lessons learned from the U.S. retail market experience that may serve as a reference for other countries and regions taking steps towards retail electricity market liberalization.
How stimuli presentation format affects visual attention and choice outcomes in choice experiments
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Orquin, Jacob Lund; Mueller Loose, Simone
This study analyses visual attention and part-worth utilities in choice experiments across three different choice stimuli presentation formats. Visual attention and choice behaviour in discrete choice experiments are found to be strongly affected by stimuli presentation format. These results...
An Australian discrete choice experiment to value eq-5d health states.
Viney, Rosalie; Norman, Richard; Brazier, John; Cronin, Paula; King, Madeleine T; Ratcliffe, Julie; Street, Deborah
2014-06-01
Conventionally, generic quality-of-life health states, defined within multi-attribute utility instruments, have been valued using a Standard Gamble or a Time Trade-Off. Both are grounded in expected utility theory but impose strong assumptions about the form of the utility function. Preference elicitation tasks for both are complicated, limiting the number of health states that each respondent can value and, therefore, that can be valued overall. The usual approach has been to value a set of the possible health states and impute values for the remainder. Discrete Choice Experiments (DCEs) offer an attractive alternative, allowing investigation of more flexible specifications of the utility function and greater coverage of the response surface. We designed a DCE to obtain values for EQ-5D health states and implemented it in an Australia-representative online panel (n = 1,031). A range of specifications investigating non-linear preferences with respect to time and interactions between EQ-5D levels were estimated using a random-effects probit model. The results provide empirical support for a flexible utility function, including at least some two-factor interactions. We then constructed a preference index such that full health and death were valued at 1 and 0, respectively, to provide a DCE-based algorithm for Australian cost-utility analyses. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Potoglou, D.; Kanaroglou, P.S. [McMaster Univ., Hamilton, ON (Canada). Centre for Spatial Analysis]|[McMaster Univ., Hamilton, ON (Canada). School of Geography and Earth Science
2005-07-01
Alternative fuelled vehicle (AFV) technologies are a key strategy towards improved air quality and sustainable development. These fuel-efficient, low- or zero-emission vehicles have the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other negative externalities linked with the transportation sector. They include battery electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles, and hybrid electric vehicles with internal combustion engines. This paper discussed AFVs development trends and modelling the demand for AFVs. It was noted that before creating policy measures that promote new vehicle technologies, one should first evaluate the demand for AFVs and the effectiveness of incentives and marketing promotions. This paper discussed the design and application of a stated choices experiment in which urban level surveys were conducted on the Internet to obtain data and public opinion on the demand for AFVs. A Choice Internet Based Experiment for Research on Cars (CIBER-CARS) was designed. This self-administered online questionnaire was used in Hamilton, Ontario. The survey design was described in detail and its implementation and data collection procedures were reviewed. Measures for evaluating the efficiency of the Internet survey were also highlighted and the characteristics of the collected information were summarized with emphasis on the profiles of respondents and households. The purpose was to determine the impact of vehicle attributes and household characteristics to the actual choice of certain vehicles. 28 refs., 2 tabs., 4 figs.
Vass, Caroline M; Payne, Katherine
2017-09-01
There is emerging interest in the use of discrete choice experiments as a means of quantifying the perceived balance between benefits and risks (quantitative benefit-risk assessment) of new healthcare interventions, such as medicines, under assessment by regulatory agencies. For stated preference data on benefit-risk assessment to be used in regulatory decision making, the methods to generate these data must be valid, reliable and capable of producing meaningful estimates understood by decision makers. Some reporting guidelines exist for discrete choice experiments, and for related methods such as conjoint analysis. However, existing guidelines focus on reporting standards, are general in focus and do not consider the requirements for using discrete choice experiments specifically for quantifying benefit-risk assessments in the context of regulatory decision making. This opinion piece outlines the current state of play in using discrete choice experiments for benefit-risk assessment and proposes key areas needing to be addressed to demonstrate that discrete choice experiments are an appropriate and valid stated preference elicitation method in this context. Methodological research is required to establish: how robust the results of discrete choice experiments are to formats and methods of risk communication; how information in the discrete choice experiment can be presented effectually to respondents; whose preferences should be elicited; the correct underlying utility function and analytical model; the impact of heterogeneity in preferences; and the generalisability of the results. We believe these methodological issues should be addressed, alongside developing a 'reference case', before agencies can safely and confidently use discrete choice experiments for quantitative benefit-risk assessment in the context of regulatory decision making for new medicines and healthcare products.
State-Dependent Decisions Cause Apparent Violations of Rationality in Animal Choice
Schuck-Paim, Cynthia; Pompilio, Lorena
2004-01-01
Normative models of choice in economics and biology usually expect preferences to be consistent across contexts, or “rational” in economic language. Following a large body of literature reporting economically irrational behaviour in humans, breaches of rationality by animals have also been recently described. If proven systematic, these findings would challenge long-standing biological approaches to behavioural theorising, and suggest that cognitive processes similar to those claimed to cause irrationality in humans can also hinder optimality approaches to modelling animal preferences. Critical differences between human and animal experiments have not, however, been sufficiently acknowledged. While humans can be instructed conceptually about the choice problem, animals need to be trained by repeated exposure to all contingencies. This exposure often leads to differences in state between treatments, hence changing choices while preserving rationality. We report experiments with European starlings demonstrating that apparent breaches of rationality can result from state-dependence. We show that adding an inferior alternative to a choice set (a “decoy”) affects choices, an effect previously interpreted as indicating irrationality. However, these effects appear and disappear depending on whether state differences between choice contexts are present or not. These results open the possibility that some expressions of maladaptive behaviour are due to oversights in the migration of ideas between economics and biology, and suggest that key differences between human and nonhuman research must be recognised if ideas are to safely travel between these fields. PMID:15550984
State-dependent decisions cause apparent violations of rationality in animal choice.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Cynthia Schuck-Paim
2004-12-01
Full Text Available Normative models of choice in economics and biology usually expect preferences to be consistent across contexts, or "rational" in economic language. Following a large body of literature reporting economically irrational behaviour in humans, breaches of rationality by animals have also been recently described. If proven systematic, these findings would challenge long-standing biological approaches to behavioural theorising, and suggest that cognitive processes similar to those claimed to cause irrationality in humans can also hinder optimality approaches to modelling animal preferences. Critical differences between human and animal experiments have not, however, been sufficiently acknowledged. While humans can be instructed conceptually about the choice problem, animals need to be trained by repeated exposure to all contingencies. This exposure often leads to differences in state between treatments, hence changing choices while preserving rationality. We report experiments with European starlings demonstrating that apparent breaches of rationality can result from state-dependence. We show that adding an inferior alternative to a choice set (a "decoy" affects choices, an effect previously interpreted as indicating irrationality. However, these effects appear and disappear depending on whether state differences between choice contexts are present or not. These results open the possibility that some expressions of maladaptive behaviour are due to oversights in the migration of ideas between economics and biology, and suggest that key differences between human and nonhuman research must be recognised if ideas are to safely travel between these fields.
State-dependent decisions cause apparent violations of rationality in animal choice.
Schuck-Paim, Cynthia; Pompilio, Lorena; Kacelnik, Alex
2004-12-01
Normative models of choice in economics and biology usually expect preferences to be consistent across contexts, or "rational" in economic language. Following a large body of literature reporting economically irrational behaviour in humans, breaches of rationality by animals have also been recently described. If proven systematic, these findings would challenge long-standing biological approaches to behavioural theorising, and suggest that cognitive processes similar to those claimed to cause irrationality in humans can also hinder optimality approaches to modelling animal preferences. Critical differences between human and animal experiments have not, however, been sufficiently acknowledged. While humans can be instructed conceptually about the choice problem, animals need to be trained by repeated exposure to all contingencies. This exposure often leads to differences in state between treatments, hence changing choices while preserving rationality. We report experiments with European starlings demonstrating that apparent breaches of rationality can result from state-dependence. We show that adding an inferior alternative to a choice set (a "decoy") affects choices, an effect previously interpreted as indicating irrationality. However, these effects appear and disappear depending on whether state differences between choice contexts are present or not. These results open the possibility that some expressions of maladaptive behaviour are due to oversights in the migration of ideas between economics and biology, and suggest that key differences between human and nonhuman research must be recognised if ideas are to safely travel between these fields.
Neutron delayed choice experiments
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Bernstein, H.J.
1986-01-01
Delayed choice experiments for neutrons can help extend the interpretation of quantum mechanical phenomena. They may also rule out alternative explanations which static interference experiments allow. A simple example of a feasible neutron test is presented and discussed. (orig.)
Starting point anchoring effects in choice experiments
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Ladenburg, Jacob; Olsen, Søren Bøye
of preferences in Choice Experiments resembles the Dichotomous Choice format, there is reason to suspect that Choice Experiments are equally vulnerable to anchoring bias. Employing different sets of price levels in a so-called Instruction Choice Set presented prior to the actual choice sets, the present study...... subjectivity in the present study is gender dependent, pointing towards, that female respondents are prone to be affected by the price levels employed. Male respondents, on the other hand, are not sensitive towards these prices levels. Overall, this implicates that female respondents, when employing a low......-priced Instruction Choice Set, tend to express lower willingness-to-pay than when higher prices are employed....
Tillema, T.; van Wee, B.; Ettema, D.
2010-01-01
In this paper, we investigate the impact of travel costs, in particular toll costs, on the residential location choice of households, using a stated choice survey. Within the stated choice experiment, car drivers that frequently face traffic congestion, traded-off several trip-related (including
Discrete choice experiments of pharmacy services: a systematic review.
Vass, Caroline; Gray, Ewan; Payne, Katherine
2016-06-01
Background Two previous systematic reviews have summarised the application of discrete choice experiments to value preferences for pharmacy services. These reviews identified a total of twelve studies and described how discrete choice experiments have been used to value pharmacy services but did not describe or discuss the application of methods used in the design or analysis. Aims (1) To update the most recent systematic review and critically appraise current discrete choice experiments of pharmacy services in line with published reporting criteria and; (2) To provide an overview of key methodological developments in the design and analysis of discrete choice experiments. Methods The review used a comprehensive strategy to identify eligible studies (published between 1990 and 2015) by searching electronic databases for key terms related to discrete choice and best-worst scaling (BWS) experiments. All healthcare choice experiments were then hand-searched for key terms relating to pharmacy. Data were extracted using a published checklist. Results A total of 17 discrete choice experiments eliciting preferences for pharmacy services were identified for inclusion in the review. No BWS studies were identified. The studies elicited preferences from a variety of populations (pharmacists, patients, students) for a range of pharmacy services. Most studies were from a United Kingdom setting, although examples from Europe, Australia and North America were also identified. Discrete choice experiments for pharmacy services tended to include more attributes than non-pharmacy choice experiments. Few studies reported the use of qualitative research methods in the design and interpretation of the experiments (n = 9) or use of new methods of analysis to identify and quantify preference and scale heterogeneity (n = 4). No studies reported the use of Bayesian methods in their experimental design. Conclusion Incorporating more sophisticated methods in the design of pharmacy
Attending to the reasons for attribute non-attendance in choice experiments
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Alemu, Mohammed Hussen; Mørkbak, Morten Raun; Olsen, Søren Bøye
2013-01-01
This paper focuses on behavioural reasons underlying stated attribute non-attendance in choice experiments. In order to identify and incorporate procedures for dealing with heterogeneous attribute processing strategies, we ask respondents follow-up questions regarding their reasons for ignoring...... not affect their utility. Excluding these genuine zero preferences, as the standard approach essentially does, might bias results. Other respondents claim to have ignored attributes to simplify choices. However, we find that these respondents have actually not completely ignored attributes. We argue along...... the rationally adaptive behavioural model that valid preference information may indeed be elicited in these cases, and we illustrate how recoding of non-attendance statements conditional on stated reasons may be a more appropriate solution than the current standard way of taking stated non...
The role of representation in experience-based choice
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ben R. Newell
2009-12-01
Full Text Available Recently it has been observed that different choices can be made about structurally identical risky decisions depending on whether information about outcomes and their probabilities is learned by description or from experience. Current evidence is equivocal with respect to whether this choice ``gap'' is entirely an artefact of biased samples. The current experiment investigates whether a representational bias exists at the point of encoding by examining choice in light of decision makers' mental representations of the alternatives, measured with both verbal and nonverbal judgment probes. We found that, when estimates were gauged by the nonverbal probe, participants presented with information in description format (as opposed to experience had a greater tendency to overestimate rare events and underestimate common events. The choice gap, however, remained even when accounting for this judgment distortion and the effects of sampling bias. Indeed, participants' estimation of the outcome distribution did not mediate their subsequent choice. It appears that experience-based choices may derive from a process that does not explicitly use probability information.
Choice in the repeated-gambles experiment.
Silberberg, A; Murray, P; Christensen, J; Asano, T
1988-09-01
Humans chose 10 times between two roulette wheels projected on a monitor. During the first trial, the left wheel provided a hypothetical $100 with p = .94, and the right wheel provided $250 with p = .39. A titration procedure adjusted the probability of a $250 win across trials to permit estimation of an indifference point between alternatives. In Experiment 1, intertrial-interval duration (25 vs. 90 s) and whether sessions began with an intertrial interval or a trial were varied in a 2 x 2 design in this risky-choice procedure. Risk aversion (preference for the $100 wheel) increased with intertrial interval but was unaffected by whether sessions began with a trial or an intertrial interval. In Experiment 2, all sessions began with a trial, and subjects were informed that the experiment ended after 10 trials. Intertrial-interval duration had no effect on choice. In Experiment 3, intertrial-interval duration and whether subjects were given $10 or $10,000 before beginning were varied among four groups in a 2 x 2 design. In all other ways, the procedure was unchanged from Experiment 2. Intertrial interval had no effect on choice, but the $10,000 groups showed less risk aversion than the $10 groups. These results can be explained more readily in terms of Kahneman and Tversky's (1984) notion of "framing of the prospect" than in terms of Rachlin, Logue, Gibbon, and Frankel's (1986) behavioral account of risky choice.
Can a Repeated Opt-Out Reminder mitigate hypothetical bias in discrete choice experiments?
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Alemu, Mohammed Hussen; Olsen, Søren Bøye
2018-01-01
In this paper, we test whether a Repeated Opt-Out Reminder (ROOR) can mitigate hypothetical bias in stated discrete choice experiments (DCE). The data originate from a field experiment concerning consumer preferences for a novel food product made from cricket flour. Utilising a between...
Reducing status quo bias in choice experiments
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Bonnichsen, Ole; Ladenburg, Jacob
In stated preference literature, the tendency to choose the alternative representing the status quo situation seems to exceed real life status quo effects. Accordingly, status quo bias can be a problem. In Choice Experiments, status quo bias is found to be strongly correlated with protest attitudes...... toward the cost attribute. If economic values are to be elicited, this problem is difficult to remedy. In a split sample framework we test a novel ex-ante entreaty aimed specifically at the cost attribute and find that it effectively reduces status quo bias and improves the internal validity...
The influence of time of day on decision fatigue in online food choice experiments
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Olsen, Søren Bøye; Meyerhoff, Jürgen; Mørkbak, Morten Raun
2017-01-01
is linked with knowledge from a food sociology survey on typical meal times as well as biophysical research linking food intake to blood sugar and mental energy in order to generate a proxy variable for each respondent’s level of mental energy when answering the food choice tasks in the questionnaire......Purpose: Fatigue effects related to answering a sequence of choice tasks have received much scrutiny in the stated choice experiments (SCE) literature. However, decision fatigue related to the time of day when respondents answer questionnaires has been largely overlooked in this literature even...... though time of day related fatigue effects are well known in the psychology literature. The purpose of this paper is to hypothesize that variations in the time of day when respondents answer an online food choice experiment will translate into observable fatigue effects in the food choices. Design...
Modeling Intercity Mode Choice and Airport Choice in the United States
Ashiabor, Senanu Y.
2007-01-01
The aim of this study was to develop a framework to model travel choice behavior in order to estimate intercity travel demand at nation-level in the United States. Nested and mixed logit models were developed to study national-level intercity transportation in the United States. A separate General Aviation airport choice model to estimates General Aviation person-trips and number of aircraft operations though more than 3000 airports was also developed. The combination of the General Aviati...
The impact of presentation format on visual attention and choice in discrete choice experiments
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Mueller Loose, Simone; Orquin, Jacob Lund
in the product mock-up presentation required significantly fewer fixations and less decision time, and more within-alternative transitions were observed compared to the verbal and visual presentation formats. Attributes presented visually or at larger size had a higher impact on participants’ choices......Objectives. Discrete choice experiments in which participants choose between alternatives differing on attribute levels are an important research method for preference elicitation. In such experiments choice stimuli is typically presented in tables with verbally described attributes, in tables...... with visual attributes, or as product mock-ups simulating realistic products as close as possible. So far little is known about how presentation formats affect visual attention patterns and choice behavior. This study addresses the question by analysing visual attention and part-worth utilities in choice...
Heijden, R.E.C.M. van der; Molin, E.J.E.; Timmermans, H.J.P.
2004-01-01
Park and Ride facilities have been proposed in several countries to alleviate the accessibility problems in cities. Despite growing accessibility problems, these facilities do not seem to attract the expected number of car drivers and are under-used. In an attempt to measure consumer evaluations of the attributes of Park and Ride facilities, a stated choice experiment, based on the method of hierarchical information integration, was conducted in the city of Nijmegen, The Netherlands. This pap...
The impact of presentation format on visual attention and choice in discrete choice experiments
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Mueller Loose, Simone; Orquin, Jacob Lund
with visual attributes, or as product mock-ups simulating realistic products as close as possible. So far little is known about how presentation formats affect visual attention patterns and choice behavior. This study addresses the question by analysing visual attention and part-worth utilities in choice...... experiments across three different presentation formats. Method. Participants’ visual attention was measured by means of eye tracking during a discrete choice experiment for yoghurt products varying on six attributes with two to four levels. The study used a mixed within-between subjects design in which...... the presentation format varied between a verbal information table, a table with visual attributes levels and a realistic product mock-up presentation. Results. A strong relationship between attention and choice was observed so that attributes with a higher importance for participant choices also received a higher...
Disability and multi-state labour force choices with state dependence
Oguzoglu, Umut
2010-01-01
I use a dynamic mixed multinomial logit model with unobserved heterogeneity to study the impact of work limiting disabilities on disaggregated labour choices. The first seven waves of the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey are used to investigate this relationship. Findings point out to strong state dependence in employment choices. Further, the impact of disability on employment outcomes is highly significant. Model simulations suggest that high cross and own state depe...
Ilona D M Bos; Rob E C M Van der Heijden; Eric J E Molin; Harry J P Timmermans
2004-01-01
Park and ride (P & R) facilities have been proposed in several countries to alleviate the accessibility problems in cities. Despite growing accessibility problems, these facilities do not seem to attract the expected number of car drivers and are underused. In an attempt to measure consumer evaluations of the attributes of P & R facilities, a stated choice experiment, based on the method of hierarchical information integration, was conducted in the city of Nijmegen, The Netherlands. This pape...
How Politicians Make Decisions: A Political Choice Experiment
Fatás, Enrique; Neugebauer, Tibor; Tamborero, Pilar
2004-01-01
The present paper reports on a political choice experiment with elected real-world politicians. A questionnaire on political and public issues is taken to examine whether prospect theory predicts the responses of experts from the field better than rational choice theory. The results indicate that framing effects exist but that expertise may weaken the deviation from rational choice.
The role of respondents’ comfort for variance in stated choice surveys
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Emang, Diana; Lundhede, Thomas; Thorsen, Bo Jellesmark
2017-01-01
they complete surveys correlates with the error variance in stated choice models of their responses. Comfort-related variables are included in the scale functions of the scaled multinomial logit models. The hypothesis was that higher comfort reduces error variance in answers, as revealed by a higher scale...... parameter and vice versa. Information on, e.g., sleep and time since eating (higher comfort) correlated with scale heterogeneity, and produced lower error variance when controlled for in the model. That respondents’ comfort may influence choice behavior suggests that knowledge of the respondents’ activity......Preference elicitation among outdoor recreational users is subject to measurement errors that depend, in part, on survey planning. This study uses data from a choice experiment survey on recreational SCUBA diving to investigate whether self-reported information on respondents’ comfort when...
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Campbell, Danny; Mørkbak, Morten Raun; Olsen, Søren Bøye
2018-01-01
In this article we utilize the time respondents require to answer a self-administered online stated preference survey. While the effects of response time have been previously explored, this article proposes a different approach that explicitly recognizes the highly equivocal relationship between ...... between response time and utility coefficients, error variance and processing strategies. Our results thus emphasize the importance of considering response time when modeling stated choice data....... response time and respondents' choices. In particular, we attempt to disentangle preference, variance and processing heterogeneity and explore whether response time helps to explain these three types of heterogeneity. For this, we divide the data (ordered by response time) into approximately equal......-sized subsets, and then derive different class membership probabilities for each subset. We estimate a large number of candidate models and subsequently conduct a frequentist-based model averaging approach using information criteria to derive weights of evidence for each model. Our findings show a clear link...
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jorien Veldwijk
2016-04-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background To be able to make valid inferences on stated preference data from a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE it is essential that researchers know if participants were actively involved, understood and interpreted the provided information correctly and whether they used complex decision strategies to make their choices and thereby acted in accordance with the continuity axiom. Methods During structured interviews, we explored how 70 participants evaluated and completed four discrete choice tasks aloud. Hereafter, additional questions were asked to further explore if participants understood the information that was provided to them and whether they used complex decision strategies (continuity axiom when making their choices. Two existing DCE questionnaires on rotavirus vaccination and prostate cancer-screening served as case studies. Results A large proportion of the participants was not able to repeat the exact definition of the risk attributes as explained to them in the introduction of the questionnaire. The majority of the participants preferred more optimal over less optimal risk attribute levels. Most participants (66 % mentioned three or more attributes when motivating their decisions, thereby acting in accordance with the continuity axiom. However, 16 out of 70 participants continuously mentioned less than three attributes when motivating their decision. Lower educated and less literate participants tended to mention less than three attributes when motivating their decision and used trading off between attributes less often as a decision-making strategy. Conclusion The majority of the participants seemed to have understood the provided information about the choice tasks, the attributes, and the levels. They used complex decision strategies (continuity axiom and are therefore capable to adequately complete a DCE. However, based on the participants’ age, educational level and health literacy additional, actions should be
Schaafsma, M.; Brouwer, R.; Liekens, I.; de Nocker, L.
2014-01-01
The main objective of this paper is to test the temporal stability of stated preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) values from a Choice Experiment (CE) in a test-retest. The same group of participants was asked the same choice tasks in an internet-based CE, conducted twice with a time interval of
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Olsen, Søren Bøye; Lundhede, Thomas; Jacobsen, Jette Bredahl
2011-01-01
and the best alternative to that. We test this hypothesis using data from two independent Choice Experiments both focusing on nature values. In modelling respondents’ self-reported certainty in choice, we find evidence that the stated level of certainty increases significantly as utility difference in choice......Respondents in Stated Preference studies may be uncertain about their preferences for the good presented to them. Inspired by Wang (J Environ Econ Manag 32:219–232, 1997) we hypothesize that respondents’ stated certainty in choice increases with the utility difference between the alternative chosen...... sets increases. In addition, stated certainty increases with income. Furthermore, there is some evidence that male respondents are inherently more certain in their choices than females, and a learning effect may increase stated certainty. We find evidence of this in the first study where the good...
Dynamic Choice Behavior in a Natural Experiment
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Andersen, Steffen; Harrison, Glenn W.; Lau, Morten
evidence of some probability weighting, but no loss aversion. We also find evidence that contestants make decisions as if using more than one latent criteria, mixing traditional utility evaluations, probability weighting, and aspiration levels. Fourth, we design and implement laboratory experiments...... linked to current choices. We have four major findings. First, we show that popular utility functions that assume constant relative or absolute risk aversion and expected utility theory defined over the prizes cannot characterize these choices, which exhibit increasing relative risk aversion over prizes...... the income that they bring to the game show. Allowing for this integration of income and game show prizes leads to choice behavior consistent with constant relative risk aversion. Third, we examine th e effects of allowing contestants to make choices characterized by non-standard decision models. We find...
Dellaert, B.G.C.; Borgers, A.W.J.; Timmermans, H.J.P.
1995-01-01
This paper introduces and tests a conjoint choice experiment approach to modeling urban tourists' choice of activity packages. The joint logit model is introduced as a tool to model choices between combinations of activities and an experimental design approach is proposed that includes attributes
Is the interpretation of delayed-choice experiments misleading?
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Roussel, Pierre; Stefan, Iulian
2007-06-01
The interpretation of an experimental realization of Wheeler's delayed-choice Gedanken experiment is discussed and called into question. Once more, one finds that nature behaves in agreement with the prediction of quantum mechanics even in surprising situations where a tension with relativity seems to appear. If the experiment reported by Vincent Jacques et al (Science 315, 966.(2007)), which performs the Wheeler's Gedanken experiment, does not produce any 'delayed choice effect', it does exemplify the observation of a wave packet reduction in a very special situation: because of the short duration of the light pulse the wave packet is split into two parts with no connexity, which 'travel' separately along the spectrometer arms
A Choice Experiment on Alternative Fuel Vehicle Preferences of Private Car Owners in the Netherlands
Hoen, A.; Koetse, M.J.
2014-01-01
This paper presents results of an online stated choice experiment on preferences of Dutch private car owners for alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) and their characteristics. Results show that negative preferences for alternative fuel vehicles are large, especially for the electric and fuel cell car,
Is the interpretation of delayed-choice experiments misleading?
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Roussel, Pierre; Stefan, Iulian [Institut de Physique nucleaire, Universite Paris XI, CNRS, IN2P3, F-91406 Orsay Cedex (France)
2007-06-15
The interpretation of an experimental realization of Wheeler's delayed-choice Gedanken experiment is discussed and called into question. Once more, one finds that nature behaves in agreement with the prediction of quantum mechanics even in surprising situations where a tension with relativity seems to appear. If the experiment reported by Vincent Jacques et al (Science 315, 966.(2007)), which performs the Wheeler's Gedanken experiment, does not produce any 'delayed choice effect', it does exemplify the observation of a wave packet reduction in a very special situation: because of the short duration of the light pulse the wave packet is split into two parts with no connexity, which 'travel' separately along the spectrometer arms.
Pan, X.; Rasouli, S.; Timmermans, H.J.P.
2018-01-01
This paper introduces a model that captures the effect of social influence on individual choice behavior. The suggested model shares with previous models the idea to add a term to the deterministic utility function of the choice alternative, chosen by a social network member, to measure an
Search, Memory, and Choice Error: An Experiment.
Sanjurjo, Adam
2015-01-01
Multiple attribute search is a central feature of economic life: we consider much more than price when purchasing a home, and more than wage when choosing a job. An experiment is conducted in order to explore the effects of cognitive limitations on choice in these rich settings, in accordance with the predictions of a new model of search memory load. In each task, subjects are made to search the same information in one of two orders, which differ in predicted memory load. Despite standard models of choice treating such variations in order of acquisition as irrelevant, lower predicted memory load search orders are found to lead to substantially fewer choice errors. An implication of the result for search behavior, more generally, is that in order to reduce memory load (thus choice error) a limited memory searcher ought to deviate from the search path of an unlimited memory searcher in predictable ways-a mechanism that can explain the systematic deviations from optimal sequential search that have recently been discovered in peoples' behavior. Further, as cognitive load is induced endogenously (within the task), and found to affect choice behavior, this result contributes to the cognitive load literature (in which load is induced exogenously), as well as the cognitive ability literature (in which cognitive ability is measured in a separate task). In addition, while the information overload literature has focused on the detrimental effects of the quantity of information on choice, this result suggests that, holding quantity constant, the order that information is observed in is an essential determinant of choice failure.
Search, Memory, and Choice Error: An Experiment.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Adam Sanjurjo
Full Text Available Multiple attribute search is a central feature of economic life: we consider much more than price when purchasing a home, and more than wage when choosing a job. An experiment is conducted in order to explore the effects of cognitive limitations on choice in these rich settings, in accordance with the predictions of a new model of search memory load. In each task, subjects are made to search the same information in one of two orders, which differ in predicted memory load. Despite standard models of choice treating such variations in order of acquisition as irrelevant, lower predicted memory load search orders are found to lead to substantially fewer choice errors. An implication of the result for search behavior, more generally, is that in order to reduce memory load (thus choice error a limited memory searcher ought to deviate from the search path of an unlimited memory searcher in predictable ways-a mechanism that can explain the systematic deviations from optimal sequential search that have recently been discovered in peoples' behavior. Further, as cognitive load is induced endogenously (within the task, and found to affect choice behavior, this result contributes to the cognitive load literature (in which load is induced exogenously, as well as the cognitive ability literature (in which cognitive ability is measured in a separate task. In addition, while the information overload literature has focused on the detrimental effects of the quantity of information on choice, this result suggests that, holding quantity constant, the order that information is observed in is an essential determinant of choice failure.
Grigolon, A.B.; Kemperman, A.D.A.M.; Timmermans, H.J.P.
2012-01-01
This paper reports the results of a portfolio model of vacation choices of students. The portfolio model concerns the combined choice of destination type, transport mode, duration, accommodation, and travel party for vacations. In addition to usual transport modes such as airline, train, bus and
Challenging experiences: gender differences in task choice
de Pater, I.E.; van Vianen, A.E.M.; Fischer, A.H.; van Ginkel, W.P.
2009-01-01
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine: gender differences in the choice to perform challenging tasks, gender differences in the actual performance of challenging tasks, and the impact of challenging experiences on supervisors' evaluations of individuals' potential for career advancement.
Discrete choice experiments to measure consumer preferences for health and healthcare.
Viney, Rosalie; Lancsar, Emily; Louviere, Jordan
2002-08-01
To investigate the impact of health policies on individual well-being, estimate the value to society of new interventions or policies, or predict demand for healthcare, we need information about individuals' preferences. Economists usually use market-based data to analyze preferences, but such data are limited in the healthcare context. Discrete choice experiments are a potentially valuable tool for elicitation and analysis of preferences and thus, for economic analysis of health and health programs. This paper reviews the use of discrete choice experiments to measure consumers' preferences for health and healthcare. The paper provides an overview of the approach and discusses issues that arise when using discrete choice experiments to assess individuals' preferences for health and healthcare.
Mulhern, Brendan; Shah, Koonal; Janssen, Mathieu F Bas; Longworth, Louise; Ibbotson, Rachel
2016-01-01
Health states defined by multiattribute instruments such as the EuroQol five-dimensional questionnaire with five response levels (EQ-5D-5L) can be valued using time trade-off (TTO) or discrete choice experiment (DCE) methods. A key feature of the tasks is the order in which the health state dimensions are presented. Respondents may use various heuristics to complete the tasks, and therefore the order of the dimensions may impact on the importance assigned to particular states. To assess the impact of different EQ-5D-5L dimension orders on health state values. Preferences for EQ-5D-5L health states were elicited from a broadly representative sample of members of the UK general public. Respondents valued EQ-5D-5L health states using TTO and DCE methods across one of three dimension orderings via face-to-face computer-assisted personal interviews. Differences in mean values and the size of the health dimension coefficients across the arms were compared using difference testing and regression analyses. Descriptive analysis suggested some differences between the mean TTO health state values across the different dimension orderings, but these were not systematic. Regression analysis suggested that the magnitude of the dimension coefficients differs across the different dimension orderings (for both TTO and DCE), but there was no clear pattern. There is some evidence that the order in which the dimensions are presented impacts on the coefficients, which may impact on the health state values provided. The order of dimensions is a key consideration in the design of health state valuation studies. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.
Krabbe, P.F.M.; Devlin, N.J.; Stolk, E.A.; Shah, K.K.; Oppe, M.; Van Hout, B.; Quik, E.H.; Pickard, A.S.; Xie, F.
2013-01-01
Objectives: To investigate the feasibility of choice experiments for EQ-5D-5L states using computer-based data collection, and to examine the consistency of the estimated parameters values derived after modeling the stated preference data across countries in a multinational study. Methods: Similar
Alayli-Goebbels, Adrienne F G; Dellaert, Benedict G C; Knox, Stephanie A; Ament, André J H A; Lakerveld, Jeroen; Bot, Sandra D M; Nijpels, G; Severens, J L
2013-01-01
Health promotion (HP) interventions have outcomes that go beyond health. Such broader nonhealth outcomes are usually neglected in economic evaluation studies. To allow for their consideration, insights are needed into the types of nonhealth outcomes that HP interventions produce and their relative importance compared with health outcomes. This study explored consumer preferences for health and nonhealth outcomes of HP in the context of lifestyle behavior change. A discrete choice experiment was conducted among participants in a lifestyle intervention (n = 132) and controls (n = 141). Respondents made 16 binary choices between situations that can be experienced after lifestyle behavior change. The situations were described by 10 attributes: future health state value, start point of future health state, life expectancy, clothing size above ideal, days with sufficient relaxation, endurance, experienced control over lifestyle choices, lifestyle improvement of partner and/or children, monetary cost per month, and time cost per week. With the exception of "time cost per week" and "start point of future health state," all attributes significantly determined consumer choices. Thus, both health and nonhealth outcomes affected consumer choice. Marginal rates of substitution between the price attribute and the other attributes revealed that the attributes "endurance," "days with sufficient relaxation," and "future health state value" had the greatest impact on consumer choices. The "life expectancy" attribute had a relatively low impact and for increases of less than 3 years, respondents were not willing to trade. Health outcomes and nonhealth outcomes of lifestyle behavior change were both important to consumers in this study. Decision makers should respond to consumer preferences and consider nonhealth outcomes when deciding about HP interventions. Copyright © 2013 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Christensen, Tove; Mørkbak, Morten; Denver, Sigrid
Food quality attributes such as food safety and animal welfare are increasingly influencing consumers' choices of food products. These attributes are not readily traded in the markets. Hence, stated preference methods have proven to be valuable tools for eliciting preferences for such non......-traded attributes. A discrete choice experiment is employed, and the results indicate that consumers in general are willing to pay a premium for campylobacter-free chicken and for improved animal welfare; and they are willing to pay an additional premium for a product containing both attributes. Further, we find...
CHOICE, PURCHASE AND CONSUMPTION OF DRUGS: SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ольга Викторовна Ткаченко
2013-09-01
Full Text Available The results of pharmaceutical market’s sociological research are representing in the paper. Determinate the basic agents influenced on pharmaceuticals choice and purchase such as a doctor, experience of individual, information from advertisement. Physician competency is of secondary importance to advertisement messages. Experience of individual prepotency of the pharmaceuticals choice raises a point of a level attention of pharmaceuticals consumer behavior. We can describe it in a low level both base on respondents self-conception and in accordance with data research of drug’s advertisement and patient package inserts «content-analysis».DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12731/2218-7405-2013-6-53
Effects of Experience on Preference between Forced and Free Choice
Ono, Koichi
2004-01-01
Preference between forced choice and free choice in concurrent-chain schedules of reinforcement was investigated in pigeons after exposure to particular combinations of terminal links. In Experiment 1, in which terminal links always ended with reinforcers, one of three pairs of terminal links was arranged as preexposure: (a) both terminal links…
Brouwer, R.; Logar, I.; Sheremet, O.I.
2017-01-01
This study tests the temporal stability of preferences, choices and willingness to pay (WTP) values using both discrete choice experiment (DCE) and open-ended (OE) WTP elicitation formats. The same sample is surveyed three times over the course of two years using each time the same choice sets.
Preference effects on friendship choice: Evidence from an online field experiment.
Yu, Siyu; Xie, Yu
2017-08-01
Observed friendship choices are constrained by social structures and thus problematic indicators for underlying personal preferences. In this paper, we report on a study demonstrating the causal effects of preference in friendship choice based on an online field experiment. Specifically, we tested two important forces that govern friendship choices: preference for shared group identity (operationalized as the desire to befriend others sharing the same place-of-origin identity) and preference for high status (operationalized as the desire to befriend others from high-status institutions). Using an online field experiment in one of the largest social network service websites in China, we investigated the causal preference effects of these two forces free from structural constraints. The results of our study confirm the preference effects on friendship choice in both of the two dimensions we tested. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.
Computer simulation of Wheeler's delayed-choice experiment with photons
Zhao, S.; Yuan, S.; De Raedt, H.; Michielsen, K.
We present a computer simulation model of Wheeler's delayed-choice experiment that is a one-to-one copy of an experiment reported recently (Jacques V. et al., Science, 315 (2007) 966). The model is solely based on experimental facts, satisfies Einstein's criterion of local causality and does not
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Donkers Bas
2009-05-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background Discrete choice experiments (DCEs allow systematic assessment of preferences by asking respondents to choose between scenarios. We conducted a labelled discrete choice experiment with realistic choices to investigate patients' trade-offs between the expected health gains and the burden of testing in surveillance of Barrett esophagus (BE. Methods Fifteen choice scenarios were selected based on 2 attributes: 1 type of test (endoscopy and two less burdensome fictitious tests, 2 frequency of surveillance. Each test-frequency combination was associated with its own realistic decrease in risk of dying from esophageal adenocarcinoma. A conditional logit model was fitted. Results Of 297 eligible patients (155 BE and 142 with non-specific upper GI symptoms, 247 completed the questionnaire (84%. Patients preferred surveillance to no surveillance. Current surveillance schemes of once every 1–2 years were amongst the most preferred alternatives. Higher health gains were preferred over those with lower health gains, except when test frequencies exceeded once a year. For similar health gains, patients preferred video-capsule over saliva swab and least preferred endoscopy. Conclusion This first example of a labelled DCE using realistic scenarios in a healthcare context shows that such experiments are feasible. A comparison of labelled and unlabelled designs taking into account setting and research question is recommended.
Farmer preference for improved corn seeds in Chiapas, Mexico: A choice experiment approach
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Sánchez-Toledano, Blanca I.; Kallas, Zein; Gil-Roig, José M.
2017-01-01
Appropriate technologies must be developed for adoption of improved seeds based on the farmers’ preferences and needs. Our research identified the farmers’ willingness to pay (WTP) as a key determinant for selecting the improved varieties of maize seeds and landraces in Chiapas, Mexico. This work also analyzed the farmers’ observed heterogeneity on the basis of their socio-economic characteristics. Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire from 200 farmers. A proportional choice experiment approach was applied using a proportional choice variable, where farmers were asked to state the percentage of preference for different alternative varieties in a choice set. The generalized multinomial logit model in WTP-space approach was used. The results suggest that the improved seed varieties are preferred over the Creole alternatives, thereby ensuring higher yields, resistance to diseases, and larger ear size. For the preference heterogeneity analyses, a latent class model was applied. Three types of farmers were identified: innovators (60.5%), transition farmers (29.4%), and conservative farmers (10%). An understanding of farmers’ preferences is useful in designing agricultural policies and creati
Farmer preference for improved corn seeds in Chiapas, Mexico: A choice experiment approach
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Sánchez-Toledano, Blanca I.; Kallas, Zein; Gil-Roig, José M.
2017-07-01
Appropriate technologies must be developed for adoption of improved seeds based on the farmers’ preferences and needs. Our research identified the farmers’ willingness to pay (WTP) as a key determinant for selecting the improved varieties of maize seeds and landraces in Chiapas, Mexico. This work also analyzed the farmers’ observed heterogeneity on the basis of their socio-economic characteristics. Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire from 200 farmers. A proportional choice experiment approach was applied using a proportional choice variable, where farmers were asked to state the percentage of preference for different alternative varieties in a choice set. The generalized multinomial logit model in WTP-space approach was used. The results suggest that the improved seed varieties are preferred over the Creole alternatives, thereby ensuring higher yields, resistance to diseases, and larger ear size. For the preference heterogeneity analyses, a latent class model was applied. Three types of farmers were identified: innovators (60.5%), transition farmers (29.4%), and conservative farmers (10%). An understanding of farmers’ preferences is useful in designing agricultural policies and creati.
The Dependent Poisson Race Model and Modeling Dependence in Conjoint Choice Experiments
Ruan, Shiling; MacEachern, Steven N.; Otter, Thomas; Dean, Angela M.
2008-01-01
Conjoint choice experiments are used widely in marketing to study consumer preferences amongst alternative products. We develop a class of choice models, belonging to the class of Poisson race models, that describe a "random utility" which lends itself to a process-based description of choice. The models incorporate a dependence structure which…
Utah Public Education Funding: The Fiscal Impact of School Choice. School Choice Issues in the State
Aud, Susan
2007-01-01
This study examines Utah's funding system for public education and provides an analysis of the fiscal impact of allowing parents to use a portion of their child's state education funding to attend a school of their choice, public or private. Like many states, Utah is facing pressure to improve its system of public education funding. The state's…
Kohler, Racquel E; Lee, Clara N; Gopal, Satish; Reeve, Bryce B; Weiner, Bryan J; Wheeler, Stephanie B
2015-01-01
In Malawi, routine breast cancer screening is not available and little is known about women's preferences regarding early detection services. Discrete choice experiments are increasingly used to reveal preferences about new health services; however, selecting appropriate attributes that describe a new health service is imperative to ensure validity of the choice experiment. To identify important factors that are relevant to Malawian women's preferences for breast cancer detection services and to select attributes and levels for a discrete choice experiment in a setting where both breast cancer early detection and choice experiments are rare. We reviewed the literature to establish an initial list of potential attributes and levels for a discrete choice experiment and conducted qualitative interviews with health workers and community women to explore relevant local factors affecting decisions to use cancer detection services. We tested the design through cognitive interviews and refined the levels, descriptions, and designs. Themes that emerged from interviews provided critical information about breast cancer detection services, specifically, that breast cancer interventions should be integrated into other health services because asymptomatic screening may not be practical as an individual service. Based on participants' responses, the final attributes of the choice experiment included travel time, health encounter, health worker type and sex, and breast cancer early detection strategy. Cognitive testing confirmed the acceptability of the final attributes, comprehension of choice tasks, and women's abilities to make trade-offs. Applying a discrete choice experiment for breast cancer early detection was feasible with appropriate tailoring for a low-income, low-literacy African setting.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Kohler RE
2015-10-01
Full Text Available Racquel E Kohler,1 Clara N Lee,2 Satish Gopal,3 Bryce B Reeve,1 Bryan J Weiner,1 Stephanie B Wheeler11Department of Health Policy and Management, Gillings School of Global Public Health, 2Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; 3UNC Project-Malawi, Tidziwe Center, Lilongwe, MalawiBackground: In Malawi, routine breast cancer screening is not available and little is known about women’s preferences regarding early detection services. Discrete choice experiments are increasingly used to reveal preferences about new health services; however, selecting appropriate attributes that describe a new health service is imperative to ensure validity of the choice experiment.Objective: To identify important factors that are relevant to Malawian women’s preferences for breast cancer detection services and to select attributes and levels for a discrete choice experiment in a setting where both breast cancer early detection and choice experiments are rare.Methods: We reviewed the literature to establish an initial list of potential attributes and levels for a discrete choice experiment and conducted qualitative interviews with health workers and community women to explore relevant local factors affecting decisions to use cancer detection services. We tested the design through cognitive interviews and refined the levels, descriptions, and designs.Results: Themes that emerged from interviews provided critical information about breast cancer detection services, specifically, that breast cancer interventions should be integrated into other health services because asymptomatic screening may not be practical as an individual service. Based on participants’ responses, the final attributes of the choice experiment included travel time, health encounter, health worker type and sex, and breast cancer early detection strategy. Cognitive testing confirmed the acceptability of the final attributes
Fund choice behavior and estimation of switching models: an experiment*
Anufriev, M.; Bao, T.; Tuinstra, J.
2013-01-01
We run a laboratory experiment that contributes to the finance literature on "return chasing behavior" studying how investors switch between mutual funds driven by past performance of the funds. The subjects in this experiment make discrete choices between several (2, 3 or 4) experimental funds in
Farmer preference for improved corn seeds in Chiapas, Mexico: A choice experiment approach
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Blanca I. Sánchez-Toledano
2017-12-01
Full Text Available Appropriate technologies must be developed for adoption of improved seeds based on the farmers’ preferences and needs. Our research identified the farmers’ willingness to pay (WTP as a key determinant for selecting the improved varieties of maize seeds and landraces in Chiapas, Mexico. This work also analyzed the farmers’ observed heterogeneity on the basis of their socio-economic characteristics. Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire from 200 farmers. A proportional choice experiment approach was applied using a proportional choice variable, where farmers were asked to state the percentage of preference for different alternative varieties in a choice set. The generalized multinomial logit model in WTP-space approach was used. The results suggest that the improved seed varieties are preferred over the Creole alternatives, thereby ensuring higher yields, resistance to diseases, and larger ear size. For the preference heterogeneity analyses, a latent class model was applied. Three types of farmers were identified: innovators (60.5%, transition farmers (29.4%, and conservative farmers (10%. An understanding of farmers’ preferences is useful in designing agricultural policies and creating pricing and marketing strategies for the dissemination of quality seeds.
Miguélez, Marta; Merlani, Paolo; Gigon, Fabienne; Verdon, Mélanie; Annoni, Jean-Marie; Ricou, Bara
2014-08-01
Following treatment in an ICU, up to 70% of chronically critically ill patients present neurocognitive impairment that can have negative effects on their quality of life, daily activities, and return to work. The Mini Mental State Examination is a simple, widely used tool for neurocognitive assessment. Although of interest when evaluating ICU patients, the current version is restricted to patients who are able to speak. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of a visual, multiple-choice Mini Mental State Examination for ICU patients who are unable to speak. The multiple-choice Mini Mental State Examination and the standard Mini Mental State Examination were compared across three different speaking populations. The interrater and intrarater reliabilities of the multiple-choice Mini Mental State Examination were tested on both intubated and tracheostomized ICU patients. Mixed 36-bed ICU and neuropsychology department in a university hospital. Twenty-six healthy volunteers, 20 neurological patients, 46 ICU patients able to speak, and 30 intubated or tracheostomized ICU patients. None. Multiple-choice Mini Mental State Examination results correlated satisfactorily with standard Mini Mental State Examination results in all three speaking groups: healthy volunteers: intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.43 (95% CI, -0.18 to 0.62); neurology patients: 0.90 (95% CI, 0.82-0.95); and ICU patients able to speak: 0.86 (95% CI, 0.70-0.92). The interrater and intrarater reliabilities were good (0.95 [0.87-0.98] and 0.94 [0.31-0.99], respectively). In all populations, a Bland-Altman analysis showed systematically higher scores using the multiple-choice Mini Mental State Examination. Administration of the multiple-choice Mini Mental State Examination to ICU patients was straightforward and produced exploitable results comparable to those of the standard Mini Mental State Examination. It should be of interest for the assessment and monitoring of the neurocognitive
Choice and ego-depletion: the moderating role of autonomy.
Moller, Arlen C; Deci, Edward L; Ryan, Richard M
2006-08-01
The self-regulatory strength model maintains that all acts of self-regulation, self-control, and choice result in a state of fatigue called ego-depletion. Self-determination theory differentiates between autonomous regulation and controlled regulation. Because making decisions represents one instance of self-regulation, the authors also differentiate between autonomous choice and controlled choice. Three experiments support the hypothesis that whereas conditions representing controlled choice would be egodepleting, conditions that represented autonomous choice would not. In Experiment 3, the authors found significant mediation by perceived self-determination of the relation between the choice condition (autonomous vs. controlled) and ego-depletion as measured by performance.
State-dependent choice and ecological rationality.
Nevai, Andrew L; Waite, Thomas A; Passino, Kevin M
2007-08-07
Decision makers who minimize costly errors should flexibly adjust the way they trade off competing demands, depending on their current state. We explore how state (amount of hoarded food) affects willingness to take extra predation risk to obtain larger food rewards, particularly in animals that may overemphasize safety. Assuming a sigmoid fitness function, we explore how a supplement in state influences this willingness trade danger for food energy. Above a threshold, the model predicts the supplement will weaken this willingness. Incremental increases in state in the deceleratory phase yield smaller fitness gains, so it pays to increase emphasis on safety after receiving a supplement. Below this threshold, the model makes the opposite prediction because incremental increases in state yield bigger fitness gains and so it pays to decrease emphasis on safety. We use the model to explain why hoarding gray jays (Perisoreus canadensis) were induced by an experimental subsidy to accept greater danger. This formerly puzzling finding makes sense if the jays' effective hoard was relatively small, due to theft and decomposition. We discuss adaptive state-dependent choice as a general explanation for apparently irrational behavior.
Expanding the Education Universe: A Fifty-State Strategy for Course Choice
Brickman, Michael
2014-01-01
After twenty years of expanding school-choice options, state leaders, educators, and families have a new tool: course choice, a strategy for students to learn from unconventional providers that might range from top-tier universities or innovative community colleges to local employers, labs, or hospitals. In "Expanding the Education Universe:…
Discrete Choice Experiments: A Guide to Model Specification, Estimation and Software.
Lancsar, Emily; Fiebig, Denzil G; Hole, Arne Risa
2017-07-01
We provide a user guide on the analysis of data (including best-worst and best-best data) generated from discrete-choice experiments (DCEs), comprising a theoretical review of the main choice models followed by practical advice on estimation and post-estimation. We also provide a review of standard software. In providing this guide, we endeavour to not only provide guidance on choice modelling but to do so in a way that provides a 'way in' for researchers to the practicalities of data analysis. We argue that choice of modelling approach depends on the research questions, study design and constraints in terms of quality/quantity of data and that decisions made in relation to analysis of choice data are often interdependent rather than sequential. Given the core theory and estimation of choice models is common across settings, we expect the theoretical and practical content of this paper to be useful to researchers not only within but also beyond health economics.
Informed choice and the nanny state: learning from the tobacco industry.
Hoek, Janet
2015-08-01
To examine the 'nanny state' arguments used by tobacco companies, explore the cognitive biases that impede smokers' ability to make fully informed choices, and analyse the implications for those working to limit the harmful effects of other risk products. A critical analysis of the practices engaged in by the tobacco industry, the logic on which they relied, and the extent to which their work has informed approaches used by other industries. The tobacco industry's deliberate strategy of challenging scientific evidence undermines smokers' ability to understand the harms smoking poses and questions arguments that smoking is an informed choice. Cognitive biases predispose smokers to discount risk information, particularly when this evidence is disputed and framed as uncertain. Only state intervention has held the tobacco industry to account and begun ameliorating the effects of their sustained duplicity. Evidence other industries are now adopting similar tactics, particularly use of 'nanny state' claims to oppose proportionate interventions, is concerning. Some marketing strategies have deliberately mis-informed consumers thus directly contributing to many public health problems. Far from removing free choice, government policies that restrain commercial communications and stimuli are prerequisites necessary to promote free choice. Copyright © 2015 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Price vector effects in choice experiments: an empirical test
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Hanley, Nick; Wright, Robert E.; Adamowicz, Wiktor
2005-01-01
This paper investigates whether the preference and willingness-to-pay estimates obtained from the choice experiment method of estimating non-market values are sensitive to the vector of prices used in the experimental design. We undertake this test in the context of water quality improvements under the European Union's new Water Framework Directive. Using a mixed logit model, which allows for differing scale between the two samples, we find no significant impact of changing the price vector on estimates of preferences or willingness-to-pay. (author) (Choice modelling; Non-market valuation; Design effects; Water Framework Directive)
Realistic interpretation of quantum mechanics and encounter-delayed-choice experiment
Long, GuiLu; Qin, Wei; Yang, Zhe; Li, Jun-Lin
2018-03-01
In this paper, a realistic interpretation (REIN) of the wave function in quantum mechanics is briefly presented. We demonstrate that in the REIN, the wave function of a microscopic object is its real existence rather than a mere mathematical description. Specifically, the quantum object can exist in disjointed regions of space just as the wave function is distributed, travels at a finite speed, and collapses instantly upon a measurement. Furthermore, we analyze the single-photon interference in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) using the REIN. Based on this, we propose and experimentally implement a generalized delayed-choice experiment, called the encounter-delayed-choice experiment, where the second beam splitter is decided whether or not to insert at the encounter of two sub-waves along the arms of the MZI. In such an experiment, the parts of the sub-waves, which do not travel through the beam splitter, show a particle nature, whereas the remaining parts interfere and thus show a wave nature. The predicted phenomenon is clearly demonstrated in the experiment, thus supporting the REIN idea.
Charles, Joanna M; Roberts, Jessica L; Din, Nafees Ud; Williams, Nefyn H; Yeo, Seow Tien; Edwards, Rhiannon T
2018-05-14
As part of a wider feasibility study, the feasibility of gaining older patients' views for hip fracture rehabilitation services was tested using a discrete choice experiment in a UK context. Discrete choice experiment is a method used for eliciting individuals' preferences about goods and services. The discrete choice experiment was administered to 41 participants who had experienced hip fracture (mean age 79.3 years; standard deviation (SD) 7.5 years), recruited from a larger feasibility study exploring a new multidisciplinary rehabilitation for hip fracture. Attributes and levels for this discrete choice experiment were identified from a systematic review and focus groups. The questionnaire was administered at the 3-month follow-up. Participants indicated a significant preference for a fully-qualified physiotherapist or occupational therapist to deliver the rehabilitation sessions (β = 0·605, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.462-0.879), and for their rehabilitation session to last less than 90 min (β = -0.192, 95% CI -0.381 to -0.051). The design of the discrete choice experiment using attributes associated with service configuration could have the potential to inform service implementation, and assist rehabilitation service design that incorporates the preferences of patients.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
De Raedt, Hans; Delina, M; Jin, Fengping; Michielsen, Kristel
2012-01-01
A corpuscular simulation model of optical phenomena that does not require knowledge of the solution of a wave equation of the whole system and reproduces the results of Maxwell's theory by generating detection events one by one is discussed. The event-based corpuscular model gives a unified description of multiple-beam fringes of a plane parallel plate and a single-photon Mach-Zehnder interferometer, Wheeler's delayed choice, photon tunneling, quantum eraser, two-beam interference, Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen-Bohm and Hanbury Brown-Twiss experiments. The approach is illustrated by applying it to a recent proposal for a quantum-controlled delayed choice experiment, demonstrating that also this thought experiment can be understood in terms of particle processes only.
Consumer preferences for electronic cigarettes: results from a discrete choice experiment.
Czoli, Christine D; Goniewicz, Maciej; Islam, Towhidul; Kotnowski, Kathy; Hammond, David
2016-04-01
E-cigarettes present a formidable challenge to regulators given their variety and the rapidly evolving nicotine market. The current study sought to examine the influence of e-cigarette product characteristics on consumer perceptions and trial intentions among Canadians. An online discrete choice experiment was conducted with 915 Canadians aged 16 years and older in November 2013. An online commercial panel was used to sample 3 distinct subpopulations: (1) non-smoking youth and young adults (n=279); (2) smoking youth and young adults (n=264) and (3) smoking adults (n=372). Participants completed a series of stated-preference tasks, in which they viewed choice sets with e-cigarette product images that featured different combinations of attributes: flavour, nicotine content, health warnings and price. For each choice set, participants were asked to select one of the products or indicate 'none of the above' with respect to the following outcomes: interest in trying, less harm and usefulness in quitting smoking. The attributes' impact on consumer choice for each outcome was analysed using multinomial logit regression. Health warning was the most important attribute influencing participants' intentions to try e-cigarettes (42%) and perceived efficacy as a quit aid (39%). Both flavour (36%) and health warnings (35%) significantly predicted perceptions of product harm. The findings indicate that consumers make trade-offs with respect to e-cigarette product characteristics, and that these trade-offs vary across different subpopulations. Given that health warnings and flavour were weighted most important by consumers in this study, these may represent good targets for e-cigarette regulatory frameworks. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/
Kiiskinen, Urpo; Suominen-Taipale, Anna Liisa; Cairns, John
2010-06-01
This study concerns the choice of primary dental service provider by consumers. If the health service delivery system allows individuals to choose between public-care providers or if complementary private services are available, it is typically assumed that utilisation is a three-stage decision process. The patient first makes a decision to seek care, and then chooses the service provider. The final stage, involving decisions over the amount and form of treatment, is not considered here. The paper reports a discrete choice experiment (DCE) designed to evaluate attributes affecting individuals' choice of dental-care provider. The feasibility of the DCE approach in modelling consumers' choice in the context of non-acute need for dental care is assessed. The aim is to test whether a separate two-stage logit, a multinomial logit, or a nested logit best fits the choice process of consumers. A nested logit model of indirect utility functions is estimated and inclusive value (IV) constraints are tested for modelling implications. The results show that non-trading behaviour has an impact on the choice of appropriate modelling technique, but is to some extent dependent on the choice of scenarios offered. It is concluded that for traders multinomial logit is appropriate, whereas for non-traders and on average the nested logit is the method supported by the analyses. The consistent finding in all subgroup analyses is that the traditional two-stage decision process is found to be implausible in the context of consumer's choice of dental-care provider.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Boeri, Marco; Longo, Alberto
2017-01-01
This study provides a methodologically rigorous attempt to disentangle the impact of various factors – unobserved heterogeneity, information and environmental attitudes – on the inclination of individuals to exhibit either a utility maximization or a regret minimization behaviour in a discrete choice experiment for renewable energy programmes described by four attributes: greenhouse gas emissions, power outages, employment in the energy sector, and electricity bill. We explore the ability of different models – multinomial logit, random parameters logit, and hybrid latent class – and of different choice paradigms – utility maximization and regret minimization – in explaining people's choices for renewable energy programmes. The “pure” random regret random parameters logit model explains the choices of our respondents better than other models, indicating that regret is an important choice paradigm, and that choices for renewable energy programmes are mostly driven by regret, rather than by rejoice. In particular, we find that our respondents' choices are driven more by changes in greenhouse gas emissions than by reductions in power outages. Finally, we find that changing the level of information to one attribute has no effect on choices, and that being a member of an environmental organization makes a respondent more likely to be associated with the utility maximization choice framework. - Highlights: • The first paper to use the Random Regret Minimization choice paradigm in energy economics • With a hybrid latent class model, choices conform to either utility or pure random regret. • The pure random regret random parameters logit model outperforms other models. • Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is more important than reducing power outages.
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Lincke Hans-Joachim
2009-08-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background While there is an increasing emphasis on patient empowerment and shared decision-making, subjective values for attributes associated with their treatment still need to be measured and considered. This contribution seeks to define properties of an ideal drug treatment of individuals concerned with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD. Because of the lack of information on patient needs in the decision-makers assessment of health services, the individuals' preferences often play a subordinate role at present. Discrete Choice Experiments offer strategies for eliciting subjective values and making them accessible for physicians and other health care professionals. Methods The evidence comes from a Discrete Choice Experiments (DCE performed in 2007. After reviewing the literature about preferences of ADHS we conducted a qualitative study with four focus groups consisting of five to eleven ADHS-patients each. In order to achieve content validity, we aimed at collecting all relevant factors for an ideal ADHS treatment. In a subsequent quantitative study phase (n = 219, data was collected in an online or paper-pencil self-completed questionnaire. It included sociodemographic data, health status and patients' preferences of therapy characteristics using direct measurement (23 items on a five-point Likert-scale as well as a Discrete-Choice-Experiment (DCE, six factors in a fold-over design. Results Those concerned were capable of clearly defining success criteria and expectations. In the direct assessment and the DCE, respondents attached special significance to the improvement of their social situation and emotional state (relative importance 40%. Another essential factor was the desire for drugs with a long-lasting effect over the day (relative importance 18%. Other criteria, such as flexibility and discretion, were less important to the respondents (6% and 9%, respectively. Conclusion Results point out that ADHD patients
Managing Multilingualism on State Websites: How Institutional Employees Explain Language Choice
Berezkina, Maimu
2018-01-01
The purpose of this study is to understand how institutional language managers make and legitimize decisions about language choice on state websites. The focus lies on state institutions in two technologically advanced European nation-states: Estonia and Norway. The analysis is empirically based on interviews with employees at the institutions who…
Choices and control: parental experiences in pediatric terminal home care.
Vickers, J L; Carlisle, C
2000-01-01
During the past decade, palliative care at home has become an alternative option to hospital care for terminally ill children. This study describes the experience of caring for a dying child at home from a parent's perspective. A qualitative research design was used to conduct and analyze data. Nonstandardized, focused interviews were conducted with 10 families. Thematic content analysis assisted in deriving themes from the transcripts of the interviews. "Choice and control" was the major theme that linked all the other concepts, and it appeared to be fundamental to parental coping strategies. Most parents were willing to take responsibility for the nursing care of their child, including administration of intravenous medication. The patient's home was the overwhelming choice of parents for delivery of terminal care, with most parents perceiving it as their child's choice also.
Measuring Patient Preferences: An Overview of Methods with a Focus on Discrete Choice Experiments.
Hazlewood, Glen S
2018-05-01
There is increasing recognition of the importance of patient preferences and methodologies to measure them. In this article, methods to quantify patient preferences are reviewed, with a focus on discrete choice experiments. In a discrete choice experiment, patients are asked to choose between 2 or more treatments. The results can be used to quantify the relative importance of treatment outcomes and/or other considerations relevant to medical decision making. Conducting and interpreting a discrete choice experiment requires multiple steps and an understanding of the potential biases that can arise, which we review in this article with examples in rheumatic diseases. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Mørkbak, Morten Raun; Olsen, Søren Bøye
2015-01-01
In this paper, we investigate the level of agreement between respondents' choices in identical choice sets in a test-retest choice experiment for a market good with real economic incentives, thus investigating whether the incentivised CE method can be reliable and stable over time. Besides...... comparing choices, we also test for differences in preferences and error variance when a sample of respondents is given the exact same questionnaire twice, with a time lag of 2 weeks in between. Finally, we examine potential reasons and covariates explaining the level of agreement in choices across the 2...... weeks. Across four different tests, we find very good agreement between the two choice experiments - both with respect to overall choices and with respect to preferences. Furthermore, error variances do not differ significantly between the two surveys. The results also show that the larger the utility...
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Neha Sharma
2017-10-01
Full Text Available One of the paradigms (called “sampling paradigm” in judgment and decision-making involves decision-makers sample information before making a final consequential choice. In the sampling paradigm, certain computational models have been proposed where a set of single or distribution parameters is calibrated to the choice proportions of a group of participants (aggregate and hierarchical models. However, currently little is known on how aggregate and hierarchical models would account for choices made by individual participants in the sampling paradigm. In this paper, we test the ability of aggregate and hierarchical models to explain choices made by individual participants. Several models, Ensemble, Cumulative Prospect Theory (CPT, Best Estimation and Simulation Techniques (BEAST, Natural-Mean Heuristic (NMH, and Instance-Based Learning (IBL, had their parameters calibrated to individual choices in a large dataset involving the sampling paradigm. Later, these models were generalized to two large datasets in the sampling paradigm. Results revealed that the aggregate models (like CPT and IBL accounted for individual choices better than hierarchical models (like Ensemble and BEAST upon generalization to problems that were like those encountered during calibration. Furthermore, the CPT model, which relies on differential valuing of gains and losses, respectively, performed better than other models during calibration and generalization on datasets with similar set of problems. The IBL model, relying on recency and frequency of sampled information, and the NMH model, relying on frequency of sampled information, performed better than other models during generalization to a challenging dataset. Sequential analyses of results from different models showed how these models accounted for transitions from the last sample to final choice in human data. We highlight the implications of using aggregate and hierarchical models in explaining individual choices
Parkinson, Bonny; Goodall, Stephen; Norman, Richard
2013-04-01
Economic evaluation of mandatory health programmes generally do not consider the utility impact of a loss of consumer choice upon implementation, despite evidence suggesting that consumers do value having the ability to choose. The primary aim of this study was to explore whether the utility impact of a loss of consumer choice from implementing mandatory health programmes can be measured using discrete choice experiments (DCEs). Three case studies were used to test the methodology: fortification of bread-making flour with folate, mandatory influenza vaccination of children, and the banning of trans-fats. Attributes and levels were developed from a review of the literature. An orthogonal, fractional factorial design was used to select the profiles presented to respondents to allow estimation of main effects. Overall, each DCE consisted of 64 profiles which were allocated to four versions of 16 profiles. Each choice task compared two profiles, one being voluntary and the other being mandatory, plus a 'no policy' option, thus each respondent was presented with eight choice tasks. For each choice task, respondents were asked which health policy they most preferred and least preferred. Data was analysed using a mixed logit model with correlated coefficients (200 Halton draws). The compensating variation required for introducing a programme on a mandatory basis (versus achieving the same health impacts with a voluntary programme) that holds utility constant was estimated. Responses were provided by 535 participants (a response rate of 83 %). For the influenza vaccination and folate fortification programmes, the results suggested that some level of compensation may be required for introducing the programme on a mandatory basis. Introducing a mandatory influenza vaccination programme required the highest compensation (Australian dollars [A$] 112.75, 95 % CI -60.89 to 286.39) compared with folate fortification (A$18.05, 95 % CI -3.71 to 39.80). No compensation was
Lancsar, Emily; Louviere, Jordan
2006-08-01
Investigation of the 'rationality' of responses to discrete choice experiments (DCEs) has been a theme of research in health economics. Responses have been deleted from DCEs where they have been deemed by researchers to (a) be 'irrational', defined by such studies as failing tests for non-satiation, or (b) represent lexicographic preferences. This paper outlines a number of reasons why deleting responses from DCEs may be inappropriate after first reviewing the theory underpinning rationality, highlighting that the importance placed on rationality depends on the approach to consumer theory to which one ascribes. The aim of this paper is not to suggest that all preferences elicited via DCEs are rational. Instead, it is to suggest a number of reasons why it may not be the case that all preferences labelled as 'irrational' are indeed so. Hence, deleting responses may result in the removal of valid preferences; induce sample selection bias; and reduce the statistical efficiency and power of the estimated choice models. Further, evidence suggests random utility theory may be able to cope with such preferences. Finally, we discuss a number of implications for the design, implementation and interpretation of DCEs and recommend caution regarding the deletion of preferences from stated preference experiments. Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Zeilinger, Adam R; Olson, Dawn M; Andow, David A
2014-08-01
Consumer feeding preference among resource choices has critical implications for basic ecological and evolutionary processes, and can be highly relevant to applied problems such as ecological risk assessment and invasion biology. Within consumer choice experiments, also known as feeding preference or cafeteria experiments, measures of relative consumption and measures of consumer movement can provide distinct and complementary insights into the strength, causes, and consequences of preference. Despite the distinct value of inferring preference from measures of consumer movement, rigorous and biologically relevant analytical methods are lacking. We describe a simple, likelihood-based, biostatistical model for analyzing the transient dynamics of consumer movement in a paired-choice experiment. With experimental data consisting of repeated discrete measures of consumer location, the model can be used to estimate constant consumer attraction and leaving rates for two food choices, and differences in choice-specific attraction and leaving rates can be tested using model selection. The model enables calculation of transient and equilibrial probabilities of consumer-resource association, which could be incorporated into larger scale movement models. We explore the effect of experimental design on parameter estimation through stochastic simulation and describe methods to check that data meet model assumptions. Using a dataset of modest sample size, we illustrate the use of the model to draw inferences on consumer preference as well as underlying behavioral mechanisms. Finally, we include a user's guide and computer code scripts in R to facilitate use of the model by other researchers.
The use of discrete choice experiments to inform health workforce policy: a systematic review.
Mandeville, Kate L; Lagarde, Mylene; Hanson, Kara
2014-09-01
Discrete choice experiments have become a popular study design to study the labour market preferences of health workers. Discrete choice experiments in health, however, have been criticised for lagging behind best practice and there are specific methodological considerations for those focused on job choices. We performed a systematic review of the application of discrete choice experiments to inform health workforce policy. We searched for discrete choice experiments that examined the labour market preferences of health workers, including doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, mid-level and community health workers. We searched Medline, Embase, Global Health, other databases and grey literature repositories with no limits on date or language and contacted 44 experts. Features of choice task and experimental design, conduct and analysis of included studies were assessed against best practice. An assessment of validity was undertaken for all studies, with a comparison of results from those with low risk of bias and a similar objective and context. Twenty-seven studies were included, with over half set in low- and middle-income countries. There were more studies published in the last four years than the previous ten years. Doctors or medical students were the most studied cadre. Studies frequently pooled results from heterogeneous subgroups or extrapolated these results to the general population. Only one third of studies included an opt-out option, despite all health workers having the option to exit the labour market. Just five studies combined results with cost data to assess the cost effectiveness of various policy options. Comparison of results from similar studies broadly showed the importance of bonus payments and postgraduate training opportunities and the unpopularity of time commitments for the uptake of rural posts. This is the first systematic review of discrete choice experiments in human resources for health. We identified specific issues relating
AIRLINE ITINERARY CHOICE IN A DYNAMIC SUPPLY ENVIRONMENT: RESULTS FROM A STATED PREFERENCE SURVEY
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Uzi Freund-Feinstei
2017-12-01
Full Text Available This paper investigates the choice of airline itineraries in dynamic settings using a tailored stated preference survey. The paper hypothesizes that airline itinerary choice is not a one-time event, but a continuous process during a certain time frame. Consumers can choose either to purchase an itinerary, deferring choice up to the end of the sales period, or completely declining the purchase. Understanding such consumers’ behavior is specifically relevant to the tourism industry, where firms are extensively utilizing internet websites to offer their products (e.g., airline tickets, hotel rooms to consumers. The paper describes the stated preference survey with real itineraries of various airlines on medium and long-haul routes. Choice sets are composed with dynamic and static variables and socio-economic variables. Questionnaires were distributed electronically among various groups of respondents, yielding a sample of 914 persons. Results show that (i itinerary choice deferring takes place, with differences between tourists and business-travelers, (ii the decision whether to defer choice is affected by dynamically changing variables and by the length of each respondent’s allocated choice period, and (iii the proposed methodology is adequate for investigating choice in dynamic settings and thus indicating its potential for further research in transportation planning and in tourism.
A pilot test of a new stated preference valuation method. Continuous attribute-based stated choice
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ready, Richard; Fisher, Ann; Guignet, Dennis; Stedman, Richard; Wang, Junchao
2006-01-01
A new stated preference nonmarket valuation technique is developed. In an interactive computerized survey, respondents move continuous sliders to vary levels of environmental attributes. The total cost of the combination of attributes is calculated according to a preprogrammed cost function, continuously updated and displayed as respondents move the sliders. Each registered choice reveals the respondent's marginal willingness to pay for each of the attributes. The method is tested in a museum exhibit on global climate change. Two construct validity tests were conducted. Responses are sensitive to the shape of the cost function in ways that are consistent with expectations based on economic theory. Implied marginal willingness to pay values were similar to those estimated using a more traditional paired comparisons stated choice format. However, responses showed range effects that indicate potential cognitive biases. (author)
Factors influencing farmers’ choices of adaptation to climate change in Ekiti State, Nigeria
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Oluwakemi Adeola Obayelu
2014-06-01
Full Text Available Climate change poses a great threat to human security through erratic rainfall patterns and decreasing crop yields, contributing to increased hunger. The perceptions of the indigenous people about climate change and their responses to climate change have significant roles to play in addressing climate change. Therefore a critical study on farmers’ choices of adaptation to is critical for ensuring food security poverty alleviation. A multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select 156 households in Ekiti state while descriptive statistics and multinomial logit were used to analyze the data obtained from the households. The results showed that the most widely used adaptation method by the farmers were soil and water conservation measures (67 percent. The multinomial logit analysis revealed that the factors explaining farmer’s choices of climate change adaptation include age of the farmers, gender of the household head, years of education, years of farming experience, household size, farmers information on climate change, farmers access to credit, farm income, non-farm income, livestock ownership and extension contact.
The Making of Informed Choice in Midwifery: A Feminist Experiment in Care.
MacDonald, Margaret E
2017-11-15
This paper is about the clinical principle of informed choice-the hallmark feature of the midwifery model of care in Ontario, Canada. Drawing on ethnographic history interviews with midwives, I trace the origins of the idea of informed choice to its roots in the social movement of midwifery in North America in the late 1960s and 1970s. At that time informed choice was not the distinctive feature of midwifery but was deeply embedded what I call midwifery's feminist experiment in care. But as midwifery in Ontario transitioned from a social movement to a full profession within the formal health care system, informed choice was strategically foregrounded in order to make the midwifery model of care legible and acceptable to a skeptical medical profession, conservative law makers, and a mainstream clientele. As mainstream biomedicine now takes up the rhetoric of patient empowerment and informed choice, this paper is at once a nuanced history of the making of the concept and also a critique of the ascendant 'regime of choice' in contemporary health care, inspired by the reflections of the midwives in my study for whom choice is impossible without care.
Event-by-event simulation of a quantum delayed-choice experiment
Donker, Hylke C.; De Raedt, Hans; Michielsen, Kristel
2014-01-01
The quantum delayed-choice experiment of Tang et al. (2012) is simulated on the level of individual events without making reference to concepts of quantum theory or without solving a wave equation. The simulation results are in excellent agreement with the quantum theoretical predictions of this
Effects of web experience on consumer choice: a multicultural approach
Constantinides, Efthymios; Lorenzo Romero, Carlota; Gomez, Miguel A.
2010-01-01
Purpose – This paper seeks to analyze the buying behavior of internet users in two European countries with different cultural backgrounds, Spain and The Netherlands, assessing the influence of online experience factors on the choice of an internet vendor. It also aims to identify and compare the
Kamphuis, Carlijn B M; de Bekker-Grob, Esther W; van Lenthe, Frank J
2015-04-01
Healthiness, price, and convenience are typically indicated as important motives for food choices; however, it is largely unknown to what extent older adults from high and low socioeconomic groups differ in these underlying motives. A discrete choice experiment (DCE) is an innovative way to elicit implicit motives for food choices. The aim was to investigate differences in food motives between socioeconomic groups by means of a DCE. A DCE was carried out during a face-to-face interview among older adults as part of the Health and Living Conditions in Eindhoven and surrounding cities (GLOBE) cohort study, The Netherlands. Participants (n = 399; mean age: 63.3 y) were offered a series of choice sets about a usual dinner at home and were asked to choose in each choice set between 2 meals and an opt-out choice, with different combinations of attribute levels. We included 5 meal attributes (taste, healthiness, preparation time, travel time to shops, and price) and 3 or 4 levels for each attribute. Data were analyzed by multinomial logit models. Healthiness, taste, price, and travel time to the grocery store proved to significantly influence older adults' meal decisions; preparation time was not significant. Healthiness was the most important attribute for all of the participants. More highly educated participants rated a healthy and less expensive meal to be more important than did less educated participants. Those with a high income rated a meal that was healthy and very tasteful to be more important than did those with a lower income. Healthiness, taste, price, and travel time to grocery shops influenced older adults' meal decisions. Higher socioeconomic groups valued health more than did lower socioeconomic groups. DCEs represent a promising method to gain insight into the relative importance of motives for food choices. This trial was registered at www.isrctn.com as ISRCTN60293770. © 2015 American Society for Nutrition.
The demand for clean-fuel vehicles by Dutch local authorities. A stated choice analysis
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Hagen, P.
2012-08-15
Previous research showed that the era of cheap fossil fuels is over. Also, 23% of the worldwide emission of CO2 is produced by road transport. These problems demand a change in the propulsion of vehicles. Because the diffusion of clean-fuel vehicles is not happening at this moment, something has to change. Rogers' diffusion of innovation theory is used to state that a critical mass of vehicles is needed to stimulate the diffusion of these vehicles. Due to public procurement Dutch local authorities (DLA's) can help stimulating this diffusion. Unfortunately these DLA's are not purchasing clean-fuel vehicles yet. To gain insight in what is hampering the diffusion of these vehicles by DLA's, a discrete choice experiment was created about the preferences by these DLA's. Six vehicle attributes were used to describe each vehicle. The results showed that the initial purchase price and the amount of local emission were experienced as the most important attributes by DLA's, where initial purchase price has a negative influence and local emission a positive influence in the choice for a new vehicle. Next, fuel price, range and availability of the fuel were found evenly important. Fuel price had a negative influence and both range and availability of fuel had a positive influence on the choice for a new vehicle. Finally, time to refuel/recharge was found least important and also negatively influencing the choice.
Abd-El-Hafez, Alaa Karem
2015-01-01
Teacher retention is a concern in all educational sectors in America. It is of special importance to Islamic schools, which tend to lack the resources necessary in recruiting and training new teachers. This dissertation addressed this problem in full-time Islamic schools in New York State by conducting a discrete choice experiment, which reflects…
Measuring Choice to Participate in Optional Science Learning Experiences during Early Adolescence
Sha, Li; Schunn, Christian; Bathgate, Meghan
2015-01-01
Cumulatively, participation in optional science learning experiences in school, after school, at home, and in the community may have a large impact on student interest in and knowledge of science. Therefore, interventions can have large long-term effects if they change student choice preferences for such optional science learning experiences. To…
Age and choice in health insurance: evidence from a discrete choice experiment.
Becker, Karolin; Zweifel, Peter
2008-01-01
experiment was developed using six attributes (deductibles, co-payment, access to alternative medicines, medication choice, access to innovation, and monthly premium) that are currently in debate within the context of Swiss health insurance. These attributes have been shown to be important in the choice of insurance contract. Using statistical design optimization procedures, the number of choice sets was reduced to 27 and randomly split into three groups. One choice was included twice to test for consistency. Two random effects probit models were developed: a simple model where marginal utilities and WTP values were not allowed to vary according to socioeconomic characteristics, and a more complex model where the values were permitted to depend on socioeconomic variables.A representative telephone survey of 1000 people aged >24 years living in the German- and French-speaking parts of Switzerland was conducted. Participants were asked to compare the status quo (i.e. their current insurance contract) with ten hypothetical alternatives. In addition, participants were asked questions concerning utilization of healthcare services; overall satisfaction with the healthcare system, insurer and insurance policy; and a general preference for new elements in the insurance package. Socioeconomic variables surveyed were age, sex, total household income, education (seven categories ranging from primary school to university degree), place of residence, occupation, and marital status. All chosen elements proved relevant for choice in the simple model. Accounting for socioeconomic characteristics in the comprehensive model reveals preference heterogeneity for contract attributes, but also for the propensity to consider deviating from the status quo and choosing an alternative health insurance contract. The findings suggest that while the elderly do exhibit a stronger status quo bias than younger age groups, they require less rather than more specific compensation for selected cutbacks
Regier, Dean A; Diorio, Caroline; Ethier, Marie-Chantal; Alli, Amanda; Alexander, Sarah; Boydell, Katherine M; Gassas, Adam; Taylor, Jonathan; Kellow, Charis; Mills, Denise; Sung, Lillian
2012-01-01
Bacterial and fungal infections in pediatric oncology patients cause morbidity and mortality. The clinical utility of antimicrobial prophylaxis in children is uncertain and the personal utility of these agents is disputed. Objectives were to use a discrete choice experiment to: (1) describe the importance of attributes to parents and healthcare providers when deciding between use and non-use of antibacterial and antifungal prophylaxis; and (2) estimate willingness-to-pay for prophylactic strategies. Attributes were chances of infection, death and side effects, route of administration and cost of pharmacotherapy. Respondents were randomized to a discrete choice experiment outlining hypothetical treatment options to prevent antibacterial or antifungal infections. Each respondent was presented 16 choice tasks and was asked to choose between two unlabeled treatment options and an opt-out alternative (no prophylaxis). 102 parents and 60 healthcare providers participated. For the antibacterial discrete choice experiment, frequency of administration was significantly associated with utility for parents but not for healthcare providers. Increasing chances of infection, death, side effects and cost were all significantly associated with decreased utility for parents and healthcare providers in both the antibacterial and antifungal discrete choice experiment. Parental willingness-to-pay was higher than healthcare providers for both strategies. Chances of infection, death, side effects and costs were all significantly associated with utility. Parents have higher willingness-to-pay for these strategies compared with healthcare providers. This knowledge can help to develop prophylaxis programs.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Dean A Regier
Full Text Available Bacterial and fungal infections in pediatric oncology patients cause morbidity and mortality. The clinical utility of antimicrobial prophylaxis in children is uncertain and the personal utility of these agents is disputed. Objectives were to use a discrete choice experiment to: (1 describe the importance of attributes to parents and healthcare providers when deciding between use and non-use of antibacterial and antifungal prophylaxis; and (2 estimate willingness-to-pay for prophylactic strategies.Attributes were chances of infection, death and side effects, route of administration and cost of pharmacotherapy. Respondents were randomized to a discrete choice experiment outlining hypothetical treatment options to prevent antibacterial or antifungal infections. Each respondent was presented 16 choice tasks and was asked to choose between two unlabeled treatment options and an opt-out alternative (no prophylaxis.102 parents and 60 healthcare providers participated. For the antibacterial discrete choice experiment, frequency of administration was significantly associated with utility for parents but not for healthcare providers. Increasing chances of infection, death, side effects and cost were all significantly associated with decreased utility for parents and healthcare providers in both the antibacterial and antifungal discrete choice experiment. Parental willingness-to-pay was higher than healthcare providers for both strategies.Chances of infection, death, side effects and costs were all significantly associated with utility. Parents have higher willingness-to-pay for these strategies compared with healthcare providers. This knowledge can help to develop prophylaxis programs.
Predictors of site choice and eventual learning experiences in a ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
To assess the effect of students' gender, race, place of birth and place of high school completion on their choice of training site location and to assess the extent to which the training programme enhanced students' learning experiences relevant to primary care across training sites. Methods. A survey design involving six ...
Adoption of Recirculating Aquaculture Systems in Pangasius Farms: A Choice Experiment
Pham, T.A.N.; Gielen-Meuwissen, M.P.M.; Le, T.T.; Bosma, R.H.; Oude Lansink, A.G.J.M.
2015-01-01
A growing number of European customers’ demands certified pangasius such as ASC in order to ensure sustainable production. Implementing Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) contributes to an improved water quality, a key issue in achieving ASC certification. This study uses a choice experiment to
Technology choices for the Integrated Beam Experiment (IBX)
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Leitner, M.A.; Celata, C.M.; Lee, E.P.; Sabbi, G.; Waldron, W.L.; Barnard, J.J.
2002-10-31
Over the next three years the research program of the Heavy Ion Fusion Virtual National Laboratory (HIF-VNL), a collaboration among LBNL, LLNL, and PPPL, is focused on separate scientific experiments in the injection, transport and focusing of intense heavy ion beams at currents from 100 mA to 1 A. As a next major step in the HIF-VNL program, we aim for a complete ''source-to-target'' experiment, the Integrated Beam Experiment (IBX). By combining the experience gained in the current separate beam experiments IBX would allow the integrated scientific study of the evolution of a single heavy ion beam at high current ({approx}1 A) through all sections of a possible heavy ion fusion accelerator: the injection, acceleration, compression, and beam focusing. This paper describes the main parameters and technology choices of the planned IBX experiment. IBX will accelerate singly charged potassium or argon ion beams up to 10 MeV final energy and a longitudinal beam compression ratio of 10, resulting in a beam current at target of more than 10 Amperes. Different accelerator cell design options are described in detail: Induction cores incorporating either room temperature pulsed focusing-magnets or superconducting magnets.
Assessing the impact of opt-out definitions in choice experiments
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Olsen, Søren Bøye; Campbell, Danny; Mørkbak, Morten Raun
that this heuristic has a larger impact when the opt-out is defined as respondents own typical (perceived) purchase than when defined as a none-of-these or a provided hypothetical alternative. We consequently stress the importance for researchers to be aware of these possible implications related to the definition...... of opt-out alternatives in choice experiments....
Factors affecting the choice of cropping systems in Kebbi State ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
The study examined the factors that influence choice of cropping systems in Kebbi State Nigeria. The technique applied in the study was Logit regression. Data to conduct the research was obtained mainly from primary sources through a questionnaire survey of 256 farmers, comprising 98 monocroppers and 158 ...
Rationalising the 'irrational': a think aloud study of discrete choice experiment responses.
Ryan, Mandy; Watson, Verity; Entwistle, Vikki
2009-03-01
Stated preference methods assume respondents' preferences are consistent with utility theory, but many empirical studies report evidence of preferences that violate utility theory. This evidence is often derived from quantitative tests that occur naturally within, or are added to, stated preference tasks. In this study, we use qualitative methods to explore three axioms of utility theory: completeness, monotonicity, and continuity. We take a novel approach, adopting a 'think aloud' technique to identify violations of the axioms of utility theory and to consider how well the quantitative tests incorporated within a discrete choice experiment are able to detect these. Results indicate that quantitative tests classify respondents as being 'irrational' when qualitative statements would indicate they are 'rational'. In particular, 'non-monotonic' responses can often be explained by respondents inferring additional information beyond what is presented in the task, and individuals who appear to adopt non-compensatory decision-making strategies do so because they rate particular attributes very highly (they are not attempting to simplify the task). The results also provide evidence of 'cost-based responses': respondents assumed tests with higher costs would be of higher quality. The value of including in-depth qualitative validation techniques in the development of stated preference tasks is shown.
Choice of hunting site as a consequence of experience in late-instar crab spiders.
Morse, Douglass H
1999-08-01
Earlier experiences may play an important role in the choice of hunting sites, but their effects on the foraging repertoire of most animals remain poorly understood. I tested the role of previous flower choices (hunting sites) by penultimate-instar female crab spiders Misumena vatia in making subsequent patch-choice decisions. M. vatia is a sit-and-wait predator, and the two flower species used, ox-eye daisy Chrysanthemum leucanthemum and common buttercup Ranunculus acris, are important hunting sites. Spiders with different immediate experience showed similar short-term (<1 day) giving-up times on the two flower species, independent of their previous substrate. However, four-fifths of the individuals that remained a day or longer tended to leave buttercups sooner than daisies, especially if they had previously occupied daisies. Thus they may directly assess the quality of a potential hunting site, perhaps in response to prey abundance, but previous experience may play a minor role as well. Of spiders that made several consecutive choices of hunting sites, those on daisies often confined these runs to daisies (one of two years); those on buttercups did not exhibit comparable fidelity. Spiders molting into the adult stage almost always subsequently chose the same flower species (either daisy or buttercup) as the one on which they molted. Thus, juvenile experiences may influence adults, the critical stage when virtually all of the spiders' reproductive resources are gathered, even if this resulted from imprinting on their molt sites rather than carrying information over the molt.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Janssen EM
2017-10-01
of preference heterogeneity for use in patient-centered benefit–risk assessments and personalized care approaches. Keywords: preference heterogeneity, stated-preference methods, preference heterogeneity, willingness-to-pay, choice experiment, educational attainment
Accounting for the Theory of Planned Behaviour in departure time choice
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Thorhauge, Mikkel; Haustein, Sonja; Cherchi, Elisabetta
2016-01-01
into a discrete choice model. The psychological factors were measured based on an online questionnaire addressed to car commuters to the city centre of Copenhagen (N = 286). The questionnaire additionally included a travel diary and a stated preference experiment with nine departure time choice scenarios. All...
Augmenting short cheap talk scripts with a repeated opt-out reminder in choice experiment surveys
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Ladenburg, Jacob; Olsen, Søren Bøye
2014-01-01
find the OOR to significantly reduce total WTP and to some extent also marginal WTP beyond the capability of the CT applied without the OOR. This suggests that the CT practice should be adapted to fit the potentially different decision processes and repeated choices structure of the Choice Experiment...
Janssen, Ellen M; Marshall, Deborah A; Hauber, A Brett; Bridges, John F P
2017-12-01
The recent endorsement of discrete-choice experiments (DCEs) and other stated-preference methods by regulatory and health technology assessment (HTA) agencies has placed a greater focus on demonstrating the validity and reliability of preference results. Areas covered: We present a practical overview of tests of validity and reliability that have been applied in the health DCE literature and explore other study qualities of DCEs. From the published literature, we identify a variety of methods to assess the validity and reliability of DCEs. We conceptualize these methods to create a conceptual model with four domains: measurement validity, measurement reliability, choice validity, and choice reliability. Each domain consists of three categories that can be assessed using one to four procedures (for a total of 24 tests). We present how these tests have been applied in the literature and direct readers to applications of these tests in the health DCE literature. Based on a stakeholder engagement exercise, we consider the importance of study characteristics beyond traditional concepts of validity and reliability. Expert commentary: We discuss study design considerations to assess the validity and reliability of a DCE, consider limitations to the current application of tests, and discuss future work to consider the quality of DCEs in healthcare.
Patients' and urologists' preferences for prostate cancer treatment: a discrete choice experiment
de Bekker-Grob, E W; Bliemer, M C J; Donkers, B; Essink-Bot, M-L; Korfage, I J; Roobol, M J; Bangma, C H; Steyerberg, E W
2013-01-01
Background: Patients' preferences are important for shared decision making. Therefore, we investigated patients' and urologists' preferences for treatment alternatives for early prostate cancer (PC). Methods: A discrete choice experiment was conducted among 150 patients who were waiting for their biopsy results, and 150 urologists. Regression analysis was used to determine patients' and urologists' stated preferences using scenarios based on PC treatment modality (radiotherapy, surgery, and active surveillance (AS)), and risks of urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction. Results: The response rate was 110 out of 150 (73%) for patients and 50 out of 150 (33%) for urologists. Risk of urinary incontinence was an important determinant of both patients' and urologists' stated preferences for PC treatment (Prisk of erectile dysfunction due to radiotherapy was mainly important to urologists (Pof patients with anxious/depressed feelings who preferred radical treatment to AS. Conclusion: Although patients and urologists generally may prefer similar treatments for PC, they showed different trade-offs between various specific treatment aspects. This implies that urologists need to be aware of potential differences compared with the patient's perspective on treatment decisions in shared decision making on PC treatment. PMID:23860533
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Caterina Contini
2017-11-01
Full Text Available Abstract Consumer preferences about locally grown foods have been studied principally as they concern meals consumed in the home, while knowledge about consumptions outside the home is still fragmented. Studying the relationship between local foods and out of the home consumptions instead proves particularly interesting, considering the growth of eating out habits. In this scenario, our paper intends to verify whether using products of local origin in restaurants can represent an element capable of influencing consumer preferences positively. The analysis was developed by means of a choice experiment between alternatives that differ in certification of origin, process certification, price and the main characteristics of the restaurant. The survey was conducted on a representative sample of Italian (500 and German (500 consumers. Applying Latent Class Modelling has enabled us to segment the market and profile the segments. Profiling was performed considering the socio-demographic characteristics, the choice motivations not expressly inserted in the choice experiment and the Schwartz value system. The results show not only a marked heterogeneity of preferences but also a consistent consumer segment willing to pay a relevant premium price for meals made from a prevalence of products certified as being of local origin. This segment, labelled ‘locavores’, appears across both countries, despite differing gastronomic traditions. Locavores are mainly young people who prioritise self-enhancement, stimulation and conservation in the sense of respect for traditions and being members of their communities. The ‘Discussions and conclusions’ section handles the principal implications from the viewpoint of the decisions of restaurant owners, as well as from that of farmers.
Household preferences of hybrid home heating systems – A choice experiment application
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ruokamo, Enni
2016-01-01
The residential heating sector presents considerable energy savings potential, as numerous heating solutions for reducing electricity consumption and utilizing renewable energy sources are available in the market. The aim of this paper is to examine determinants of household heating system choices and to use this information for policy planning purposes. This paper investigates residential homeowner attitudes regarding innovative hybrid home heating systems (HHHS) with choice experiment. Heating system scenarios are designed to represent the most relevant primary and supplementary heating alternatives currently available in Finland. The choice sets include six main heating alternatives (district heat, solid wood, wood pellet, electric storage heating, ground heat pump and exhaust air heat pump) that are described by five attributes (supplementary heating systems, investment costs, operating costs, comfort of use and environmental friendliness). The results imply that HHHSs generally appear to be accepted among households; however, several factors affect perceptions of these technologies. The results reveal differing household attitudes toward the main heating alternatives and show that such views are affected by socio-demographic characteristics (age, living environment, education, etc.). The results suggest that households view supplementary heating systems (especially solar-based) favorably. The other attributes studied also play a significant role in decision making. - Highlights: •Study of hybrid heating where supplementary and main heating systems are combined. •Choice experiment is applied to study the determinants of hybrid heating adoption. •Hybrid heating appears to be generally accepted among households. •Households exhibit differing attitudes toward hybrid heating. •Policy makers should not underestimate the potential of hybrid heating.
Veldwijk, Jorien; Essers, Brigitte A B; Lambooij, Mattijs S; Dirksen, Carmen D; Smit, Henriette A; de Wit, G Ardine
2016-01-01
OBJECTIVE: To test how attribute framing in a discrete choice experiment (DCE) affects respondents' decision-making behavior and their preferences. METHODS: Two versions of a DCE questionnaire containing nine choice tasks were distributed among a representative sample of the Dutch population aged 55
Krucien, Nicolas; Watson, Verity; Ryan, Mandy
2017-12-01
Health utility indices (HUIs) are widely used in economic evaluation. The best-worst scaling (BWS) method is being used to value dimensions of HUIs. However, little is known about the properties of this method. This paper investigates the validity of the BWS method to develop HUI, comparing it to another ordinal valuation method, the discrete choice experiment (DCE). Using a parametric approach, we find a low level of concordance between the two methods, with evidence of preference reversals. BWS responses are subject to decision biases, with significant effects on individuals' preferences. Non parametric tests indicate that BWS data has lower stability, monotonicity and continuity compared to DCE data, suggesting that the BWS provides lower quality data. As a consequence, for both theoretical and technical reasons, practitioners should be cautious both about using the BWS method to measure health-related preferences, and using HUI based on BWS data. Given existing evidence, it seems that the DCE method is a better method, at least because its limitations (and measurement properties) have been extensively researched. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Adoption of Recirculating Aquaculture Systems in Large Pangasius Farms: A Choice Experiment
Pham, T.A.N.; Gielen-Meuwissen, M.P.M.; Le, T.C.; Verreth, J.A.J.; Bosma, R.H.; Oude Lansink, A.G.J.M.
2016-01-01
A growing number of European customers’ demands certified pangasius such as ASC in order to ensure sustainable production. Implementing Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) contributes to an improved water quality, a key issue in achieving ASC certification. This study uses a choice experiment to
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
J Jaime Miranda
Full Text Available Doctors' scarcity in rural areas remains a serious problem in Latin America and Peru. Few studies have explored job preferences of doctors working in underserved areas. We aimed to investigate doctors' stated preferences for rural jobs.A labelled discrete choice experiment (DCE was performed in Ayacucho, an underserved department of Peru. Preferences were assessed for three locations: rural community, Ayacucho city (Ayacucho's capital and other provincial capital city. Policy simulations were run to assess the effect of job attributes on uptake of a rural post. Multiple conditional logistic regressions were used to assess the relative importance of job attributes and of individual characteristics. A total of 102 doctors participated. They were five times more likely to choose a job post in Ayacucho city over a rural community (OR 4.97, 95%CI 1.2; 20.54. Salary increases and bonus points for specialization acted as incentives to choose a rural area, while increase in the number of years needed to get a permanent post acted as a disincentive. Being male and working in a hospital reduced considerably chances of choosing a rural job, while not living with a partner increased them. Policy simulations showed that a package of 75% salary increase, getting a permanent contract after two years in rural settings, and getting bonus points for further specialisation increased rural job uptake from 21% to 77%. A package of 50% salary increase plus bonus points for further specialisation would also increase the rural uptake from 21% to 52%.Doctors are five times more likely to favour a job in urban areas over rural settings. This strong preference needs to be overcome by future policies aimed at improving the scarcity of rural doctors. Some incentives, alone or combined, seem feasible and sustainable, whilst others may pose a high fiscal burden.
Does personal experience affect choice-based preferences for wildfire protection programs?
Armando González-Cabán; Thomas P. Holmes; John B. Loomis; José J. Sánchez
2013-01-01
In this paper, we investigate homeowner preferences and willingness to pay for wildfire protection programs using a choice experiment with three attributes: risk, loss, and cost. A phone-mail-phone survey was used to collect data from homeowners predominantly living in medium and high wildfire risk communities in Florida. We tested three hypotheses: (1) homeowner...
Trust, choice and power in mental health care: experiences of patients with psychosis.
Laugharne, Richard; Priebe, Stefan; McCabe, Rose; Garland, Natasha; Clifford, Damian
2012-09-01
Trust, choice and power are critical issues in clinical practice, public policies and a post-modern understanding of mental health care. We aimed to investigate the experiences and attitudes of patients with psychosis in relation to trust, choice and power. We conducted 20 in-depth interviews with patients with psychotic disorders in care of NHS services. The interviews were subjected to thematic analysis. Patients discussed aspects of their care in terms of dimensions that enhance or undermine trust, choice and power. Two interpretive themes emerged from this data. First, patients perceive the need for a shifting balance of power, according to the severity of their illness and their own experience of care, but feel that threats of coercion and neglect disable them. Second, they appreciate the expertise of clinicians, but particularly value 'the personal touch' that goes beyond this expertise, including personal disclosure about their own lives, common acts of kindness and conversation outside clinical matters. Patients view trust as a two-way process with responsibility shared between patient and clinician. The active involvement of patients with psychosis in their individual care may be strengthened, particularly when they are not acutely ill and have more experience of their illness. While patients value expertise and respect in interactions with clinicians, they also appreciate a 'personal touch', which may go beyond current notions of professionalism.
The best laid plans? Women's choices, expectations and experiences in childbirth.
Malacrida, Claudia; Boulton, Tiffany
2014-01-01
The past decades have seen a drastic increase in the medicalization of childbirth, evidenced by increasing Caesarean section rates in many Western countries. In a rare moment of congruence, alternative health-care providers, feminist advocates for women's health and, most recently, mainstream medical service providers have all expressed serious concerns about the rise in Caesarean section rates and women's roles in medicalization. These concerns stem from divergent philosophical positions as well as differing assumptions about the causes for increasing medicalization. Drawing on this debate, and using a feminist and governmentality framing of the problem, we interviewed 22 women who have recently had children about their birthing choices, their expectations and their birth experiences. The women's narratives revealed a disjuncture between their expectations of choosing, planning and achieving as natural a birth as possible, and their lived experiences of births that did not typically go to plan. They also reveal the disciplining qualities of both natural and medical discourses about birth and choice. Furthermore, their narratives counter assumptions that women, as ideal patient consumers, are driving medicalization.
Will the alphabet soup of design criteria affect discrete choice experiment results?
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Olsen, Søren Bøye; Meyerhoff, Jürgen
2017-01-01
Every discrete choice experiment needs one, but the impacts of a statistical design on the results are still not well understood. Comparative studies have found that efficient designs outperform especially orthogonal designs. What has been little studied is whether efficient designs come at a cos...
Skills and the graduate recruitment process: Evidence from two discrete choice experiments
Humburg, M.; van der Velden, R.K.W.
2014-01-01
In this study we elicit employers’ preferences for a variety of CV attributes and types of skills when recruiting university graduates. Using two discrete choice experiments, we simulate the two common steps of the graduate recruitment process: 1) the selection of suitable candidates for job
THE IMPACT OF EGO STATES OF PARENT, ADULT AND CHILD ON THE PROFESSIONAL CHOICE OF TEACHERS
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Denitsa Alipieva
2017-09-01
Full Text Available The article uses an empirical approach examining the role of ego-states in the choice of pedagogical professionals 174 students were involved in the study that aims to show the discrepancies of the states of Parent, Child and Adolescence for choice of speciality and future work. The study subjects were provided with a Transactional Analysis Questionnaire (TAQ, 2014 and Thomas – Killman Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI, 1974.
Do Environmental Benefits Matter? A Choice Experiment Among House Owners in Germany
Achtnicht, Martin
2010-01-01
Residential buildings strongly contribute to global CO2 emissions due to the high energy demand for electricity and heating, particularly in industrialised countries. Within the EU, decentralised heat generation is of particular relevance for future climate policy, as its emissions are not covered by the EU ETS. We conducted a choice experiment concerning energy retrofits for existing houses in Germany. In the experiment, the approximately 400 sampled house owners could either choose a modern...
Oppewal, H.; Louviere, J.J.; Timmermans, H.J.P.; Chias, J.; Sureda, J.
1993-01-01
This paper first reviews approaches to modeHing consumer choice of shopping destination and argues that models typically have included only few attributes related to the selection or variety of stores in a shopping centre. Next a conjoint choice experiment is described in which profiles of
Patient Preferences for Managing Insomnia: A Discrete Choice Experiment.
Cheung, Janet M Y; Bartlett, Delwyn J; Armour, Carol L; Saini, Bandana; Laba, Tracey-Lea
2018-03-03
Despite the rapid development of effective treatments, both pharmacological and non-pharmacological, insomnia management remains suboptimal at the practice interface. Patient preferences play a critical role in influencing treatment outcomes. However, there is currently a mismatch between patient preferences and clinician recommendations, partly perpetuated by a limited understanding of the patients' decision-making process. The aim of our study was to empirically quantify patient preferences for treatment attributes common to both pharmacological and non-pharmacological insomnia treatments. An efficient dual-response discrete choice experiment was conducted to evaluate patient treatment preferences for managing insomnia. The sample included 205 patients with self-reported insomnia and an Insomnia Severity Index ≥ 14. Participants were presented with two unlabelled hypothetical scenarios with an opt-out option across 12 choice sets. Data were analyzed using a mixed multinomial logit model to investigate the influence of five attributes (i.e. time, onset of action, maintainability of improved sleep, length of treatment, and monthly cost) on treatment preferences. Treatments were preferentially viewed if they conferred long-term sleep benefits (p managing insomnia.
Yangui, Ahmed
2014-01-01
The present dissertation aim a contributing to both agricultural economics and marketing literature by addressing specific issues related to discrete choice models and choice experiments. More precisely, this thesis focuses on two main issues: 1) new tools to tackle with preference heterogeneity; and 2) new response formats to allows researchers to take into account the information provided by no chosen profiles. These two issues have generated three studies, which form the main core of this ...
Complexity effects in choice experiments-based models
Dellaert, B.G.C.; Donkers, B.; van Soest, A.H.O.
2012-01-01
Many firms rely on choice experiment–based models to evaluate future marketing actions under various market conditions. This research investigates choice complexity (i.e., number of alternatives, number of attributes, and utility similarity between the most attractive alternatives) and individual
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Amador, Francisco Javier; González, Rosa Marina; Ramos-Real, Francisco Javier
2013-01-01
This study analyzes customers' preferences and their willingness to pay (WTP) for certain service attributes in an electricity supplier choice context. Specifically, a stated preference choice experiment is conducted in the Canary Islands' residential market where limited competition exists. Preferences for different electricity suppliers and three level-of-service attributes are investigated, namely, supply reliability, share of renewable energies and availability of a complementary energy audit service. The results might be interpreted as an indication of different aspects new firms need to consider if they plan to enter in the market. There is an opportunity for new companies to establish in the market, though evidence of brand loyalty to the current company and/or significant switching costs are also found, especially in the case of older people. Regarding the estimated WTP, several results should be highlighted. First, customers who have experienced more serious outages in the past tend to show a higher WTP to reduce the outage frequency. Second, highly-educated respondents, those who state a great concern for the greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions and those who carry out energy saving actions in their homes exhibit a larger WTP for renewable energies. This empirical evidence provides useful information for authorities responsible for energy policy design. - Highlights: • A stated choice experiment is conducted in the Canary Islands' residential market. • Serious outages in the past lead to a higher WTP to reduce the outage frequency. • A higher education level explains a greater WTP for renewables. • People concerned for emissions and energy savers show greater WTP for renewables. • These findings provide useful information for energy policy design
Flower choice by naïve young crab spiders and the effect of subsequent experience.
Morse
2000-05-01
Initial responses of naïve individuals to critical environmental stimuli provide important information about the innate contribution to behaviour, and subsequent responses to the same stimuli may show the role of experience in mediating those initial responses. To test the role of these factors, I measured initial patch choices and giving-up responses of just-emerged, naïve, second-instar crab spiders, Misumena vatia, on several hunting sites they encountered after leaving their natal nests. In follow-up tests I measured the effects of these experiences on subsequent patch choice decisions. The choice of hunting sites is a vital decision at all stages of the life cycle for sit-and-wait predators such as Misumena. In their initial tests these spiderlings remained more frequently on goldenrod (Solidago spp.) flowers than on green or yellow goldenrod buds, a preference they retained through tests run on 5 consecutive days. Individuals on green and yellow buds shifted sites more quickly and frequently than those from flowers, and made most of these moves to flowers, which attracted many more prey than did buds. These differences were not affected by age, energetic condition, or loss of information over the period of the experiment. Once spiderlings moved from buds, they showed a high, increasing tendency to move from buds in subsequent runs, those from flowers showed a consistently low tendency. These results suggest that spiderlings retain their innate behavioural patterns through the second instar, but that experience also plays a modest role in patch choice at this stage. Copyright 2000 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.
Choice of electricity provider in California after deregulation
Keanini, Rasa Ilze
Surveys often ask consumers how much they are willing to pay for certain goods and services, without requiring the consumer to actually pay for the good or service. Such surveys, termed stated preference studies, find that consumers value renewable electricity. This result is in contrast to actual experiences in recently deregulated electricity markets in several states, including California. When given the opportunity to choose in California, only one to two percent of the population opted for renewable electricity products. This dissertation used data from residential customers who chose an alternative electricity product in California's deregulated electricity market to determine the value placed on the renewable attribute of electricity products. This dissertation begins by taking a historical look at the electricity market of the nation and specifically California. From 1998 through 2001, California's electricity market was deregulated to include retail competition. This dissertation used data from electric service providers to reveal the factors influencing residential customer's choice of electricity product. Discrete choice models were used to determine the factors influencing electricity product choice. The results indicated that both price and renewable content had an effect on choice of product. Additionally, a more complicated model jointly estimating the discrete choice of electricity product with the continuous choice of electricity consumption (kWh) was specified and estimated.
Quantum delayed-choice experiment with a single neutral atom.
Li, Gang; Zhang, Pengfei; Zhang, Tiancai
2017-10-01
We present a proposal to implement a quantum delayed-choice (QDC) experiment with a single neutral atom, such as a rubidium or cesium atom. In our proposal, a Ramsey interferometer is adopted to observe the wave-like or particle-like behaviors of a single atom depending on the existence or absence of the second π/2-rotation. A quantum-controlled π/2-rotation on target atom is realized through a Rydberg-Rydberg interaction by another ancilla atom. It shows that a heavy neutral atom can also have a morphing behavior between the particle and the wave. The realization of the QDC experiment with such heavy neutral atoms not only is significant to understand the Bohr's complementarity principle in matter-wave and matter-particle domains but also has great potential on the quantum information process with neutral atoms.
Gärtner, F.R.; Bekker-Grob, E.W. de; Stiggelbout, A.M.; Rijnders, M.E.; Freeman, L.M.; Middeldorp, J.M.; Bloemenkamp, K.W.; Miranda E. de; Akker-van Marle, M.E. van den
2015-01-01
Objective The aim of this study was to calculate preference weights for the Labor and Delivery Index (LADY-X) to make it suitable as a utility measure for perinatal care studies. Methods In an online discrete choice experiment, 18 pairs of hypothetical scenarios were presented to respondents, from
Krieger, Miriam; Felder, Stefan
2013-06-19
Rather than conforming to the assumption of perfect rationality in neoclassical economic theory, decision behavior has been shown to display a host of systematic biases. Properly understood, these patterns can be instrumentalized to improve outcomes in the public realm. We conducted a laboratory experiment to study whether decisions over health insurance policies are subject to status quo bias and, if so, whether experience mitigates this framing effect. Choices in two treatment groups with status quo defaults are compared to choices in a neutrally framed control group. A two-step design features sorting of subjects into the groups, allowing us to control for selection effects due to risk preferences. The results confirm the presence of a status quo bias in consumer choices over health insurance policies. However, this effect of the default framing does not persist as subjects repeat this decision in later periods of the experiment. Our results have implications for health care policy, for example suggesting that the use of non-binding defaults in health insurance can facilitate the spread of co-insurance policies and thereby help contain health care expenditure.
Induction Accelerator Technology Choices for the Integrated Beam Experiment (IBX)
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Leitner, M.A.; Celata, C.M.; Lee, E.P.; Logan, B.G.; Sabbi, G.; Waldron, W.L.; Barnard, J.J.
2003-01-01
Over the next three years the research program of the Heavy Ion Fusion Virtual National Laboratory (HIF-VNL), a collaboration among LBNL, LLNL, and PPPL, is focused on separate scientific experiments in the injection, transport and focusing of intense heavy ion beams at currents from 100 mA to 1 A. As a next major step in the HIF-VNL program, we aim for a complete 'source-to-target' experiment, the Integrated Beam Experiment (IBX). By combining the experience gained in the current separate beam experiments IBX would allow the integrated scientific study of the evolution of a single heavy ion beam at high current (∼1 A) through all sections of a possible heavy ion fusion accelerator: the injection, acceleration, compression, and beam focusing.This paper describes the main parameters and technology choices of the planned IBX experiment. IBX will accelerate singly charged potassium or argon ion beams up to 10 MeV final energy and a longitudinal beam compression ratio of 10, resulting in a beam current at target of more than 10 Amperes. Different accelerator cell design options are described in detail: Induction cores incorporating either room temperature pulsed focusing-magnets or superconducting magnets
Timmermans, H.J.P.; Borgers, A.W.J.; Waerden, van der P.J.H.J.
1992-01-01
The purpose of this article is to compare a set of multinomial logit models derived from revealed choice data and a decompositional choice model derived from experimental data in terms of predictive success in the context of consumer spatial shopping behavior. Data on consumer shopping choice
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
James F. Thrasher
2018-02-01
Full Text Available This study assessed smokers’ responses to different smoking cessation topics and imagery for cigarette package inserts. Adult smokers from Canada (n = 1000 participated in three discrete choice experiments (DCEs: DCE 1 assessed five cessation benefit topics and five imagery types; DCE 2 assessed five messages with tips to improve cessation success and five imagery types; DCE 3 assessed four reproductive health benefits of cessation topics and four imagery types. In each DCE, participants evaluated four or five sets of four inserts, selecting the most and least motivating (DCEs 1 & 3 or helpful (DCE 2 for quitting. Linear mixed models regressed choices on insert and smoker characteristics. For DCE 1, the most motivating messages involved novel disease topics and imagery of younger women. For DCE 2, topics of social support, stress reduction and nicotine replacement therapy were selected as most helpful, with no differences by imagery type. For DCE 3, imagery influenced choices more than topic, with imagery of a family or a mom and baby selected as most motivating. Statistically significant interactions for all three experiments indicated that the influence of imagery type on choices depended on the message topic. Messages to promote smoking cessation through cigarette pack inserts should consider specific combinations of message topic and imagery.
Vreeswijk, J.D.; Rakha, H.; Van Berkum, E.; Van Arem, B.
2014-01-01
In the context of route choice, inertial behaviour shows that drivers make choices that are satisfactory rather than optimal. Consequently, drivers may not necessarily alter their choice when confronted with a travel time increase on the current choice or a travel time decrease of a choice
Reducing hypothetical bias in choice experiments
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Ladenburg, Jacob; Olsen, Søren Bøye; Nielsen, Rasmus Christian Fejer
eliminate some of the hypothetical bias. The present paper tests an addition to Cheap Talk, an Opt-Out Reminder. The Opt-Out Reminder is an objective short script presented prior to the choice sets, prompting the respondent to choose the opt-out alternative, if he/she finds the proposed policy generated...... alternatives in a choice set too expensive. The results suggest that adding an Opt-Out Reminder to Cheap Talk can in fact reduce hypothetical bias even further and reduces some of the ineffectiveness of CT in relation to the survey bid range and experienced respondents....
42 CFR 438.52 - Choice of MCOs, PIHPs, PAHPs, and PCCMs.
2010-10-01
... SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS MANAGED CARE State Responsibilities § 438.52 Choice of... circumstances: (A) The service or type of provider (in terms of training, experience, and specialization) is not...
Kim, J.; Rasouli, S.; Timmermans, H.J.P.
2017-01-01
The present study is designed to investigate social influence in car-sharing decisions under uncertainty. Social influence indicates that individuals’ decisions are influenced by the choices made by members of their social networks. An individual may experience different degrees of influence
Convertino, Christina
2017-01-01
Given state cuts to US public education, overcrowding and underfunding in urban district schools continue to grow. Yet, how parents understand the role of state disinvestment on underfunded and overcrowded public schools remains relatively unexamined. Drawing from an ethnographic study of school choice in Arizona, I explore how a group of white…
Framing From Experience: Cognitive Processes and Predictions of Risky Choice.
Gonzalez, Cleotilde; Mehlhorn, Katja
2016-07-01
A framing bias shows risk aversion in problems framed as "gains" and risk seeking in problems framed as "losses," even when these are objectively equivalent and probabilities and outcomes values are explicitly provided. We test this framing bias in situations where decision makers rely on their own experience, sampling the problem's options (safe and risky) and seeing the outcomes before making a choice. In Experiment 1, we replicate the framing bias in description-based decisions and find risk indifference in gains and losses in experience-based decisions. Predictions of an Instance-Based Learning model suggest that objective probabilities as well as the number of samples taken are factors that contribute to the lack of framing effect. We test these two factors in Experiment 2 and find no framing effect when a few samples are taken but when large samples are taken, the framing effect appears regardless of the objective probability values. Implications of behavioral results and cognitive modeling are discussed. Copyright © 2015 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Soliño, Mario; Farizo, Begoña A.; Vázquez, María X.; Prada, Albino
2012-01-01
This paper presents a choice experiment analyzing the consumers' preferences towards a policy for replacing conventional electricity with electricity generated from forest biomass. The results show that consumers specially prefer the effects related to the lower risk of forest fires and to the decrease in pressure on non-renewable resources. The article also presents a methodological test in relation to the payment timeframe and its effect on marginal willingness to pay and consistency of responses using choice experiments. The most frequent and realistic payments are associated with lower presence of inconsistent responses. Finally, we cannot reject the null hypothesis of no effects of payment timeframe on marginal willingness to pay. - Highlights: ▶ Analysis of preferences towards electricity generated from forest biomass. ▶ Lowering the risk of forest fires is a high valued external effect. ▶ Less pressure on non-renewable resources is highly valued. ▶ Frequent payments are associated with lower presence of inconsistent responses. ▶ Effects of payment timeframe on marginal willingness to pay.
Krieger, Miriam; Felder, Stefan
2013-01-01
Rather than conforming to the assumption of perfect rationality in neoclassical economic theory, decision behavior has been shown to display a host of systematic biases. Properly understood, these patterns can be instrumentalized to improve outcomes in the public realm. We conducted a laboratory experiment to study whether decisions over health insurance policies are subject to status quo bias and, if so, whether experience mitigates this framing effect. Choices in two treatment groups with status quo defaults are compared to choices in a neutrally framed control group. A two-step design features sorting of subjects into the groups, allowing us to control for selection effects due to risk preferences. The results confirm the presence of a status quo bias in consumer choices over health insurance policies. However, this effect of the default framing does not persist as subjects repeat this decision in later periods of the experiment. Our results have implications for health care policy, for example suggesting that the use of non-binding defaults in health insurance can facilitate the spread of co-insurance policies and thereby help contain health care expenditure. PMID:23783222
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Stefan Felder
2013-06-01
Full Text Available Rather than conforming to the assumption of perfect rationality in neoclassical economic theory, decision behavior has been shown to display a host of systematic biases. Properly understood, these patterns can be instrumentalized to improve outcomes in the public realm. We conducted a laboratory experiment to study whether decisions over health insurance policies are subject to status quo bias and, if so, whether experience mitigates this framing effect. Choices in two treatment groups with status quo defaults are compared to choices in a neutrally framed control group. A two-step design features sorting of subjects into the groups, allowing us to control for selection effects due to risk preferences. The results confirm the presence of a status quo bias in consumer choices over health insurance policies. However, this effect of the default framing does not persist as subjects repeat this decision in later periods of the experiment. Our results have implications for health care policy, for example suggesting that the use of non-binding defaults in health insurance can facilitate the spread of co-insurance policies and thereby help contain health care expenditure.
Measuring stroke patients’ exercise preferences using a discrete choice experiment
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Wolfgang Geidl
2018-03-01
Full Text Available Physical activity post stroke improves health, yet physical inactivity is highly prevalent. Tailored exercise programs considering physical activity preferences are a promising approach to promote physical activity. Therefore, this study seeks to measure exercise preferences of stroke survivors. Stroke survivors conducted a discrete choice experiment (DCE. DCE was presented in a face-to-face interview where patients had to choose eight times between two different exercise programs. Exercise programs differed by characteristics, with the six attributes under consideration being social situation, location, type of exercise, intensity, frequency, and duration. Utilities of the exercise attributes were estimated with a logit choice model. Stroke survivors (n=103, mean age: 67, SD=13.0; 60% male show significant differences in the rated utilities of the exercise attributes (P<0.001. Participants had strong preferences for light and moderate intense physical activity and favored shorter exercise sessions. Stroke survivors have remarkable exercise preferences especially for intensity and duration of exercise. Results contribute to the tailoring of physical activity programs after stroke thereby facilitating maintenance of physical activity.
Harrington, Rosamund; Foster, Michele; Fleming, Jennifer
2015-01-01
To explore experiences of pathways, outcomes and choice after motor vehicle accident (MVA) acquired severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI) under fault-based vs no-fault motor accident insurance (MAI). In-depth qualitative interviews with 10 adults with sTBI and 17 family members examined experiences of pathways, outcomes and choice and how these were shaped by both compensable status and interactions with service providers and service funders under a no-fault and a fault-based MAI scheme. Participants were sampled to provide variation in compensable status, injury severity, time post-injury and metropolitan vs regional residency. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed to identify dominant themes under each scheme. Dominant themes emerging under the no-fault scheme included: (a) rehabilitation-focused pathways; (b) a sense of security; and (c) bounded choices. Dominant themes under the fault-based scheme included: (a) resource-rationed pathways; (b) pressured lives; and (c) unknown choices. Participants under the no-fault scheme experienced superior access to specialist rehabilitation services, greater surety of support and more choice over how rehabilitation and life-time care needs were met. This study provides valuable insights into individual experiences under fault-based vs no-fault MAI. Implications for an injury insurance scheme design to optimize pathways, outcomes and choice after sTBI are discussed.
The effect of personal experience on choice-based preferences for wildfire protection programs
Tom Holmes; Armando Gonzalez-Caban; John Loomis; Jose Sanchez
2013-01-01
In this paper, we investigate homeowner preferences and willingness to pay for wildfire protection programs using a choice experiment with three attributes: risk, loss and cost. Preference heterogeneity among survey respondents was examined using three econometric models and risk preferences were evaluated by comparing willingness to pay for wildfire protection...
Consumer Choice of Modularized Products : A Conjoint Choice Experiment Approach
Dellaert, B.G.C.; Borgers, A.W.J.; Louviere, J.; Timmermans, H.J.P.
1998-01-01
Recent increases in flexibility and automation in the production of goods and services allow a growing number of suppliers to offer their products in flexible sets of modules from which consumers can create their own individualized packages. This paper addresses the question how consumer choices of
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Skjoldborg, Ulla Slothuus; Lauridsen, Jørgen; Junker, Peter
2009-01-01
OBJECTIVES: To investigate the issue of conjoint reliability over time. METHODS: A discrete choice experiment was applied using scenarios that describe the effect of treating rheumatoid arthritis patients with TNF-alpha inhibitors, a novel class of highly effective, but expensive antirheumatic...... agents. Respondents participated in three face-to-face interviews over a period of 4 months. Reliability was measured both at the input level, where the consistency of matches made by respondents to the Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) question between replications was determined, and at the output level...... and the final choice in survey 3. Output level: The confidence intervals for WTP figures in surveys 1 and 2 and 1 and 3 were overlapping, implying that the DCE was reliable at the output level over time. CONCLUSION: The proportion of consistent responses was higher than would be expected by chance. Conjoint...
Mitchell, Wendy A
2014-04-01
Current western policy, including the UK, advocates choice for service users and their families, taking greater control and being more involved in decision making. However, children's role in health decision making, especially from their own perspective, has received less research attention compared to doctors and parents' perspectives. To explore the perspective and experiences of disabled young people with degenerative conditions as they face significant medical interventions and engage in decision-making processes. Findings from a longitudinal qualitative study of 10 young people (13-22 years) with degenerative conditions are reported. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants over 3 years (2007-2010); the paper reports data from all three interview rounds. Interviews focused on medical intervention choices the young people identified as significant. Although the young people in this study felt involved in the medical intervention choices discussed, findings demonstrate a complex and diverse picture of decision making. Results highlighted different decisional roles adopted by the young people, the importance of information heuristics and working with other people whilst engaging in complex processes weighing up different decisional factors. Young people's experiences demonstrate the importance of moving beyond viewing health choices as technical or rational decisions. How each young person framed their decision was important. Recognizing this diversity and the importance of emerging themes, such as living a normal life, independence, fear of decisions viewed as 'irreversible' and the role of parents and peers in decision making highlights that, there are clear practice implications including, active practitioner listening, sensitivity and continued holistic family working. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Kleij, Kim-Sarah; Tangermann, Ulla; Amelung, Volker E; Krauth, Christian
2017-07-11
Primary care is a key element of health care systems and addresses the main health problems of the population. Due to the demographic change, primary care even gains in importance. The knowledge of the patients' preferences can help policy makers as well as physicians to set priorities in their effort to make health care delivery more responsive to patients' needs. Our objective was to describe which aspects of primary care were included in preference studies and which of them were the most preferred aspects. In order to elicit the preferences for primary care, a systematic literature search was conducted. Two researchers searched three electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus, and PsycINFO) and conducted a narrative synthesis. Inclusion criteria were: focus on primary health care delivery, discrete choice experiment as elicitation method, and studies published between 2006 and 2015 in English language. We identified 18 studies that elicited either the patients' or the population's preferences for primary care based on a discrete choice experiment. Altogether the studies used 16 structure attributes, ten process attributes and four outcome attributes. The most commonly applied structure attribute was "Waiting time till appointment", the most frequently used process attribute was "Shared decision making / professional's attention paid to your views". "Receiving the 'best' treatment" was the most commonly applied outcome attribute. Process attributes were most often the ones of highest importance for patients or the population. The attributes and attribute levels used in the discrete choice experiments were identified by literature research, qualitative research, expert interviews, or the analysis of policy documents. The results of the DCE studies show different preferences for primary health care. The diversity of the results may have several reasons, such as the method of analysis, the selection procedure of the attributes and their levels or the specific research
Ludvig, Elliot A; Spetch, Marcia L
2011-01-01
When faced with risky decisions, people tend to be risk averse for gains and risk seeking for losses (the reflection effect). Studies examining this risk-sensitive decision making, however, typically ask people directly what they would do in hypothetical choice scenarios. A recent flurry of studies has shown that when these risky decisions include rare outcomes, people make different choices for explicitly described probabilities than for experienced probabilistic outcomes. Specifically, rare outcomes are overweighted when described and underweighted when experienced. In two experiments, we examined risk-sensitive decision making when the risky option had two equally probable (50%) outcomes. For experience-based decisions, there was a reversal of the reflection effect with greater risk seeking for gains than for losses, as compared to description-based decisions. This fundamental difference in experienced and described choices cannot be explained by the weighting of rare events and suggests a separate subjective utility curve for experience.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Elliot A Ludvig
Full Text Available When faced with risky decisions, people tend to be risk averse for gains and risk seeking for losses (the reflection effect. Studies examining this risk-sensitive decision making, however, typically ask people directly what they would do in hypothetical choice scenarios. A recent flurry of studies has shown that when these risky decisions include rare outcomes, people make different choices for explicitly described probabilities than for experienced probabilistic outcomes. Specifically, rare outcomes are overweighted when described and underweighted when experienced. In two experiments, we examined risk-sensitive decision making when the risky option had two equally probable (50% outcomes. For experience-based decisions, there was a reversal of the reflection effect with greater risk seeking for gains than for losses, as compared to description-based decisions. This fundamental difference in experienced and described choices cannot be explained by the weighting of rare events and suggests a separate subjective utility curve for experience.
Choice as an engine of analytic thought.
Savani, Krishna; Stephens, Nicole M; Markus, Hazel Rose
2017-09-01
Choice is a behavioral act that has a variety of well-documented motivational consequences-it fosters independence by allowing people to simultaneously express themselves and influence the environment. Given the link between independence and analytic thinking, the current research tested whether choice also leads people to think in a more analytic rather than holistic manner. Four experiments demonstrate that making choices, recalling choices, and viewing others make choices leads people to think more analytically, as indicated by their attitudes, perceptual judgments, categorization, and patterns of attention allocation. People who made choices scored higher on a subjective self-report measure of analytic cognition compared to whose did not make a choice (pilot study). Using an objective task-based measure, people who recalled choices rather than actions were less influenced by changes in the background when making judgments about focal objects (Experiment 1). People who thought of others' behaviors as choices rather than actions were more likely to group objects based on categories rather than relationships (Experiment 2). People who recalled choices rather than actions subsequently allocated more visual attention to focal objects in a scene (Experiment 3). Together, these experiments demonstrate that choice has important yet previously unexamined consequences for basic psychological processes such as attention and cognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Bech, Mickael; Kjær, Trine; Lauridsen, Jørgen Trankjær
2011-01-01
choice sets presented to each respondent on response rate, self-reported choice certainty, perceived choice difficulty, willingness-to-pay (WTP) estimates, and response variance. A sample of 1053 respondents was exposed to 5, 9 or 17 choice sets in a DCE eliciting preferences for dental services. Our...... results showed no differences in response rates and no systematic differences in the respondents' self-reported perception of the uncertainty of their DCE answers. There were some differences in WTP estimates suggesting that estimated preferences are to some extent context-dependent, but no differences...... in standard deviations for WTP estimates or goodness-of-fit statistics. Respondents exposed to 17 choice sets had somewhat higher response variance compared to those exposed to 5 choice sets, indicating that cognitive burden may increase with the number of choice sets beyond a certain threshold. Overall, our...
Personal traits underlying environmental preferences: a discrete choice experiment.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Mario Soliño
Full Text Available Personality plays a role in human behavior, and thus can influence consumer decisions on environmental goods and services. This paper analyses the influence of the big five personality dimensions (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness in a discrete choice experiment dealing with preferences for the development of an environmental program for forest management in Spain. For this purpose, a reduced version of the Big Five Inventory survey (the BFI-10 is implemented. Results show a positive effect of openness and extraversion and a negative effect of agreeableness and neuroticism in consumers' preferences for this environmental program. Moreover, results from a latent class model show that personal traits help to explain preference heterogeneity.
Meads, David M; O'Dwyer, John L; Hulme, Claire T; Chintakayala, Phani; Vinall-Collier, Karen; Bennett, Michael I
2017-10-01
Pain from advanced cancer remains prevalent, severe and often under-treated. The aim of this study was to conduct a discrete choice experiment with patients to understand their preferences for pain management services and inform service development. Focus groups were used to develop the attributes and levels of the discrete choice experiment. The attributes were: waiting time, type of healthcare professional, out-of-pocket costs, side-effect control, quality of communication, quality of information and pain control. Patients completed the discrete choice experiment along with clinical and health-related quality of life questions. Conditional and mixed logit models were used to analyse the data. Patients with cancer pain (n = 221) and within palliative care services completed the survey (45% were female, mean age 64.6 years; age range 21-92 years). The most important aspects of pain management were: good pain control, zero out-of-pocket costs and good side-effect control. Poor or moderate pain control and £30 costs drew the highest negative preferences. Respondents preferred control of side effects and provision of better information and communication, over access to certain healthcare professionals. Those with lower health-related quality of life were less willing to wait for treatment and willing to incur higher costs. The presence of a carer influenced preferences. Outcome attributes were more important than process attributes but the latter were still valued. Thus, supporting self-management, for example by providing better information on pain may be a worthwhile endeavour. However, service provision may need to account for individual characteristics given the heterogeneity in preferences.
Agyei-Baffour, Peter; Boahemaa, Mary Yaa; Addy, Ernestine A
2015-04-12
Contraceptive uptake in Ghana, especially in the Ashanti region remains low. This may be partly due to products' characteristics and choice which are influenced by attribute utility trade-offs by consumers in determining which method offers the optimal combinations, given the needs and desires of the individuals making the choice. The study sought to determine how specific attributes of contraceptives influence artisanal auto mechanics' stated preferences for a hypothetical contraceptive use in the Tafo-Suame industrial area of Kumasi, Ghana. A discrete choice experiment was conducted with artisanal auto mechanics in the study area from May to September 2011. Based on the summary of the attributes from the focus group discussion and in-depth interviews preceded administration of structured questionnaire, a discrete choice experiment (DCE) was created. The attributes used were; side effects, reversibility, ease of use, ability to prevent both pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection (STI's), price and privacy in acquiring and attractiveness of the method. A total of 340 consented respondents aged 15 to 49 years participated in the study. Data were entered in Access and Sawtooth software SSI Web CAPi module and then exported to Stata for analysis. The study showed a universal (99.4%) knowledge on contraception, ever used 87% and currently using a method, 58%. The study revealed that methods' reversibility (β = 21.74; 95% CI: 20.17, 23.3), minimal allergic reaction (β = 13.93; 95% CI: 12.8, 15.05) and no effect on blood pressure (β = 12.71; 95% CI: 11.62, 13.79), were strongly associated with contraceptive preference and use. While contraceptives' ability to prevent "only pregnancy", (β = -15.13: 95% CI: -16.2, -14.02; "only STI's") (β = -11.65; 95% CI: -11.84, -11.46); and interrupt during sexual activity (β = -4.26; 95% CI: -5.19, -3.34), had large negative influence on contraceptive preference and use. The study has documented the
Modelling Choice of Information Sources
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Agha Faisal Habib Pathan
2013-04-01
Full Text Available This paper addresses the significance of traveller information sources including mono-modal and multimodal websites for travel decisions. The research follows a decision paradigm developed earlier, involving an information acquisition process for travel choices, and identifies the abstract characteristics of new information sources that deserve further investigation (e.g. by incorporating these in models and studying their significance in model estimation. A Stated Preference experiment is developed and the utility functions are formulated by expanding the travellers' choice set to include different combinations of sources of information. In order to study the underlying choice mechanisms, the resulting variables are examined in models based on different behavioural strategies, including utility maximisation and minimising the regret associated with the foregone alternatives. This research confirmed that RRM (Random Regret Minimisation Theory can fruitfully be used and can provide important insights for behavioural studies. The study also analyses the properties of travel planning websites and establishes a link between travel choices and the content, provenance, design, presence of advertisements, and presentation of information. The results indicate that travellers give particular credence to governmentowned sources and put more importance on their own previous experiences than on any other single source of information. Information from multimodal websites is more influential than that on train-only websites. This in turn is more influential than information from friends, while information from coachonly websites is the least influential. A website with less search time, specific information on users' own criteria, and real time information is regarded as most attractive
Environmental Factors in the Choice of EGMs: A Discrete Choice Experiment.
Rockloff, Matthew J; Moskovsky, Neda; Thorne, Hannah; Browne, Matthew; Bryden, Gabrielle M
2017-09-01
EGMs are a form of entertainment, and the gambling environment is an important contributor to the overall experience. Logically, to select a play-environment, EGM gamblers must choose the platform through which to access the EGM (e.g., internet, mobile application or land-based venue), a particular provider (e.g., specific website, app vendor or branded casino), and the game itself (e.g., based on graphical theme or bonus features; Thorne et al. in J Gambl Stud, 2016. doi: 10.1007/s10899-016-9601-2 ). A discrete choice experiment was conducted to identify the features of the platform, provider and game that are most strongly preferred by EGM gamblers. Participants were 245 EGM gamblers from clubs in Victoria, Australia and 7516 EGM gamblers from an Australian online panel. Results indicate that the ideal environment for the average gambler consists of: gambling at a club that is close to home; with a group of friends; in a relatively quiet place that has air conditioning, cheap food and a large space to play in; on a classic game with quality animations and small bet sizes; where you feel safe and secure; and where there is a wide variety of other games to play when you are done. Segmenting these results by problem-gambler status highlights important differences in preferences between problem and non-problem gamblers. Problem gamblers are less likely to give weight to the company they share and have a preference for larger venues. Using a powerful paradigm from marketing research, the present study was able to determine the relative value of different features of the EGM gambling environment, and also contributes important insight towards what constitutes a safer environment for recreational play.
Acceptance of vaccinations in pandemic outbreaks: a discrete choice experiment.
Determann, Domino; Korfage, Ida J; Lambooij, Mattijs S; Bliemer, Michiel; Richardus, Jan Hendrik; Steyerberg, Ewout W; de Bekker-Grob, Esther W
2014-01-01
Preventive measures are essential to limit the spread of new viruses; their uptake is key to their success. However, the vaccination uptake in pandemic outbreaks is often low. We aim to elicit how disease and vaccination characteristics determine preferences of the general public for new pandemic vaccinations. In an internet-based discrete choice experiment (DCE) a representative sample of 536 participants (49% participation rate) from the Dutch population was asked for their preference for vaccination programs in hypothetical communicable disease outbreaks. We used scenarios based on two disease characteristics (susceptibility to and severity of the disease) and five vaccination program characteristics (effectiveness, safety, advice regarding vaccination, media attention, and out-of-pocket costs). The DCE design was based on a literature review, expert interviews and focus group discussions. A panel latent class logit model was used to estimate which trade-offs individuals were willing to make. All above mentioned characteristics proved to influence respondents' preferences for vaccination. Preference heterogeneity was substantial. Females who stated that they were never in favor of vaccination made different trade-offs than males who stated that they were (possibly) willing to get vaccinated. As expected, respondents preferred and were willing to pay more for more effective vaccines, especially if the outbreak was more serious (€6-€39 for a 10% more effective vaccine). Changes in effectiveness, out-of-pocket costs and in the body that advises the vaccine all substantially influenced the predicted uptake. We conclude that various disease and vaccination program characteristics influence respondents' preferences for pandemic vaccination programs. Agencies responsible for preventive measures during pandemics can use the knowledge that out-of-pocket costs and the way advice is given affect vaccination uptake to improve their plans for future pandemic outbreaks
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Massof, Robert W; Schmidt, Karen M; Laby, Daniel M; Kirschen, David; Meadows, David
2013-01-01
Visual acuity, a forced-choice psychophysical measure of visual spatial resolution, is the sine qua non of clinical visual impairment testing in ophthalmology and optometry patients with visual system disorders ranging from refractive error to retinal, optic nerve, or central visual system pathology. Visual acuity measures are standardized against a norm, but it is well known that visual acuity depends on a variety of stimulus parameters, including contrast and exposure duration. This paper asks if it is possible to estimate a single global visual state measure from visual acuity measures as a function of stimulus parameters that can represent the patient's overall visual health state with a single variable. Psychophysical theory (at the sensory level) and psychometric theory (at the decision level) are merged to identify the conditions that must be satisfied to derive a global visual state measure from parameterised visual acuity measures. A global visual state measurement model is developed and tested with forced-choice visual acuity measures from 116 subjects with no visual impairments and 560 subjects with uncorrected refractive error. The results are in agreement with the expectations of the model
Liao, F.
2016-01-01
Multi-state supernetworks have been advanced recently for modeling individual activity-travel scheduling decisions. The main advantage is that multi-dimensional choice facets are modeled simultaneously within an integral framework, supporting systematic assessments of a large spectrum of policies
Adapting to the destitute situations: poverty cues lead to short-term choice.
Liu, Lei; Feng, Tingyong; Suo, Tao; Lee, Kang; Li, Hong
2012-01-01
Why do some people live for the present, whereas others save for the future? The evolutionary framework of life history theory predicts that preference for delay of gratification should be influenced by social economic status (SES). However, here we propose that the decision to choose alternatives in immediate and delayed gratification in poverty environments may have a psychological dimension. Specifically, the perception of environmental poverty cues may induce people alike to favor choices with short-term, likely smaller benefit than choices with long-term, greater benefit. The present study was conducted to explore how poverty and affluence cues affected individuals' intertemporal choices. In our first two experiments, individuals exposed explicitly (Experiment 1) and implicitly (Experiment 2) to poverty pictures (the poverty cue) were induced to prefer immediate gratification compared with those exposed to affluence pictures (the affluence cue). Furthermore, by the manipulation of temporary perceptions of poverty and affluence status using a lucky draw game; individuals in the poverty state were more impulsive in a manner, which made them pursue immediate gratification in intertemporal choices (Experiment 3). Thus, poverty cues can lead to short-term choices. Decision makers chose more frequently the sooner-smaller reward over the later-larger reward as they were exposed to the poverty cue. This indicates that it is that just the feeling of poverty influences intertemporal choice - the actual reality of poverty (restricted resources, etc.) is not necessary to get the effect. Furthermore, our findings emphasize that it is a change of the poverty-affluence status, not a trait change, can influence individual preference in intertemporal choice.
Riverscape and Groundwater Preservation: A Choice Experiment
Tempesta, T.; Vecchiato, D.
2013-12-01
This study presents a quantitative approach to support policy decision making for the preservation of riverscapes, taking into account the EC Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) and the EC Nitrates Directive (91/676/EEC) concerning the protection of waters against nitrate pollution from agricultural sources. A choice experiment was applied to evaluate the benefits, as perceived by inhabitants, of the implementation of policies aiming to reduce the concentration of nitrates in groundwater, preserve the riverscape by maintaining a minimum water flow and increasing hedges and woods along the Serio River in central northern Italy. Findings suggested that people were particularly concerned about groundwater quality, probably because it is strongly linked to human health. Nevertheless, it was interesting to observe that people expressed a high willingness to pay for actions that affect the riverscape as a whole (such as the minimum water flow maintenance plus reforestation). This is probably due to the close connection between the riverscape and the functions of the river area for recreation, health purposes, and biodiversity preservation.
Pedestrian Choice Behavior at Shopping Mall Intersections in China and the United States
Bitgood, Stephen; Davey, Gareth; Huang, Xiaoyi; Fung, Holly
2013-01-01
Pedestrian navigation through public spaces reflects the nature of interaction between behavior and environment. This study compared pedestrian choice behavior at shopping mall intersections in China and the United States. The study found that in both countries (a) pedestrians chose movement patterns that involved the fewest steps and (b) there…
Perna, Laura W.; Steele, Patricia; Woda, Susan; Hibbert, Taifa
2005-01-01
This study uses descriptive analyses of data from multiple sources to examine changes during the 1990s in the racial/ethnic stratification of college access and choice in Maryland and to explore state public policies that may have influenced changes in the demand for and supply of higher education for students of different racial/ethnic groups…
A choice experiment on tax: Are income and consumption taxes equivalent?
Kurokawa, Hirofumi; Mori, Tomoharu; Ohtake, Fumio
2016-01-01
We test the equivalence of income and consumption taxes through a choice experiment. Under a given set of income and consumption parameters, subjects were asked to choose among an income tax of 20%, a consumption tax of 25% (which is an equivalent tax burden), a consumption tax of 22%, and a consumption tax of 20%. Our results showed that subjects prefer income tax to consumption tax when the nominal consumption tax rate is higher than the nominal income tax rate. However, subjects tend to pr...
Janssen, Ellen M; Hauber, A Brett; Bridges, John F P
2018-01-01
To consolidate and illustrate good research practices in health care to the application and reporting of a study measuring patient preferences for type 2 diabetes mellitus medications, given recent methodological advances in stated-preference methods. The International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research good research practices and other recommendations were used to conduct a discrete-choice experiment. Members of a US online panel with type 2 diabetes mellitus completed a Web-enabled, self-administered survey that elicited choices between treatment pairs with six attributes at three possible levels each. A D-efficient experimental design blocked 48 choice tasks into three 16-task surveys. Preference estimates were obtained using mixed logit estimation and were used to calculate choice probabilities. A total of 552 participants (51% males) completed the survey. Avoiding 90 minutes of nausea was valued the highest (mean -10.00; 95% confidence interval [CI] -10.53 to -9.47). Participants wanted to avoid low blood glucose during the day and/or night (mean -3.87; 95% CI -4.32 to -3.42) or one pill and one injection per day (mean -7.04; 95% CI -7.63 to -6.45). Participants preferred stable blood glucose 6 d/wk (mean 4.63; 95% CI 4.15 to 5.12) and a 1% decrease in glycated hemoglobin (mean 5.74; 95% CI 5.22 to 6.25). If cost increased by $1, the probability that a treatment profile would be chosen decreased by 1%. These results are consistent with the idea that people have strong preferences for immediate consequences of medication. Despite efforts to produce recommendations, ambiguity surrounding good practices remains and various judgments need to be made when conducting stated-preference studies. To ensure transparency, these judgments should be described and justified. Copyright © 2018 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
The Fiscal Impact of Tax-Credit Scholarships in Montana. School Choice Issues in the State
Gottlob, Brian
2009-01-01
Many states have enacted or are considering proposals to give tax credits for contributions that provide tuition scholarships for students in K-12 schools to attend the private or public schools of their choice. This study seeks to inform the public and policymakers about the implications for Montana if the state were to enact such a program. The…
Raikes, Helen; Torquati, Julia; Wang, Cixin; Shjegstad, Brinn
2012-01-01
Research Findings: This study investigated parents' experiences using Child Care and Development Fund and other state-dispersed child care subsidies, reasons for choosing their current child care program, and perceptions of the quality of child care received from their current program. A telephone survey of 659 parents receiving child care…
Daytime REM sleep affects emotional experience but not decision choices in moral dilemmas.
Cellini, Nicola; Lotto, Lorella; Pletti, Carolina; Sarlo, Michela
2017-09-11
Moral decision-making depends on the interaction between automatic emotional responses and rational cognitive control. A natural emotional regulator state seems to be sleep, in particular rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. We tested the impact of daytime sleep, either with or without REM, on moral decision. Sixty participants were presented with 12 sacrificial (6 Footbridge- and 6 Trolley-type) and 8 everyday-type moral dilemmas at 9 AM and at 5 PM. In sacrificial dilemmas, participants had to decide whether or not to kill one person to save more people (utilitarian choice), and to judge how morally acceptable the proposed choice was. In everyday-type dilemmas, participants had to decide whether to endorse moral violations involving dishonest behavior. At 12 PM, 40 participants took a 120-min nap (17 with REM and 23 with NREM only) while 20 participants remained awake. Mixed-model analysis revealed that participants judged the utilitarian choice as less morally acceptable in the afternoon, irrespective of sleep. We also observed a negative association between theta activity during REM and increased self-rated unpleasantness during moral decisions. Nevertheless, moral decision did not change across the day and between groups. These results suggest that although both time and REM sleep may affect the evaluation of a moral situation, these factors did not ultimately impact the individual moral choices.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Yanfu Qiao
2016-01-01
Full Text Available The combined revealed preference/stated preference data–based discrete choice model has provided the actual choice-making restraints as well as reduced the prediction errors. But the random error variance of alternatives belonging to different data would impact its universality. In this article, we studied the traffic corridor between Chengdu and Longquan with the revealed preference/stated preference joint model, and the single stated preference data model separately predicted the choice probability of each mode. We found the revealed preference/stated preference joint model is universal only when there is a significant difference between the random error terms in different data. The single stated preference data would amplify the travelers’ preference and cause prediction error. We proposed a universal way that uses revealed preference data to modify the single stated preference data parameter estimation results to achieve the composite utility and reduce the prediction error. And the result suggests that prediction results are more reasonable based on the composite utility than the results based on the single stated preference data, especially forecasting the mode share of bus. The future metro line will be the main travel mode in this corridor, and 45% of passenger flow will transfer to the metro.
Enhancing cheap talk scripts in choice experiments
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Ladenburg, Jacob; Olsen, Søren Bøye; Nielsen, Rasmus Christian Fejer
eliminate some of the hypothetical bias. The present paper tests and addition to Cheap Talk, an Op-out Reminder. The Opt-Out Reminder is an objective short script presented prior to the choice sets, prompting the respondent to choose the opt-out alternative, if he/she finds the proposed policy generated...... alternatives in a choice set too expensive. The results sugggest that adding and Opt-Out Reminder to Cheap Talk can in fact reduce hypothetical bias even further and reduces some of the ineffectiveness of CT in relation to the survey bid range and experienced respondents...
Wright, Stuart J; Vass, Caroline M; Sim, Gene; Burton, Michael; Fiebig, Denzil G; Payne, Katherine
2018-02-28
Scale heterogeneity, or differences in the error variance of choices, may account for a significant amount of the observed variation in the results of discrete choice experiments (DCEs) when comparing preferences between different groups of respondents. The aim of this study was to identify if, and how, scale heterogeneity has been addressed in healthcare DCEs that compare the preferences of different groups. A systematic review identified all healthcare DCEs published between 1990 and February 2016. The full-text of each DCE was then screened to identify studies that compared preferences using data generated from multiple groups. Data were extracted and tabulated on year of publication, samples compared, tests for scale heterogeneity, and analytical methods to account for scale heterogeneity. Narrative analysis was used to describe if, and how, scale heterogeneity was accounted for when preferences were compared. A total of 626 healthcare DCEs were identified. Of these 199 (32%) aimed to compare the preferences of different groups specified at the design stage, while 79 (13%) compared the preferences of groups identified at the analysis stage. Of the 278 included papers, 49 (18%) discussed potential scale issues, 18 (7%) used a formal method of analysis to account for scale between groups, and 2 (1%) accounted for scale differences between preference groups at the analysis stage. Scale heterogeneity was present in 65% (n = 13) of studies that tested for it. Analytical methods to test for scale heterogeneity included coefficient plots (n = 5, 2%), heteroscedastic conditional logit models (n = 6, 2%), Swait and Louviere tests (n = 4, 1%), generalised multinomial logit models (n = 5, 2%), and scale-adjusted latent class analysis (n = 2, 1%). Scale heterogeneity is a prevalent issue in healthcare DCEs. Despite this, few published DCEs have discussed such issues, and fewer still have used formal methods to identify and account for the impact of scale
Erdem, Seda; Thompson, Carl
2014-08-28
Prioritising scarce resources for investment in innovation by publically funded health systems is unavoidable. Many healthcare systems wish to foster transparency and accountability in the decisions they make by incorporating the public in decision-making processes. This paper presents a unique conceptual approach exploring the public's preferences for health service innovations by viewing healthcare innovations as 'bundles' of characteristics. This decompositional approach allows policy-makers to compare numerous competing health service innovations without repeatedly administering surveys for specific innovation choices. A Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) was used to elicit preferences. Individuals chose from presented innovation options that they believe the UK National Health Service (NHS) should invest the most in. Innovations differed according to: (i) target population; (ii) target age; (iii) implementation time; (iv) uncertainty associated with their likely effects; (v) potential health benefits; and, (vi) cost to a taxpayer. This approach fosters multidimensional decision-making, rather than imposing a single decision criterion (e.g., cost, target age) in prioritisation. Choice data was then analysed using scale-adjusted Latent Class models to investigate variability in preferences and scale and valuations amongst respondents. Three latent classes with considerable heterogeneity in the preferences were present. Each latent class is composed of two consumer subgroups varying in the level of certainty in their choices. All groups preferred scientifically proven innovations, those with potential health benefits that cost less. There were, however, some important differences in their preferences for innovation investment choices: Class-1 (54%) prefers innovations benefitting adults and young people and does not prefer innovations targeting people with 'drug addiction' and 'obesity'. Class- 2 (34%) prefers innovations targeting 'cancer' patients only and has
D-efficient or deficient? A robustness analysis of stated choice experimental designs
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Walker, Joan L.; Wang, Yanqiao; Thorhauge, Mikkel
2017-01-01
-aided surveys that readily allow for large fractions. Further, the results in the literature are abstract in that there is no reference point (i.e., meaningful units) to provide clear insight on the magnitude of any issue. Our objective is to analyze the robustness of different designs within a typical stated...... of the prior parameters. The simple mode choice setting allows for insightful visualizations of the designs themselves and also an interpretable reference point (VOT) for the range in which each design is robust. Not surprisingly, the D-efficient design is most efficient in the region where the true population......, the random design (which is the easiest to generate) performs as well as any design, and it (as well as any design) will perform even better if data cleaning is done to remove choice tasks where one alternative dominates the other....
Demand for carbon-neutral food – evidence from a Discrete Choice Experiment for milk and apple juice
Breustedt, Gunnar
2014-01-01
To internalize climate-related external costs from agricultural production and food consumption Pigou taxes and carbon credits increase private costs for food. Voluntary consumer choices for carbon-neutral food can be advantageous over such policy measures since they avoid higher food prices for the poor. We empirically analyze consumers’ willingness-to-pay for hypothetical carbon-reduced as well as carbon-neutral milk and apple juice. Data are collected in Discrete Choice Experiments in a Ge...
The effect of perceived mobility necessity in the choice of departure time
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Thorhauge, Mikkel; Cherchi, Elisabetta; Rich, Jeppe
2014-01-01
is likely to affect the choice of departure time. However departure time choice is also related to the full daily activity pattern, such as a restriction or a preference in one activity may form restrictions in the flexibility of other activities and thereby affect the preference for the related departure...... time. In this paper we investigate how the latent effect of the perceived mobility necessities affects the choice of departure time. A stated choice experiment collected among workers who commute to Copenhagen center is used to estimate 9 hybrid choice models where the discrete choice of departing...... before or later than the current trip depends on the latent construct of the perceived mobility necessities. Results show that individuals who perceive they have high mobility necessity tend to prefer the current departure time, and in particular dislike departing later. However the latent variables...
Patterson, Jean; Foureur, Maralyn; Skinner, Joan
2017-09-01
Birth in primary midwife-led maternity units has been demonstrated to be a safe choice for well women anticipating a normal birth. The incidence of serious perinatal outcomes for these women is comparable to similarly low risk women, who choose to birth in hospital. New Zealand women have a choice of Lead Maternity Carer (LMC) and birthplace; home, primary birthing unit, or a base hospital, though not all women may have all these choices available locally. Women in rural and rural remote areas can also choose to birth in their rural primary maternity unit. A percentage of these women (approx. 15-17%) will require transfer during labour, an event which can cause distress and often loss of midwifery continuity of care. To explore retrospectively the choice of birth place decisions and the labour and birth experiences of a sample of women resident in remotely zoned, rural areas of the lower South Island of New Zealand. A purposive sample of women living in remote rural areas, recruited by advertising in local newspapers and flyers. Individual semi-structured interviews were digitally recorded using a pragmatic interpretive approach. The data (transcripts and field notes) were analysed using thematic and content analysis. Ethical approval was obtained from the Health and Disability Ethics Committee (HEDC) MEC/06/05/045. Thirteen women consented to participate. Each was resident in a remote rural area having given birth in the previous 18 months. The women had been well during their pregnancies and at the onset of labour had anticipated a spontaneous vaginal birth. Rural remote zoned areas in Otago and Southland in the South Island of New Zealand FINDINGS: Five women planned to birth in a regional hospital and eight chose their nearest rural primary maternity unit. All of the women were aware of the possibility of transfer and had made their decision about their birthplace based on their perception of their personal safety, and in consideration of their distance from
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Md Z Sadique
Full Text Available The demand for vaccination against infectious diseases involves a choice between vaccinating and not vaccinating, in which there is a trade-off between the benefits and costs of each option. The aim of this paper is to investigate these trade-offs and to estimate how the perceived prevalence and severity of both the disease against which the vaccine is given and any vaccine associated adverse events (VAAE might affect demand. A discrete choice experiment (DCE was used to elicit stated preferences from a representative sample of 369 U.K. mothers of children below 5 years of age, for three hypothetical vaccines. Cost was included as an attribute, which enabled estimation of the willingness to pay for different vaccines having differing levels of the probability of occurrence and severity of both the infection and VAAE. The results suggest that the severity of the health effects associated with both the diseases and VAAEs exert an important influence on the demand for vaccination, whereas the probability of these events occurring was not a significant predictor. This has important implications for public health policy, which has tended to focus on the probability of these health effects as the main influence on decision making. Our results also suggest that anticipated regrets about the consequences of making the wrong decision also exert an influence on demand.
Ciocirlan, Cristina E.
The environmental economics literature consistently suggests that properly designed and implemented economic incentives are superior to command-and-control regulation in reducing pollution. Economic incentives, such as green taxes, cap-and-trade programs, tax incentives, are able to reduce pollution in a cost-effective manner, provide flexibility to industry and stimulate innovation in cleaner technologies. In the past few decades, both federal and state governments have shown increased use of economic incentives in environmental policy. Some states have embraced them in an active manner, while others have failed to do so. This research uses a three-step analysis. First, it asks why some states employ more economic incentives than others to stimulate consumption of renewable energy by the residential, commercial and industrial sectors. Second, it asks why some states employ stronger incentives than others. And third, it asks why certain states employ certain instruments, such as electricity surcharges, cap-and-trade programs, tax incentives or grants, while others do not. The first two analyses were conducted using factor analysis and multiple regression analysis, while the third analysis employed logistic regression models to analyze the data. Data for all three analyses were obtained from a combination of primary and secondary sources. To address these questions, a theory of instrument choice at the state level, which includes both internal and external determinants of policy-making, was developed and tested. The state level of analysis was chosen. States have proven to be pioneers in designing policies to address greenhouse gases (see, for instance, the recent cap-and-trade legislation passed in California). The theory was operationalized with the help of four models: needs/responsiveness, interest group influence, professionalism/capacity and innovation-and-diffusion. The needs/responsiveness model suggests that states tend to choose more and stronger economic
D. van Helvoort-Postulart (Debby); T. van der Weijden (Trudy); B.G.C. Dellaert (Benedict); M. de Kok (Mascha); M.F. von Meyenfeldt (Maarten); C.D. Dirksen (Carmen)
2009-01-01
textabstractBackground. The potential barriers and facilitators to change should guide the choice of implementation strategy. Implementation researchers believe that existing methods for the evaluation of potential barriers and facilitators are not satisfactory. Discrete choice experiments (DCE) are
Helvoort-Postulart, D. van; Weijden, G.D.E.M. van der; Dellaert, B.G.; Kok, M. de; Meyenfeldt, M.F. von; Dirksen, C.D.
2009-01-01
ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: The potential barriers and facilitators to change should guide the choice of implementation strategy. Implementation researchers believe that existing methods for the evaluation of potential barriers and facilitators are not satisfactory. Discrete choice experiments (DCE) are
Xu, G; Veloski, J J; Barzansky, B; Hojat, M; Diamond, J; Silenzio, V M
1996-01-01
A national survey of family physicians, general internists, and general pediatricians was conducted in the US to examine differences among the three groups of generalists physicians, with particular regard to the factors influencing their choice of generalist career. Family physicians were more likely to have made their career decision before medical school, and were more likely to have come from inner-city or rural areas. Personal values and early role models play a very important role in influencing their career choice. In comparison, a higher proportion of general internists had financial aid service obligations and their choice of the specialty was least influenced by personal values. General pediatricians had more clinical experiences either in primary care or with underserved populations, and they regarded medical school experiences as more important in influencing their specialty choice than did the other two groups. Admission committees may use these specialty-related factors to develop strategies to attract students into each type of generalist career.
Helfer, Peter; Shultz, Thomas R
2014-12-01
The widespread availability of calorie-dense food is believed to be a contributing cause of an epidemic of obesity and associated diseases throughout the world. One possible countermeasure is to empower consumers to make healthier food choices with useful nutrition labeling. An important part of this endeavor is to determine the usability of existing and proposed labeling schemes. Here, we report an experiment on how four different labeling schemes affect the speed and nutritional value of food choices. We then apply decision field theory, a leading computational model of human decision making, to simulate the experimental results. The psychology experiment shows that quantitative, single-attribute labeling schemes have greater usability than multiattribute and binary ones, and that they remain effective under moderate time pressure. The computational model simulates these psychological results and provides explanatory insights into them. This work shows how experimental psychology and computational modeling can contribute to the evaluation and improvement of nutrition-labeling schemes. © 2014 New York Academy of Sciences.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Elena Syrtsova
2017-06-01
Full Text Available The article is devoted to the study of various aspects of development and implementation of e-learning at higher education institutions. This system has been created according to the main approaches and criteria used by the European Foundation for quality assurance of e-learning (EFQUEL. The article presents the main results of the experiment on Vyatka State University's e-learning system development. The article reveals the feasibility of the development of e-learning in the region. The authors consider three main strategies of implementation of e-learning system at Vyatka State University. The authors substantiate the choice of the most effective and promising strategy of them based on the analysis and considering the peculiarities of the university and the region. In the article, the fundamental results of the experiment and description of the stages of the implementation of e-learning system are presented.
Violation of local realism with freedom of choice.
Scheidl, Thomas; Ursin, Rupert; Kofler, Johannes; Ramelow, Sven; Ma, Xiao-Song; Herbst, Thomas; Ratschbacher, Lothar; Fedrizzi, Alessandro; Langford, Nathan K; Jennewein, Thomas; Zeilinger, Anton
2010-11-16
Bell's theorem shows that local realistic theories place strong restrictions on observable correlations between different systems, giving rise to Bell's inequality which can be violated in experiments using entangled quantum states. Bell's theorem is based on the assumptions of realism, locality, and the freedom to choose between measurement settings. In experimental tests, "loopholes" arise which allow observed violations to still be explained by local realistic theories. Violating Bell's inequality while simultaneously closing all such loopholes is one of the most significant still open challenges in fundamental physics today. In this paper, we present an experiment that violates Bell's inequality while simultaneously closing the locality loophole and addressing the freedom-of-choice loophole, also closing the latter within a reasonable set of assumptions. We also explain that the locality and freedom-of-choice loopholes can be closed only within nondeterminism, i.e., in the context of stochastic local realism.
Michielsen, K.; Yuan, S.; Zhao, S.; Jin, F.; De Raedt, H.
We present a computer simulation model that is a one-to-one copy of an experimental realization of Wheeler's delayed-choice experiment that employs a single photon source and a Mach-Zehnder interferometer composed of a 50/50 input beam splitter and a variable output beam splitter with adjustable
Acceptance of vaccinations in pandemic outbreaks: a discrete choice experiment.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Domino Determann
Full Text Available Preventive measures are essential to limit the spread of new viruses; their uptake is key to their success. However, the vaccination uptake in pandemic outbreaks is often low. We aim to elicit how disease and vaccination characteristics determine preferences of the general public for new pandemic vaccinations.In an internet-based discrete choice experiment (DCE a representative sample of 536 participants (49% participation rate from the Dutch population was asked for their preference for vaccination programs in hypothetical communicable disease outbreaks. We used scenarios based on two disease characteristics (susceptibility to and severity of the disease and five vaccination program characteristics (effectiveness, safety, advice regarding vaccination, media attention, and out-of-pocket costs. The DCE design was based on a literature review, expert interviews and focus group discussions. A panel latent class logit model was used to estimate which trade-offs individuals were willing to make.All above mentioned characteristics proved to influence respondents' preferences for vaccination. Preference heterogeneity was substantial. Females who stated that they were never in favor of vaccination made different trade-offs than males who stated that they were (possibly willing to get vaccinated. As expected, respondents preferred and were willing to pay more for more effective vaccines, especially if the outbreak was more serious (€6-€39 for a 10% more effective vaccine. Changes in effectiveness, out-of-pocket costs and in the body that advises the vaccine all substantially influenced the predicted uptake.We conclude that various disease and vaccination program characteristics influence respondents' preferences for pandemic vaccination programs. Agencies responsible for preventive measures during pandemics can use the knowledge that out-of-pocket costs and the way advice is given affect vaccination uptake to improve their plans for future pandemic
Meyerding, Stephan G H; Gentz, Maria; Altmann, Brianne; Meier-Dinkel, Lisa
2018-08-01
Consumer perspectives of beef quality are complex, leading to a market that is increasingly differentiating. Thus, ongoing monitoring and assessment of changes in consumer perspectives is essential to identify changing market conditions. Often only credence and search characteristics are evaluated in consumer studies; therefore the object of the present study is to examine consumer preferences and perceptions towards beef steaks, also including experience characteristics, using a mixed methods approach. For this reason, 55 consumers participated in an experiment in Germany, including a sensory acceptance test, stated willingness to pay, and choice-based conjoint analysis (CBCA). Different quality characteristics were included, but a focus on the quality labels of 'dry aged beef', 'Block House beef', and 'Angus beef' was predominant throughout the experiment with the results showing that quality labels significantly increased overall liking as well as the stated willingness to pay. Quality labels were also the one of the most important characteristics in the conjoint analysis, after origin and price. The results of all applied methods are comparable for the characteristic quality label. The combination of sensory acceptance test and CBCA were additionally able to evaluate all three kinds of beef quality characteristics, which could not be evaluated together only using a single method. This suggests that a mixture of methods should be used to gain better knowledge on the true behavior of beef consumers. Experience and credence characteristics, including beef quality labels, present opportunities for future research as well as the potential for determining product and market differentiation. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Discrete choice experiments in pharmacy: a review of the literature.
Naik-Panvelkar, Pradnya; Armour, Carol; Saini, Bandana
2013-02-01
Discrete choice experiments (DCEs) have been widely used to elicit patient preferences for various healthcare services and interventions. The aim of our study was to conduct an in-depth scoping review of the literature and provide a current overview of the progressive application of DCEs within the field of pharmacy. Electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, SCOPUS, ECONLIT) were searched (January 1990-August 2011) to identify published English language studies using DCEs within the pharmacy context. Data were abstracted with respect to DCE methodology and application to pharmacy. Our search identified 12 studies. The DCE methodology was utilised to elicit preferences for different aspects of pharmacy products, therapy or services. Preferences were elicited from either patients or pharmacists, with just two studies incorporating the views of both. Most reviewed studies examined preferences for process-related or provider-related aspects with a lesser focus on health outcomes. Monetary attributes were considered to be important by most patients and pharmacists in the studies reviewed. Logit, probit or multinomial logit models were most commonly employed for estimation. Our study showed that the pharmacy profession has adopted the DCE methodology consistent with the general health DCEs although the number of studies is quite limited. Future studies need to examine preferences of both patients and providers for particular products or disease-state management services. Incorporation of health outcome attributes in the design, testing for external validity and the incorporation of DCE results in economic evaluation framework to inform pharmacy policy remain important areas for future research. © 2012 The Authors. IJPP © 2012 Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Svendsen, Gert Tinggaard
Svendsen provides a comprehensive description and assessment of the actual experience with systems of tradable permits for environmental management. Moreover, he puts this treatment in a public-choice framework so that we can understand why policy makers in Europe have chosen green taxes, while t...... their counterparts in the United States have opted for systems of tradable permits. The book is a valuable source for a basic understanding of the theory, the and the political economy of incentive-based policy instruments....
Augmenting short cheap talk scripts with a repeated opt-out reminder in choice experiment surveys
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Ladenburg, Jacob; Olsen, Søren Bøye
to choose the opt-out alternative if they find the experimentally designed alternatives too expensive. In an empirical Choice Experiment survey we find the Opt-Out Reminder to significantly reduce total WTP and to some extent also marginal WTP beyond the capability of the Cheap Talk applied without the Opt...
Ballantyne, Roy; Packer, Jan
2011-01-01
This paper argues the need for the providers of ecotourism and other free-choice environmental learning experiences to promote the adoption of environmentally sustainable actions beyond their own sites, when visitors return to their home environments. Previous research indicates that although visitors often leave such experiences with a heightened…
Rather unspectacular: design choices in National Health Service glasses
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Dr Joanne Gooding
2017-04-01
Full Text Available This article considers the design and production of spectacles in Britain following the introduction of standardised frame styles under the National Health Service. NHS spectacles were provided as a functional, durable medical appliance to be delivered cost-effectively and there was no explicit concern for fashion or the patient experience. The actions of the government and professional bodies greatly affected the trade in eyewear and thus restricted opportunities for innovative design and consumer choice. Within the range of state regulation frames there was no active concern for ‘design’ in terms of appearance and it was only through the purchase of private frames that significant choice and variety in eyewear could be attained. The scope for the public to select a more fashionable frame whilst receiving an element of state aid was through the purchase of NHS hybrid private frames.
Choice, changeover, and travel
Baum, William M.
1982-01-01
Since foraging in nature can be viewed as instrumental behavior, choice between sources of food, known as “patches,” can be viewed as choice between instrumental response alternatives. Whereas the travel required to change alternatives deters changeover in nature, the changeover delay (COD) usually deters changeover in the laboratory. In this experiment, pigeons were exposed to laboratory choice situations, concurrent variable-interval schedules, that were standard except for the introduction...
Using a choice experiment and birder preferences to guide bird-conservation funding.
Steven, Rochelle; Smart, James C R; Morrison, Clare; Castley, J Guy
2017-08-01
Conservation of biodiversity, including birds, continues to challenge natural-area managers. Stated-preference methods (e.g., choice experiment [CE]) are increasingly used to provide data for valuation of natural ecosystems. We used a CE to calculate birders' willingness to pay for different levels of bioecological attributes (threatened species, endemic species, and diversity) of birding sites with hypothetical entry fees. The CE was delivered at popular birding and avitourism sites in Australia and the United Kingdom. Latent-class modeling results revealed heterogeneous preferences among birders and correspondingly variable willingness to pay. Four clear groups were apparent: quantity-driven birders, special-birds seekers, confused respondents, and price-is-no-object birders. Quantity-driven birders were attracted to sites that deliver high levels of diversity and endemic species for which they were willing to pay $135 and $66 to visit, respectively, above what they were willing to pay to visit a site with low levels of diversity and few endemic and threatened species . Special-bird seekers valued threatened species and high levels of endemic species most (willingness to pay $45 and $46, respectively). Confused respondents' preferences were difficult to determine, but they were the most sensitive to the hypothetical entry fees, unlike the price-is-no-object birders, who were not at all sensitive to cost. Our findings demonstrate that birders are amenable to paying for their preferred birding experience. These payments could provide an alternative source of funding in some avitourism sites on both public and private land. Such alternative revenue streams should be explored and given full consideration in increasingly competitive conservation-financing environments. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.
Long, GuiLu; Qin, Wei; Yang, Zhe; Li, Jun-Lin
2018-06-01
The article Realistic interpretation of quantum mechanics and encounter-delayed-choice experiment, written by GuiLu Long, Wei Qin, Zhe Yang, and Jun-Lin Li, was originally published online without open access. After publication in volume 61, issue 3: 030311 the author decided to opt for Open Choice and to make the article an open access publication. Therefore, the copyright of the article has been changed to The Author(s) 2017 and the article is forthwith distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, duplication, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The original article has been corrected.
Rakotonarivo, O Sarobidy; Schaafsma, Marije; Hockley, Neal
2016-12-01
While discrete choice experiments (DCEs) are increasingly used in the field of environmental valuation, they remain controversial because of their hypothetical nature and the contested reliability and validity of their results. We systematically reviewed evidence on the validity and reliability of environmental DCEs from the past thirteen years (Jan 2003-February 2016). 107 articles met our inclusion criteria. These studies provide limited and mixed evidence of the reliability and validity of DCE. Valuation results were susceptible to small changes in survey design in 45% of outcomes reporting reliability measures. DCE results were generally consistent with those of other stated preference techniques (convergent validity), but hypothetical bias was common. Evidence supporting theoretical validity (consistency with assumptions of rational choice theory) was limited. In content validity tests, 2-90% of respondents protested against a feature of the survey, and a considerable proportion found DCEs to be incomprehensible or inconsequential (17-40% and 10-62% respectively). DCE remains useful for non-market valuation, but its results should be used with caution. Given the sparse and inconclusive evidence base, we recommend that tests of reliability and validity are more routinely integrated into DCE studies and suggest how this might be achieved. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.
Thompson, Amy S.
2017-01-01
With the L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS) as a framework, this study is an investigation of the relationships among motivation, language choice, and multilingualism using data from 195 undergraduate learners of languages other than English (LOTEs) in the context of the United States. Motivation is operationalized by the three aspects of self…
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Sven Åke Bjørke
2011-11-01
Full Text Available The concept of e-learning is vague. ICT-supported education, online education, distance education, e-teaching and e-learning – what is the difference? This article describes the differences and practical pedagogical consequences depending on the choices made and is based on a concrete example and experiences. Modern ICT-supported educational methods demand awareness of various classifications of knowledge when developing curricula and appropriate learning activities.In the quest for a more sustainable development, there are now opportunities to leapfrog several stages. The education sector may jump directly to state of the art in e-pedagogy for building blended or purely online learning environments. To achieve this, investments in the training of teachers might be even more crucial than investing in the technology.
Na, Jinkyung; McDonough, Ian M; Chan, Micaela Y; Park, Denise C
2016-04-01
The present research shows that, when making choices, working-class Americans are more affected by others' opinions than middle-class Americans due to differences in independent versus interdependent self-construal. Experiment 1 revealed that when working-class Americans made decisions to buy products, they were more influenced by the choices of others than middle-class Americans. In contrast, middle-class Americans were more likely to misremember others' choices to be consistent with their own choices. In other words, working-class Americans adjusted their choices to the preference of others, whereas middle-class Americans distorted others' preferences to fit their choices. Supporting our prediction that this social-class effect is closely linked to the independent versus interdependent self-construal, we showed that the differences in self-construal across cultures qualified the social-class effects on choices (Experiment 2). Moreover, when we experimentally manipulated self-construal in Experiment 3, we found that it mediated the corresponding changes in choices regardless of social class. © 2016 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Nguyen, Thong Tien; Solgaard, Hans Stubbe; Haider, Wolfgang
2018-01-01
Understanding market competition and consumer preferences are important first steps in developing a business. In a competitive market, effectiveness of the various elements of a firm’s marketing mix depends not only on the absolute value of each element but also on the relative values......-employed consumers are the most sensitive to price. Four segments are identified and described in terms of both consumer characteristics and preferences. Our results are meaningful for producers and retailers to develop marketing strategies and production plan....... of the elements with respect to the firm’s position in the market. In this paper we analyze the demand structure and market positions for a variety of seafood products in the French retail market. We use a labeled choice experiment (LCE) to analyze twelve seafood species. The choice options are labeled...
Boyd-Turner, Danni; Bell, Elaine; Russell, Alison
2016-01-01
This paper explores how the student placement experience may influence employment choices in the context of paediatric nursing. A qualitative research methodology was used. Data was collected using semi structured interviews at a tertiary teaching hospital. The sample group comprised of six newly qualified nurses who had completed their Bachelor of Nursing less than 12 months before the interview. They had completed at least one clinical placement at the site of data collection in their 2nd or 3rd year of undergraduate nursing studies. The main themes contributing to the student nurse experience within the context of paediatric nursing included the wish to work with children, a job being available, support during clinical placements and assistance with future career planning while on placement. The support experienced by student nurses during their clinical placement was seen to have a very positive influence on their future employment choices. Group de-briefing to support mutual understanding and sharing was seen to be a highly positive aspect of a clinical placement. Also how students were treated by clinical staff was a key factor that influenced future employment choices. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Evaluating user impacts and management controls: Implications for recreation choice behavior
Harriet H. Christensen; Nanette J. Davis
1985-01-01
This paper describes potential factors affecting recreation choice behavior. Freedom and lack of constraints are experiences frequently sought by recreationists. Data in the paper are based on questionnaires completed by agency managers and informal conversations with users in the Mount Rainier area of Washington State. Managers' and users' perceptions of...
How politicians make decisions under risk: a political choice experiment
Enrique Fatás; Tibor Neugebauer; Pilar Tamborero
2004-01-01
We report on an experimental study with real-world politicians. These political experts face political choice problems under risk and probability. Thus, we test the frequently observed violations of rational choice theory -the reference point effect, loss aversion, framing effects, and the common ratio effect- with experts from the field. Their choices violate expected utility theory. Nevertheless, they appear to be more rational and less risk averse (loving) in the domain of gains (losses) t...
How to understand our willingness-to-pay to fight climate change? A choice experiment approach
De Chaisemartin , Clément; Mahé , Thuriane
2009-01-01
We explore the willingness-to-pay (WTP) to fight climate change in a choice experiment. Since tree planting prevents climate change, subjects are offered to choose between receiving a high amount of money or receiving a lower amount of money plus participating to tree planting action. This allows us to get an individual interval of the WTP to prevent climate change. We also set the experiment to control for framing effects: we measure whether subjects WTP is higher not to prevent a tree plant...
The Galileo Solid-State Imaging experiment
Belton, M.J.S.; Klaasen, K.P.; Clary, M.C.; Anderson, J.L.; Anger, C.D.; Carr, M.H.; Chapman, C.R.; Davies, M.E.; Greeley, R.; Anderson, D.; Bolef, L.K.; Townsend, T.E.; Greenberg, R.; Head, J. W.; Neukum, G.; Pilcher, C.B.; Veverka, J.; Gierasch, P.J.; Fanale, F.P.; Ingersoll, A.P.; Masursky, H.; Morrison, D.; Pollack, James B.
1992-01-01
The Solid State Imaging (SSI) experiment on the Galileo Orbiter spacecraft utilizes a high-resolution (1500 mm focal length) television camera with an 800 ?? 800 pixel virtual-phase, charge-coupled detector. It is designed to return images of Jupiter and its satellites that are characterized by a combination of sensitivity levels, spatial resolution, geometric fiedelity, and spectral range unmatched by imaging data obtained previously. The spectral range extends from approximately 375 to 1100 nm and only in the near ultra-violet region (??? 350 nm) is the spectral coverage reduced from previous missions. The camera is approximately 100 times more sensitive than those used in the Voyager mission, and, because of the nature of the satellite encounters, will produce images with approximately 100 times the ground resolution (i.e., ??? 50 m lp-1) on the Galilean satellites. We describe aspects of the detector including its sensitivity to energetic particle radiation and how the requirements for a large full-well capacity and long-term stability in operating voltages led to the choice of the virtual phase chip. The F/8.5 camera system can reach point sources of V(mag) ??? 11 with S/N ??? 10 and extended sources with surface brightness as low as 20 kR in its highest gain state and longest exposure mode. We describe the performance of the system as determined by ground calibration and the improvements that have been made to the telescope (same basic catadioptric design that was used in Mariner 10 and the Voyager high-resolution cameras) to reduce the scattered light reaching the detector. The images are linearly digitized 8-bits deep and, after flat-fielding, are cosmetically clean. Information 'preserving' and 'non-preserving' on-board data compression capabilities are outlined. A special "summation" mode, designed for use deep in the Jovian radiation belts, near Io, is also described. The detector is 'preflashed' before each exposure to ensure the photometric linearity
Patient preferences for Interferon-beta in Iran: A discrete choice experiment.
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Farimah Rahimi
Full Text Available Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, progressive, and common disease affecting the central nervous system in young adults. Interferon-beta is one of the most widely used medicines to reduce the disease progression. Given the variety of drugs in this category, we aimed to identify the preferences of patients for IFN-β that play an important role in policymaking in this area. Discrete choice experiment method was used in the present study to identify and prioritize those attributes that are of interest to MS patients and increases the utility of the use of IFN-β in their treatment. Questionnaires were given to 358 patients in Isfahan-Iran, who were asked to choose between the two treatment choices in each scenario. The results of the logit model showed that the changes in the efficacy lead to the most changes in the patient utility. Changes in side effects and ease of injection have been placed in the next rankings. Considering the drug attributes considered more desirable by patients can lead to greater medication adherence and possibly better treatment outcomes. Also, pharmaceutical companies, the health ministry, the Food and Drug Administration, insurance organizations, and neurologists can benefit from this information in production and importation, policymaking, and prescription.
Quantum erasure with causally disconnected choice.
Ma, Xiao-Song; Kofler, Johannes; Qarry, Angie; Tetik, Nuray; Scheidl, Thomas; Ursin, Rupert; Ramelow, Sven; Herbst, Thomas; Ratschbacher, Lothar; Fedrizzi, Alessandro; Jennewein, Thomas; Zeilinger, Anton
2013-01-22
The counterintuitive features of quantum physics challenge many common-sense assumptions. In an interferometric quantum eraser experiment, one can actively choose whether or not to erase which-path information (a particle feature) of one quantum system and thus observe its wave feature via interference or not by performing a suitable measurement on a distant quantum system entangled with it. In all experiments performed to date, this choice took place either in the past or, in some delayed-choice arrangements, in the future of the interference. Thus, in principle, physical communications between choice and interference were not excluded. Here, we report a quantum eraser experiment in which, by enforcing Einstein locality, no such communication is possible. This is achieved by independent active choices, which are space-like separated from the interference. Our setup employs hybrid path-polarization entangled photon pairs, which are distributed over an optical fiber link of 55 m in one experiment, or over a free-space link of 144 km in another. No naive realistic picture is compatible with our results because whether a quantum could be seen as showing particle- or wave-like behavior would depend on a causally disconnected choice. It is therefore suggestive to abandon such pictures altogether.
A Choice Experiment on AFV Preferences of Private Car Owners in The Netherlands
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Hoen, A.; Koetse, M.J.
2012-04-15
In this paper we aim to get insight into preferences of Dutch private car owners for alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) and their characteristics. Since AFVs are either not yet available on the market or have only very limited market shares, we have to rely on stated preference research. We perform a state-of-the-art conjoint analysis, based on data obtained through an online choice experiment among Dutch private car owners. Results show that negative preferences for alternative fuel vehicles are large, especially for the electric and fuel cell car. This is mostly related to their limited driving range and considerable refuelling times. AFV preferences increase considerably when improvements in driving range, refuelling time and additional detour time are made. The number of available models and policy measures such as free parking also have added value but only to a limited extent. Negative AFV preferences remain, however, also when substantial improvements to AFV characteristics are made. The fact that most technologies are relatively unknown and their performance and comfort levels are uncertain are likely important factors in this respect. Results from mixed logit models furthermore reveal that consumer preferences for AFVs and AFV characteristics are heterogeneous to a large extent, particularly those on the electric car, on additional detour time, on fuel time for the electric and fuel cell car, on the policy measures free parking and access to bus lanes, and on purchase price and monthly costs. In order to get more insight into the underlying sources of heterogeneity we estimate a model with interactions between the car attributes and respondent background and car (use) characteristics. Several variables, such as using the car for holidays abroad and fuel type, appear to be relevant for car choice. In terms of price and cost sensitivity we find differences in preferences due to new versus second-hand cars, price of the car, weight of the car, 1st and 2nd car
The "Tyranny of Choice": Choice Overload as a Possible Instance of Effort Discounting
Reed, Derek D.; Reed, Florence D. DiGennaro; Chok, James; Brozyna, Gary A.
2011-01-01
When making a choice, people like to have options, but an emerging literature on "choice overload" suggests that the provision of too many options results in adverse experiences, including a depletion of cognitive resources and postdecision feelings of regret. A strong implication is that individuals should shy away from situations…
Raes, Leander; Speelman, Stijn; Aguirre, Nikolay
2017-08-01
This study investigates farmers' preferences to participate in payment contracts to adopt silvopastoral systems in Ecuador. A choice experiment was used to elicit preferences between different contract attributes, including differing payment amounts and land management requirements. The research was carried out in the buffer zone of Podocarpus National Park in Southern Ecuador, an area where most land is dedicated to cattle husbandry. A choice experiment was conducted to measure farmers' interest in different types of contracts. Based on existing incentive programs, contract choices varied with respect to the type of silvopastoral system, extra land-use requirements, payment levels and contract duration. In addition, contracts differed with regards to access by cattle to streams. Although the farmers did not show strong preferences for every contract attribute, the majority of farmers in the area showed interest in the proposed contracts. A latent class model identified three classes of respondents, based on their preferences for different contracts attributes or the "business as usual" option. The results suggest that farmland area, agricultural income, and landowners' perceptions of environmental problems provide a partial explanation for the heterogeneity observed in the choices for specific contracts. Participation might increase if contracts were targeted at specific groups of farmers, such as those identified through our latent class model. Offering flexible contracts with varying additional requirements within the same scheme, involving farmers from the start in payments for environmental services design, and combining payments for environmental services with integrated conservation and development projects may be a better way to convince more farmers to adopt silvopastoral systems.
Raes, Leander; Speelman, Stijn; Aguirre, Nikolay
2017-08-01
This study investigates farmers' preferences to participate in payment contracts to adopt silvopastoral systems in Ecuador. A choice experiment was used to elicit preferences between different contract attributes, including differing payment amounts and land management requirements. The research was carried out in the buffer zone of Podocarpus National Park in Southern Ecuador, an area where most land is dedicated to cattle husbandry. A choice experiment was conducted to measure farmers' interest in different types of contracts. Based on existing incentive programs, contract choices varied with respect to the type of silvopastoral system, extra land-use requirements, payment levels and contract duration. In addition, contracts differed with regards to access by cattle to streams. Although the farmers did not show strong preferences for every contract attribute, the majority of farmers in the area showed interest in the proposed contracts. A latent class model identified three classes of respondents, based on their preferences for different contracts attributes or the "business as usual" option. The results suggest that farmland area, agricultural income, and landowners' perceptions of environmental problems provide a partial explanation for the heterogeneity observed in the choices for specific contracts. Participation might increase if contracts were targeted at specific groups of farmers, such as those identified through our latent class model. Offering flexible contracts with varying additional requirements within the same scheme, involving farmers from the start in payments for environmental services design, and combining payments for environmental services with integrated conservation and development projects may be a better way to convince more farmers to adopt silvopastoral systems.
Valuing health risk in agriculture: a choice experiment approach to pesticide use in China.
Jin, Jianjun; Wang, Wenyu; He, Rui; Gong, Haozhou
2017-07-01
This paper presents a choice experiment approach to investigate farmers' valuations for health risk changes associated with pesticide use in Anqiu County, China. An empirical comparison on the disparity between farmers' willingness to pay (WTP) for a health risk reduction and willingness to accept (WTA) for the same risk increase is also conducted. Respondents were randomly assigned into the WTP group or the WTA group. Four attributes (health consequence, baseline risk, risk change size, and price) were identified and included. The results show that cancer consequence due to pesticide use decreases the utility of the farmer. A higher baseline risk has a higher WTP to reduce the risk and a higher probability of receiving compensation. If the health risk change size is bigger, it will result in a higher WTP and higher compensation. Household income, education, and age have significant and positive impacts on farmers' WTP. Farmers who are more educated or female are more likely to accept the compensation scheme if health risks increase. The marginal WTA for the same risk change is about two times higher than the marginal WTP. The findings of this study can contribute to the literature comparing people's WTP and WTA in a discrete choice experiment on valuing health risk changes associated with pesticide use.
German travelers' preferences for travel vaccines assessed by a discrete choice experiment.
Poulos, Christine; Curran, Desmond; Anastassopoulou, Anastassia; De Moerlooze, Laurence
2018-02-08
Many travelers to regions with endemic infectious diseases do not follow health authorities' recommendations regarding vaccination against vaccine-preventable infectious diseases, before traveling. The determinants of individual travelers' decisions to vaccinate before traveling are largely unknown. This study aimed to provide this information using a discrete choice experiment (DCE) administered to four types of German travelers: (1) business travelers; (2) travelers visiting friends and relatives (VFR); (3) leisure travelers; and (4) backpackers. A DCE survey was developed, pretested and administered online. It included a series of choice questions in which respondents chose between two hypothetical vaccines, each characterized by four disease attributes with varying levels describing the of risk, health impact, curability and transmissibility of the disease they would prevent (described with four disease attributes with varying levels of risk, health impact, curability and transmissibility), and varying levels of four vaccine attributes (duration of protection, number of doses required, time required for vaccination, and vaccine cost). A random-parameters logit model was used to estimate the importance weights each traveler type placed on the various attribute levels. These weights were used to calculate mean monetary equivalents (MMEs) of changes in each attribute (holding all others constant) and of hypothetical disease-vaccine combinations. All traveler types' choices indicated that they attached the greatest importance to the risk and health impact of disease and to the vaccine cost whereas the other disease and vaccine attributes were less important for their decisions about travel vaccines. An option of not choosing any of the vaccine-pairs presented was rarely selected indicating that travelers' generally prefer to be vaccinated rather than not. The MMEs of changes in vaccine attributes indicated a very high variability between the individual travelers
Motherhood: From rights to choices
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Renata Salecl
2010-01-01
Full Text Available Motherhood has been perceived as choice in the developed world after the liberalisation of abortion. However, this choice can be extremely anxiety provoking for women, especially in times when the ideology of choice dominates our lives in all possible ways. The paper shows how psychotherapy and psychoanalysis look at this anxiety, it reflects on how family relations are often the traumatic kernel behind this choice, and how the changes that women experience in today's times contribute to the increase of anxiety related to reproduction.
Salloum, Ramzi G; Louviere, Jordan J; Getz, Kayla R; Islam, Farahnaz; Anshari, Dien; Cho, Yoojin; O'Connor, Richard J; Hammond, David; Thrasher, James F
2017-07-13
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has regulatory authority to use inserts to communicate with consumers about harmful and potentially harmful constituents (HPHCs) in tobacco products; however, little is known about the most effective manner for presenting HPHC information. In a discrete choice experiment, participants evaluated eight choice sets, each of which showed two cigarette packages from four different brands and tar levels (high vs low), accompanied by an insert that included between-subject manipulations (ie, listing of HPHCs vs grouping by disease outcome and numeric values ascribed to HPHCs vs no numbers) and within-subject manipulations (ie, 1 of 4 warning topics; statement linking an HPHC with disease vs statement with no HPHC link). For each choice set, participants were asked: (1) which package is more harmful and (2) which motivates them to not smoke; each with a 'no difference' option. Alternative-specific logit models regressed choice on attribute levels. 1212 participants were recruited from an online consumer panel (725 18-29-year-old smokers and susceptible non-smokers and 487 30-64-year-old smokers). Participants were more likely to endorse high-tar products as more harmful than low-tar products, with a greater effect when numeric HPHC information was present. Compared with a simple warning statement, the statement linking HPHCs with disease encouraged quit motivation. Numeric HPHC information on inserts appears to produce misunderstandings that some cigarettes are less harmful than others. Furthermore, brief narratives that link HPHCs to smoking-related disease may promote cessation versus communications that do not explicitly link HPHCs to disease. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.
Reconceptualising the external validity of discrete choice experiments.
Lancsar, Emily; Swait, Joffre
2014-10-01
External validity is a crucial but under-researched topic when considering using discrete choice experiment (DCE) results to inform decision making in clinical, commercial or policy contexts. We present the theory and tests traditionally used to explore external validity that focus on a comparison of final outcomes and review how this traditional definition has been empirically tested in health economics and other sectors (such as transport, environment and marketing) in which DCE methods are applied. While an important component, we argue that the investigation of external validity should be much broader than a comparison of final outcomes. In doing so, we introduce a new and more comprehensive conceptualisation of external validity, closely linked to process validity, that moves us from the simple characterisation of a model as being or not being externally valid on the basis of predictive performance, to the concept that external validity should be an objective pursued from the initial conceptualisation and design of any DCE. We discuss how such a broader definition of external validity can be fruitfully used and suggest innovative ways in which it can be explored in practice.
Constructing food choice decisions.
Sobal, Jeffery; Bisogni, Carole A
2009-12-01
Food choice decisions are frequent, multifaceted, situational, dynamic, and complex and lead to food behaviors where people acquire, prepare, serve, give away, store, eat, and clean up. Many disciplines and fields examine decision making. Several classes of theories are applicable to food decision making, including social behavior, social facts, and social definition perspectives. Each offers some insights but also makes limiting assumptions that prevent fully explaining food choice decisions. We used constructionist social definition perspectives to inductively develop a food choice process model that organizes a broad scope of factors and dynamics involved in food behaviors. This food choice process model includes (1) life course events and experiences that establish a food choice trajectory through transitions, turning points, timing, and contexts; (2) influences on food choices that include cultural ideals, personal factors, resources, social factors, and present contexts; and (3) a personal system that develops food choice values, negotiates and balances values, classifies foods and situations, and forms/revises food choice strategies, scripts, and routines. The parts of the model dynamically interact to make food choice decisions leading to food behaviors. No single theory can fully explain decision making in food behavior. Multiple perspectives are needed, including constructionist thinking.
Memory Attributions for Choices: How Beliefs Shape Our Memories
Henkel, Linda A.; Mather, Mara
2007-01-01
When remembering past choices, people tend to attribute positive features to chosen options and negative features to rejected options. The present experiments reveal the important role beliefs play in memory reconstruction of choices. In Experiment 1, participants who misremembered which option they chose favored their believed choice in their…
Patient preferences for community pharmacy asthma services: a discrete choice experiment.
Naik-Panvelkar, Pradnya; Armour, Carol; Rose, John M; Saini, Bandana
2012-10-01
Specialized community pharmacy services, involving the provision of disease state management and care by pharmacists, have been developed and trialled and have demonstrated very good health outcomes. Most of these services have been developed from a healthcare professional perspective. However, for the future uptake and long-term sustainability of these services as well as for better and sustained health outcomes for patients, it is vital to gain an understanding of patients' preferences. We can then structure healthcare services to match these preferences and needs rather than around clinical viewpoints alone. The aim of this study was to elicit patient preferences for pharmacy-based specialized asthma services using a discrete choice experiment and to explore the value/importance that patients place on the different attributes of the asthma service. The existence of preference heterogeneity in the population was also investigated. The study was conducted with asthma patients who had recently experienced a specialized asthma management service at their pharmacy in New South Wales, Australia. Pharmacists delivering the asthma service mailed out the discrete choice questionnaires to participating patients at the end of 6 months of service provision. A latent class (LC) model was used to investigate each patient's strength of preference and preference heterogeneity for several key attributes related to asthma service provision: frequency of visits, access to pharmacist, interaction with pharmacy staff, availability of a private area for consultation, provision of lung function testing, type and depth of advice provision, number of days with asthma symptoms and cost of service. Eighty useable questionnaires (of 170 questionnaires sent out) were received (response rate 47.1%). The study identified various key elements of asthma services important to patients. Further, the LC analysis revealed three classes with differing patient preferences for levels of asthma service
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Qing Liu
2017-02-01
Full Text Available Based on choice experiments conducted via face-to-face interviews with 435 participants in four provincial areas of China (Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Guangdong, Chinese consumers’ preferences and motives for purchasing eco-labeled rice are examined in this study. The heterogeneous effects of each motivating channel are also investigated. The results reveal positive correlations between premiums for eco-labeled rice and consumers’ concerns about food safety and the environment, suggesting that health benefits and environmental considerations are the two critical motivations. The willingness to pay for eco-labeled rice does not increase with consumers’ knowledge of the different production standards indicated by each eco-label. Individual characteristics that determine each class are further explored through a seemingly irrelevant regression to identify the target group of consumers for policy-makers.
Diabetes and diet : food choices
Niewind, A.C.
1989-01-01
This thesis reports on the food choices of diabetic patients. Two studies were undertaken considering the barriers these patients experience with the diabetic diet. Furthermore, the changes in food choices during the first years after the diagnosis of insulin-dependent diabetes as well as patients,
Profeta, A.
2017-01-01
Health motives are an important driver of food choice. Triggering health motives in food choice is exactly the reason why health claims have been developed for the communication of functional food. Thus, it is of major interest how organic food consumers react to health claims on conventional products. For this purpose a German-wide Discrete-Choice-Experiment war carried out. The results show that occasional organic buyers were significantly more likely to choose products with a claim. It can...
Choice of sedative for deep brain stimulation in Parkinson’s disease: Our experience and
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Mridul Dhar
2017-01-01
Conclusion: The choice of sedation for DBS in PD should take into consideration factors such as patient cooperation, ‘drug off’ state due to pre-op medication stoppage, GABA versus non-GABA mediated mechanism of drugs, amount of dependence on PD drugs, severity of disease and finally requirement of the testing team. No drug can be singled out to be better and must be chosen based on individual merits of the patient and disease.
Decision heuristic or preference? Attribute non-attendance in discrete choice problems.
Heidenreich, Sebastian; Watson, Verity; Ryan, Mandy; Phimister, Euan
2018-01-01
This paper investigates if respondents' choice to not consider all characteristics of a multiattribute health service may represent preferences. Over the last decade, an increasing number of studies account for attribute non-attendance (ANA) when using discrete choice experiments to elicit individuals' preferences. Most studies assume such behaviour is a heuristic and therefore uninformative. This assumption may result in misleading welfare estimates if ANA reflects preferences. This is the first paper to assess if ANA is a heuristic or genuine preference without relying on respondents' self-stated motivation and the first study to explore this question within a health context. Based on findings from cognitive psychology, we expect that familiar respondents are less likely to use a decision heuristic to simplify choices than unfamiliar respondents. We employ a latent class model of discrete choice experiment data concerned with National Health Service managers' preferences for support services that assist with performance concerns. We present quantitative and qualitative evidence that in our study ANA mostly represents preferences. We also show that wrong assumptions about ANA result in inadequate welfare measures that can result in suboptimal policy advice. Future research should proceed with caution when assuming that ANA is a heuristic. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
School Choice Acceptance: An Exploratory Explication
Koven, Steven G.; Khan, Mobin
2014-01-01
School choice is presented by some as a panacea to the challenges facing education in the United States. Acceptance of choice as a solution, however, is far from universal. This article examines two possible contributors to choice adoption: ideology and political culture. Political culture was found to better explain the complex phenomenon of…
Butcher, Jonathan
2013-01-01
One year ago, the "Wall Street Journal" dubbed 2011 "the year of school choice," opining that "this year is shaping up as the best for reformers in a very long time." School-choice laws took great strides in 2011, both in the number of programs that succeeded across states and also in the size and scope of the adopted…
2015-01-01
the sample if they regard the price vector as high relative to the utility of non-status quo choices. Thus, the mathematics of combinatorial choice...option with the same attributes appearing in a choice set at a higher price , or an option with the same price but worse attributes appearing in the...25 of subjects making binary choices between alternative snack foods is consistent with an optimizing model of choice with error. Such choice errors
Choice Experiment Analysis of Outdoor Decking Material Selection in E-Commerce Market in Finland
Holopainen, Jani Markus; Toppinen, Anne Maarit Kristiina; Lähtinen, Katja Päivikki; Rekola, Mika Olavi
2017-01-01
Since the early 1990s, there has been hope that the uptake of certified forest products would ensure more sustainable forest management and also deliver business benefits along the value chain. Our study applies a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) to model an e-commerce purchase in the case of multiple products with various attribute and certification combinations in the Finnish retail outdoor decking material market. We received 2772 responses from 231 participants in an online survey. Applyi...
Application of Discrete-Choice Experiment Methods in Tobacco Control: A Systematic Review.
Regmi, Kabindra; Kaphle, Dinesh; Timilsina, Sabina; Tuha, Nik Annie Afiqah
2018-03-01
Economic evidence relating to tobacco control is generally derived from the cost effectiveness of smoking-cessation programs or the economic impact of tobacco-induced disease, based on revealed-preference data. However, empirical estimates from stated-preference data on tobacco users' preferences, smoking behaviour and smoking cessation aids using analytical techniques such as discrete-choice experiments (DCEs) could be important for policy decision making in tobacco control. Our objective was to review the practice and utility of DCE methodology across nicotine- and tobacco-related issues, particularly smoking and smoking-cessation behaviour, anti-smoking policies and preferences for smoking-cessation aids. We searched the PubMed, MEDLINE and ECONLIT databases for full-text original research articles on tobacco-related issues published between January 2000 and April 2016 that used a DCE method. We summarised the evidence and methodological characteristics of DCEs according to Lancsar and Louviere, 2008. Our review of the 12 eligible studies showed that DCE methodology was used to elicit smoker preferences and to evaluate tobacco-control policies. The majority of the studies were published in the last 5 years. The areas of application were smoking cessation, smoking behaviour, electronic cigarette use, water-pipe smoking and tobacco packaging. Monetary attributes were the most influential attributes in all studies. The design of the DCEs varied. DCE studies of tobacco-related issues were methodologically consistent with guidelines proposed for conducting health-related DCEs.
Optimal Portfolio Choice with Annuitization
Koijen, R.S.J.; Nijman, T.E.; Werker, B.J.M.
2006-01-01
We study the optimal consumption and portfolio choice problem over an individual's life-cycle taking into account annuity risk at retirement. Optimally, the investor allocates wealth at retirement to nominal, inflation-linked, and variable annuities and conditions this choice on the state of the
Stated preference methods using R
Aizaki, Hideo; Sato, Kazuo
2014-01-01
Stated Preference Methods Using R explains how to use stated preference (SP) methods, which are a family of survey methods, to measure people's preferences based on decision making in hypothetical choice situations. Along with giving introductory explanations of the methods, the book collates information on existing R functions and packages as well as those prepared by the authors. It focuses on core SP methods, including contingent valuation (CV), discrete choice experiments (DCEs), and best-worst scaling (BWS). Several example data sets illustrate empirical applications of each method with R
Determann, Domino; Lambooij, Mattijs S; Gyrd-Hansen, Dorte; de Bekker-Grob, Esther W; Steyerberg, Ewout W; Heldoorn, Marcel; Pedersen, Line Bjørnskov; de Wit, G Ardine
2017-05-01
To identify groups of potential users based on their preferences for characteristics of personal health records (PHRs) and to estimate potential PHR uptake. We performed a discrete choice experiment, which consisted of 12 choice scenarios, each comprising 2 hypothetical PHR alternatives and an opt-out. The alternatives differed based on 5 characteristics. The survey was administered to Internet panel members of the Dutch Federation of Patients and Consumer Organizations. We used latent class models to analyze the data. A total of 1,443 potential PHR users completed the discrete choice experiment. We identified 3 latent classes: "refusers" (class probability 43%), "eager adopters" (37%), and "reluctant adopters" (20%). The predicted uptake for the reluctant adopters ranged from 4% in the case of a PHR with the worst attribute levels to 68% in the best case. Those with 1 or more chronic diseases were significantly more likely to belong to the eager adopter class. The data storage provider was the most decisive aspect for the eager and reluctant adopters, while cost was most decisive for the refusers. Across all classes, health care providers and independent organizations were the most preferred data storage providers. We identified 3 groups, of which 1 group (more than one-third of potential PHR users) indicated great interest in a PHR irrespective of PHR characteristics. Policymakers who aim to expand the use of PHRs will be most successful when health care providers and health facilities or independent organizations store PHR data while refraining from including market parties. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com
Wilkins, Stephen; Huisman, Jeroen
2011-01-01
Previous research has found that the country and institution choices of international students are greatly influenced by recommendations they receive from others who have experience of undertaking higher education overseas. For Western universities, it is of utmost importance to satisfy their international students, who can then encourage the next…
Austin, Megan J.
2015-01-01
Little is known about the supply side of voucher programs, despite schools' central role in program effectiveness. Using survey and interview data on the Indiana Choice Scholarship Program (ICSP), I analyze schools' participation decisions and early implementation experiences to understand better how schools respond to program regulations. I find…
The memory state heuristic: A formal model based on repeated recognition judgments.
Castela, Marta; Erdfelder, Edgar
2017-02-01
The recognition heuristic (RH) theory predicts that, in comparative judgment tasks, if one object is recognized and the other is not, the recognized one is chosen. The memory-state heuristic (MSH) extends the RH by assuming that choices are not affected by recognition judgments per se, but by the memory states underlying these judgments (i.e., recognition certainty, uncertainty, or rejection certainty). Specifically, the larger the discrepancy between memory states, the larger the probability of choosing the object in the higher state. The typical RH paradigm does not allow estimation of the underlying memory states because it is unknown whether the objects were previously experienced or not. Therefore, we extended the paradigm by repeating the recognition task twice. In line with high threshold models of recognition, we assumed that inconsistent recognition judgments result from uncertainty whereas consistent judgments most likely result from memory certainty. In Experiment 1, we fitted 2 nested multinomial models to the data: an MSH model that formalizes the relation between memory states and binary choices explicitly and an approximate model that ignores the (unlikely) possibility of consistent guesses. Both models provided converging results. As predicted, reliance on recognition increased with the discrepancy in the underlying memory states. In Experiment 2, we replicated these results and found support for choice consistency predictions of the MSH. Additionally, recognition and choice latencies were in agreement with the MSH in both experiments. Finally, we validated critical parameters of our MSH model through a cross-validation method and a third experiment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).
Citizen preference assessment for power supply visions using choice experiments
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Nakatani, Jun; Tahara, Kiyotaka; Tanaka, Koji; Matsumoto, Shinya; Mizuno, Tateki
2015-01-01
In this paper, citizen preferences for power supply visions were assessed using choice experiments. In particular, preferences for the composition of power generation including renewable energy and nuclear power were analyzed. We also investigated how the need and consciousness for electricity saving affected the preferences for power supply visions. The results indicated that a respondent group who felt negative about resuming the operations at nuclear power plants had discriminative preferences for attributes of the power supply visions, and that the priority of carbon dioxide emissions as a criterion for evaluating the power supply visions became lower when the composition of power generation was presented. Consciousness for electricity saving, as well as preferences for nuclear power generation, differed depending on regions of residence, while their relationship was similar among respondent groups who lived in the jurisdictional areas of the electric power companies that had experienced risks of demand-supply gaps. (author)
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Rokotonarivo, Sarobidy; Schaafsma, Marije; Hockley, Neal
2016-01-01
reliability measures. DCE results were generally consistent with those of other stated preference techniques (convergent validity), but hypothetical bias was common. Evidence supporting theoretical validity (consistency with assumptions of rational choice theory) was limited. In content validity tests, 2...
Governing Health Care through Free Choice: Neoliberal Reforms in Denmark and the United States.
Larsen, Lars Thorup; Stone, Deborah
2015-10-01
We compare free choice reforms in Denmark and the United States to understand what ideas and political forces could generate such similar policy reforms in radically different political contexts. We analyze the two cases using our own interpretation of neoliberalism as having "two faces." The first face seeks to expand private markets and shrink the public sector; the second face seeks to strengthen the public sector's capacity to govern through incentives and competition. First, we show why these two most-different cases offer a useful comparison to understand similar policy tools. Second, we develop our theoretical framework of the two faces of neoliberalism. Third, we examine Denmark's introduction of a free choice of hospitals in 2002, a policy that for the first time allowed some patients to receive care either in a public hospital outside their local area or in a private hospital. Fourth, we examine the introduction of free choice among private managed care plans into the US Medicare program in 1997. We show how policy makers in both countries used neoliberal reform as a mechanism to make their public health care sectors governable. Fifth, on the basis of our analysis, we draw five lessons about neoliberal policy reforms. Copyright © 2015 by Duke University Press.
Streeten, P P
1980-01-01
This introduction is from the 16th World Conference of SID in Colombo, Sri Lanka, August 1979, which addressed the theme of development choices for the 1980's and beyond. Choices may refer to different political, ideological or social systems. Choices may refer to strategies and technical issues, e.g. agriculture vs. industry. A third meaning of choice is implicit in the idea of a Third World, or alternative, method of development. The third meaning implies a rejection of Western institutions, values, and standards. In the past, the transfer of Western or in this case Northern, institutions and standards has disappointed and created obstacles to development. The rapid rate of population growth forces choices of population control and resource management. Common themes of development have emerged from conference discussions: the need to build development efforts on indigenous values; the need for new institutions both at the sub-national and at the super-national level; and, the need to adjust to inevitable changes rationally and with foresight. The nation state is too large for many functions that are better decentralized and left to village or district administrations, yet it is too small to respond to global challenges and environmental risks like harvest failure, credit risks, marketing risks, failure of supplies. The interests of the state are not identical with those of society or particular groups in society.
Sad Facial Expressions Increase Choice Blindness
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Yajie Wang
2018-01-01
Full Text Available Previous studies have discovered a fascinating phenomenon known as choice blindness—individuals fail to detect mismatches between the face they choose and the face replaced by the experimenter. Although previous studies have reported a couple of factors that can modulate the magnitude of choice blindness, the potential effect of facial expression on choice blindness has not yet been explored. Using faces with sad and neutral expressions (Experiment 1 and faces with happy and neutral expressions (Experiment 2 in the classic choice blindness paradigm, the present study investigated the effects of facial expressions on choice blindness. The results showed that the detection rate was significantly lower on sad faces than neutral faces, whereas no significant difference was observed between happy faces and neutral faces. The exploratory analysis of verbal reports found that participants who reported less facial features for sad (as compared to neutral expressions also tended to show a lower detection rate of sad (as compared to neutral faces. These findings indicated that sad facial expressions increased choice blindness, which might have resulted from inhibition of further processing of the detailed facial features by the less attractive sad expressions (as compared to neutral expressions.
Sad Facial Expressions Increase Choice Blindness.
Wang, Yajie; Zhao, Song; Zhang, Zhijie; Feng, Wenfeng
2017-01-01
Previous studies have discovered a fascinating phenomenon known as choice blindness-individuals fail to detect mismatches between the face they choose and the face replaced by the experimenter. Although previous studies have reported a couple of factors that can modulate the magnitude of choice blindness, the potential effect of facial expression on choice blindness has not yet been explored. Using faces with sad and neutral expressions (Experiment 1) and faces with happy and neutral expressions (Experiment 2) in the classic choice blindness paradigm, the present study investigated the effects of facial expressions on choice blindness. The results showed that the detection rate was significantly lower on sad faces than neutral faces, whereas no significant difference was observed between happy faces and neutral faces. The exploratory analysis of verbal reports found that participants who reported less facial features for sad (as compared to neutral) expressions also tended to show a lower detection rate of sad (as compared to neutral) faces. These findings indicated that sad facial expressions increased choice blindness, which might have resulted from inhibition of further processing of the detailed facial features by the less attractive sad expressions (as compared to neutral expressions).
Making pragmatic choices: women’s experiences of delivery care in Northern Ethiopia
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Gebrehiwot Tesfay
2012-10-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background In 2003, the Ethiopian Ministry of Health launched the Health Extension Programme (HEP, which was intended to increase access to reproductive health care. Despite enormous effort, utilization of maternal health services remains limited, and the reasons for the low utilization of the services offered through the HEP previously have not been explored in depth. This study explores women’s experiences and perceptions regarding delivery care in Tigray, a northern region of Ethiopia, and enables us to make suggestions for better implementation of maternal health care services in this setting. Methods We used six focus group discussions with 51 women to explore perceptions and experiences regarding delivery care. The data were analysed by means of grounded theory. Results One core category emerged, ‘making pragmatic choices’, which connected the categories ‘aiming for safer deliveries’, ‘embedded in tradition’, and ‘medical knowledge under constrained circumstances’. In this setting, women – aiming for safer deliveries – made choices pragmatically between the two available models of childbirth. On the one hand, choice of home delivery, represented by the category ‘embedded in tradition’, was related to their faith, the ascendancy of elderly women, the advantages of staying at home and the custom of traditional birth attendants (TBAs. On the other, institutional delivery, represented by the category ‘medical knowledge under constrained circumstances’, and linked to how women appreciated medical resources and the support of health extension workers (HEWs but were uncertain about the quality of care, emphasized the barriers to transportation. In Tigray women made choices pragmatically and seemed to not feel any conflict between the two available models, being supported by traditional birth attendants, HEWs and husbands in their decision-making. Representatives of the two models were not as open to
Moses Ikebe Odo
2015-01-01
This study takes on the issue of sustaining occupational information for career choice and development in students of technical colleges in Enugu State, Nigeria. The method adopted for this study was the survey design and the population included were all final year students of the three government technical colleges in Enugu State of Nigeria. The technical colleges were sampled as follows: Government Technical College, Enugu (156 students); Government Technical College, Nsukka (148 students);...
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Christensen, Tove; Pedersen, Anders Branth; Nielsen, Helle Oersted
2011-01-01
Danish farmers have been far less interested in agri-environmental subsidy schemes (AES) than anticipated. In order to examine how to improve the appeal of such schemes, a choice experiment was conducted concerning 444 Danish farmers’ preferences for subsidy schemes for pesticide-free buffer zone...
On school choice and test-based accountability.
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Damian W. Betebenner
2005-10-01
Full Text Available Among the two most prominent school reform measures currently being implemented in The United States are school choice and test-based accountability. Until recently, the two policy initiatives remained relatively distinct from one another. With the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB, a mutualism between choice and accountability emerged whereby school choice complements test-based accountability. In the first portion of this study we present a conceptual overview of school choice and test-based accountability and explicate connections between the two that are explicit in reform implementations like NCLB or implicit within the market-based reform literature in which school choice and test-based accountability reside. In the second portion we scrutinize the connections, in particular, between school choice and test-based accountability using a large western school district with a popular choice system in place. Data from three sources are combined to explore the ways in which school choice and test-based accountability draw on each other: state assessment data of children in the district, school choice data for every participating student in the district choice program, and a parental survey of both participants and non-participants of choice asking their attitudes concerning the use of school report cards in the district. Results suggest that choice is of benefit academically to only the lowest achieving students, choice participation is not uniform across different ethnic groups in the district, and parents' primary motivations as reported on a survey for participation in choice are not due to test scores, though this is not consistent with choice preferences among parents in the district. As such, our results generally confirm the hypotheses of choice critics more so than advocates. Keywords: school choice; accountability; student testing.
Partner choice creates fairness in humans.
Debove, Stéphane; André, Jean-Baptiste; Baumard, Nicolas
2015-06-07
Many studies demonstrate that partner choice has played an important role in the evolution of human cooperation, but little work has tested its impact on the evolution of human fairness. In experiments involving divisions of money, people become either over-generous or over-selfish when they are in competition to be chosen as cooperative partners. Hence, it is difficult to see how partner choice could result in the evolution of fair, equal divisions. Here, we show that this puzzle can be solved if we consider the outside options on which partner choice operates. We conduct a behavioural experiment, run agent-based simulations and analyse a game-theoretic model to understand how outside options affect partner choice and fairness. All support the conclusion that partner choice leads to fairness only when individuals have equal outside options. We discuss how this condition has been met in our evolutionary history, and the implications of these findings for our understanding of other aspects of fairness less specific than preferences for equal divisions of resources. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Christine Michaels-Igbokwe
Full Text Available To quantify the impact of service provider characteristics on young people's choice of family planning (FP service provider in rural Malawi in order to identify strategies for increasing access and uptake of FP among youth.A discrete choice experiment was developed to assess the relative impact of service characteristics on preferences for FP service providers among young people (aged 15-24. Four alternative providers were included (government facility, private facility, outreach and community based distribution of FP and described by six attributes (the distance between participants' home and the service delivery point, frequency of service delivery, waiting time at the facility, service providers' attitude, availability of FP commodities and price. A random parameters logit model was used to estimate preferences for service providers and the likely uptake of services following the expansion of outreach and community based distribution (CBDA services. In the choice experiment young people were twice as likely to choose a friendly provider (government service odds ratio [OR] = 2.45, p<0.01; private service OR = 1.99, p<0.01; CBDA OR = 1.88, p<0.01 and more than two to three times more likely to choose a provider with an adequate supply of FP commodities (government service OR = 2.48, p<0.01; private service OR = 2.33, p<0.01; CBDA = 3.85, p<0.01. Uptake of community based services was greater than facility based services across a variety of simulated service scenarios indicating that such services may be an effective means of expanding access for youth in rural areas and an important tool for increasing service uptake among youth.Ensuring that services are acceptable to young people may require additional training for service providers in order to ensure that all providers are friendly and non-judgemental when dealing with younger clients and to ensure that supplies are consistently available.
Choice Complexity, Benchmarks and Costly Information
Harms, Job; Rosenkranz, S.; Sanders, M.W.J.L.
In this study we investigate how two types of information interventions, providing a benchmark and providing costly information on option ranking, can improve decision-making in complex choices. In our experiment subjects made a series of incentivized choices between four hypothetical financial
Risius, Antje; Janssen, Meike; Hamm, Ulrich
2017-06-01
Fish from aquaculture is becoming more important for human consumption. Sustainable aquaculture procedures were developed as an alternative to overcome the negative environmental impacts of conventional aquaculture procedures and wild fisheries. The objective of this contribution is to determine what consumers expect from sustainable aquaculture and whether they prefer sustainable aquaculture products. A combination of qualitative research methods, with think aloud protocols and in-depth interviews, as well as quantitative methods, using choice experiments and face-to-face interviews, was applied. Data was collected in three different cities of Germany. Results revealed that sustainable aquaculture was associated with natural, traditional, local, and small scale production systems with high animal welfare standards. Overall, participants paid a lot of attention to the declaration of origin; in particular fish products from Germany and Denmark were preferred along with local products. Frequently used sustainability claims for aquaculture products were mostly criticized as being imprecise by the participants of the qualitative study; even though two claims tested in the choice experiments had a significant positive impact on the choice of purchase. Similarly, existing aquaculture-specific labels for certified sustainable aquaculture had an impact on the buying decision, but were not well recognized and even less trusted. Overall, consumers had a positive attitude towards sustainable aquaculture. However, communication measures and labelling schemes should be improved to increase consumer acceptance and make a decisive impact on consumers' buying behavior. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Partner Choice in Raven (Corvus corax) Cooperation.
Asakawa-Haas, Kenji; Schiestl, Martina; Bugnyar, Thomas; Massen, Jorg J M
2016-01-01
Although social animals frequently make decisions about when or with whom to cooperate, little is known about the underlying mechanisms of partner choice. Most previous studies compared different dyads' performances, though did not allow an actual choice among partners. We tested eleven ravens, Corvus corax, in triads, giving them first the choice to cooperate with either a highly familiar or a rather unfamiliar partner and, second, with either a friend or a non-friend using a cooperative string-pulling task. In either test, the ravens had a second choice and could cooperate with the other partner, given that this one had not pulled the string in the meantime. We show that during the experiments, these partner ravens indeed learn to wait and inhibit pulling, respectively. Moreover, the results of these two experiments show that ravens' preferences for a specific cooperation partner are not based on familiarity. In contrast, the ravens did show a preference based on relationship quality, as they did choose to cooperate significantly more with friends than with non-friends and they were also more proficient when cooperating with a friend. In order to further identify the proximate mechanism of this preference, we designed an open-choice experiment for the whole group where all birds were free to cooperate on two separate apparatuses. This set-up allowed us to distinguish between preferences for close proximity and preferences to cooperate. The results revealed that friends preferred staying close to each other, but did not necessarily cooperate with one another, suggesting that tolerance of proximity and not relationship quality as a whole may be the driving force behind partner choice in raven cooperation. Consequently, we stress the importance of experiments that allow such titrations and, suggest that these results have important implications for the interpretations of cooperation studies that did not include open partner choice.
Training impulsive choices for healthy and sustainable food
Veling, H.P.; Chen, Z.; Tombrock, M.C.; Verpaalen, I.A.M.; Schmitz, L.I.; Dijksterhuis, A.J.; Holland, R.W.
2017-01-01
Many people find it hard to change their dietary choices. Food choice often occurs impulsively, without deliberation, and it has been unclear whether impulsive food choice can be experimentally created. Across 3 exploratory and 2 confirmatory preregistered experiments we examined whether impulsive
Control and Effort Costs Influence the Motivational Consequences of Choice
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Holly Sullivan-Toole
2017-05-01
Full Text Available The act of making a choice, apart from any outcomes the choice may yield, has, paradoxically, been linked to both the enhancement and the detriment of intrinsic motivation. Research has implicated two factors in potentially mediating these contradictory effects: the personal control conferred by a choice and the costs associated with a choice. Across four experiments, utilizing a physical effort task disguised as a simple video game, we systematically varied costs across two levels of physical effort requirements (Low-Requirement, High-Requirement and control over effort costs across three levels of choice (Free-Choice, Restricted-Choice, and No-Choice to disambiguate how these factors affect the motivational consequences of choosing within an effortful task. Together, our results indicated that, in the face of effort requirements, illusory control alone may not sufficiently enhance perceptions of personal control to boost intrinsic motivation; rather, the experience of actual control may be necessary to overcome effort costs and elevate performance. Additionally, we demonstrated that conditions of illusory control, while otherwise unmotivating, can through association with the experience of free-choice, be transformed to have a positive effect on motivation.
Decision-making experiments and real-world choice behaviour
Timmermans, H.J.P.; vd Heijden, R.E.C.M.; Westerveld, J.
1984-01-01
This article is concerned with the analysis of consumer spatial choice behaviour using conjoint measurements. The study's objectives are to assess the appropriateness of conjoint measurement to represent a consumer's spatial decision making process, to identify the nature of aggregate utility
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Komarek, Timothy M.; Lupi, Frank; Kaplowitz, Michael D.
2011-01-01
Many governments, firms, institutions and individuals have become increasingly cognizant of their impact on the environment, most notably with respect to global climate change. Coupled with the possibility of future regulations aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions, firms and institutions have begun to critically evaluate their own carbon footprint. This paper examines the preferences of stakeholders within a large academic institution for attributes of alternative greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction strategies. The attributes considered by constituents include: the fuel portfolio mix, effort for conserving energy use, carbon emissions reduction, timeframe for emissions reduction to be achieved and cost. We use a choice experiment technique that enables the examination of greenhouse gas reduction program attribute preferences across three constituent groups. The results show that each of the constituent groups have a positive WTP for carbon emissions reductions and prefer investments in reductions in the shorter- rather than longer-term. The results also suggest differences between the constituent groups in their WTP for types of fuels in the fuel portfolio. Finally, we use the results to examine the welfare implications of different combinations of the policy attributes that coincide with alternative GHG program strategies. - Highlights: → We explore preferences for carbon footprint reduction at an academic institution. → Include several pertinent energy policy attributes in a choice experiment. → Find preference heterogeneity between constituent groups for policy attributes. → Find highest willingness to pay for 'green' energy and emissions reduction amount.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Komarek, Timothy M., E-mail: komarekt@msu.edu [Department of Agricultural Food and Resource Economics, Michigan State University, 20 Cook Hall East Lansing, MI 48824 (United States); Lupi, Frank [Department of Agricultural Food and Resource Economics, Michigan State University, 301 B Agriculture Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824 (United States); Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, 301 B Agriculture Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824 (United States); Kaplowitz, Michael D. [Department of Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies, Michigan State University, 331 C Natural Resources, East Lansing, MI 48824 (United States)
2011-09-15
Many governments, firms, institutions and individuals have become increasingly cognizant of their impact on the environment, most notably with respect to global climate change. Coupled with the possibility of future regulations aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions, firms and institutions have begun to critically evaluate their own carbon footprint. This paper examines the preferences of stakeholders within a large academic institution for attributes of alternative greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction strategies. The attributes considered by constituents include: the fuel portfolio mix, effort for conserving energy use, carbon emissions reduction, timeframe for emissions reduction to be achieved and cost. We use a choice experiment technique that enables the examination of greenhouse gas reduction program attribute preferences across three constituent groups. The results show that each of the constituent groups have a positive WTP for carbon emissions reductions and prefer investments in reductions in the shorter- rather than longer-term. The results also suggest differences between the constituent groups in their WTP for types of fuels in the fuel portfolio. Finally, we use the results to examine the welfare implications of different combinations of the policy attributes that coincide with alternative GHG program strategies. - Highlights: > We explore preferences for carbon footprint reduction at an academic institution. > Include several pertinent energy policy attributes in a choice experiment. > Find preference heterogeneity between constituent groups for policy attributes. > Find highest willingness to pay for 'green' energy and emissions reduction amount.
Factors modulating social influence on spatial choice in rats.
Bisbing, Teagan A; Saxon, Marie; Sayde, Justin M; Brown, Michael F
2015-07-01
Three experiments examined the conditions under which the spatial choices of rats searching for food are influenced by the choices made by other rats. Model rats learned a consistent set of baited locations in a 5 × 5 matrix of locations, some of which contained food. In Experiment 1, subject rats could determine the baited locations after choosing 1 location because all of the baited locations were on the same side of the matrix during each trial (the baited side varied over trials). Under these conditions, the social cues provided by the model rats had little or no effect on the choices made by the subject rats. The lack of social influence on choices occurred despite a simultaneous social influence on rats' location in the testing arena (Experiment 2). When the outcome of the subject rats' own choices provided no information about the positions of other baited locations, on the other hand, social cues strongly controlled spatial choices (Experiment 3). These results indicate that social information about the location of food influences spatial choices only when those cues provide valid information that is not redundant with the information provided by other cues. This suggests that social information is learned about, processed, and controls behavior via the same mechanisms as other kinds of stimuli. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).
Affective biasing of choices in gambling task decision making.
Hinson, John M; Whitney, Paul; Holben, Heather; Wirick, Aaron K
2006-09-01
The proponents of the somatic marker hypothesis presume that rational decision making is guided by emotional reactions that are developed from prior experience. Supporting evidence for the hypothesis comes almost exclusively from the short-term affective reactions that are learned during the course of a hypothetical decision-making task--the gambling task (GT). We examined GT performance and affective reactions to choices when those choices were biased by words that had preexisting affective value. In one experiment, affectively valued words directly signaled good and bad choices. A congruent relation between affective value of word and choice outcome improved GT performance, whereas an incongruent relation greatly interfered with performance. In another experiment, affectively valued words were maintained as a working memory (WM) load between GT choices. A WM load with affectively positive words somewhat improved GT performance, whereas affectively negative words interfered with performance. Somatic markers-indicated by differential anticipatory skin conductance response (SCR) amplitude for good and bad choices-appeared at a point in the GT session when choice performance was superior. However, differential SCR developed during the session after good choice performance was already established. These results indicate that preexisting affective biases can influence GT decision making. In addition, the somatic markers that are regular accompaniments of GT decision making appeared to be temporally lagging indicators of choice performance.
What drives customer choice in competitive power markets? Final report
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Cates, S.
1998-12-01
Understanding what drives customer choice is a crucial first step toward meeting customer needs in competitive power markets. To understand the key drivers of customer choice, Research Triangle Institute (RTI) conducted in-depth telephone interviews with 150 customers in California, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island and with 12 energy service providers (ESPs) serving these states. Because it is a qualitative study, the number of interviews is small; however, these interviews provide a first look at actual choice behavior in the US. This study also drew on previous EPRI research on customer choice and switching intentions, the US pilot program experience, actual customer choice behavior in international markets, and lessons learned in other deregulated industries. This study identified by customer sector--residential, small and medium commercial and industrial (C/I), and large C/I--the factors customers consider when choosing an electricity supplier, customers' reasons for switching electricity supplier, and customers' reasons for not switching. One of the key findings of the study is that the key driver for switching electricity supplier is the desire to save money. In markets where energy service providers can offer significant savings, customers are switching; but, in markets where no price incentives exist, customers are reluctant to switch
Bialkova, Svetlana; Bialkova, Svetlana; Grunert, Klaus G.; Juhl, Hans Jørn; Wasowicz-Kirylo, Grazyna; Stysko-Kunkowska, Malgorzata; van Trijp, Hans C.M.
2014-01-01
In two eye-tracking studies, we explored whether and how attention to nutrition information mediates consumers’ choice. Consumers had to select either the healthiest option or a product of their preference within an assortment. On each product a particular label (Choices logo, monochrome GDA label,
Bialkova, S.; Grunert, K.G.; Juhl, H.J.; Wasowicz-Kirylo, G.; Stysko-Kunkowska, M.; Trijp, van J.C.M.
2014-01-01
In two eye-tracking studies, we explored whether and how attention to nutrition information mediates consumers' choice. Consumers had to select either the healthiest option or a product of their preference within an assortment. On each product a particular label (Choices logo, monochrome GDA label,
Incentives for Blood Donation: A Discrete Choice Experiment to Analyze Extrinsic Motivation.
Sadler, Andrew; Shi, Ling; Bethge, Susanne; Mühlbacher, Axel
2018-04-01
Background: Demographic trends affect size and age structure of populations. One of the consequences will be an increasing need for blood products to treat age-related diseases. Donation services rely on voluntariness and charitable motivation. It might be questioned whether there will be sufficient blood supply with voluntary donation. The present study focused on elicitation of preferences for incentives and aimed to contribute to the discussion on how to increase donation rates. Methods: A self-administered discrete choice experiment (DCE) was applied. Respondents were repeatedly asked to choose between hypothetical blood donation centers. In case of reluctance to receiving incentives a none-option was included. Random parameter logit (RPL) and latent class models (LCM) were used for analysis. Results: The study sample included 416 college students from the US and Germany. Choice decisions were significantly influenced by the characteristics of the donation center in the DCE. Incentives most preferred were monetary compensation, paid leave, and blood screening test. LCM identified subgroups with preference heterogeneity. Small subgroups indicated moderate to strong aversion to incentives. Conclusion: The majority of the sample positively responded to incentives and indicated a willingness to accept incentives. In face of future challenges, the judicious use and appropriate utilization of incentives might be an option to motivate potential donors and should be open to discussion.
Discrete choice experiment of smoking cessation behaviour in Japan.
Goto, Rei; Nishimura, Shuzo; Ida, Takanori
2007-10-01
In spite of gradual increases in tobacco price and the introduction of laws supporting various anti-tobacco measures, the proportion of smokers in Japan's population is still higher than in other developed nations. To understand what information and individual characteristics drive smokers to attempt to quit smoking. These determinants will help to realise effective tobacco control policy as a base for understanding of cessation behaviour. Discrete choice experiments on a total of 616 respondents registered at a consumer monitoring investigative company. The effect of price is greater on smokers with lower nicotine dependence. For smokers of moderate and low dependency, short term health risks and health risks caused by passive smoking have a strong impact, though the existence of penalties and long term health risks have little influence on smokers' decisions to quit. For highly dependent smokers, non-price attributes have little impact. Furthermore, the effects of age, sex and knowledge are also not uniform in accounting for smoking cessation. Determinants of smoking cessation vary among levels of nicotine dependency. Therefore, how and what information is provided needs to be carefully considered when counselling smokers to help them to quit.
Trujillo, Antonio J; Ruiz, Fernando; Bridges, John F P; Amaya, Jeannette L; Buttorff, Christine; Quiroga, Angélica M
2012-03-01
In many countries, health insurance coverage is the primary way for individuals to access care. Governments can support access through social insurance programmes; however, after a certain period, governments struggle to achieve universal coverage. Evidence suggests that complex individual behaviour may play a role. Using a choice experiment, this research explored consumer preferences for health insurance in Colombia. We also evaluated whether preferences differed across consumers with differing demographic and health status factors. A household field experiment was conducted in Bogotá in 2010. The sample consisted of 109 uninsured and 133 low-income insured individuals. Each individual evaluated 12 pair-wise comparisons of hypothetical health plans. We focused on six characteristics of health insurance: premium, out-of-pocket expenditure, chronic condition coverage, quality of care, family coverage and sick leave. A main effects orthogonal design was used to derive the 72 scenarios used in the choice experiment. Parameters were estimated using conditional logit models. Since price data were included, we estimated respondents' willingness to pay for characteristics. Consumers valued health benefits and family coverage more than other attributes. Additionally, differences in preferences can be exploited to increase coverage. The willingness to pay for benefits may partially cover the average cost of providing them. Policy makers might be able to encourage those insured via the subsidized system to enrol in the next level of the social health insurance scheme through expanding benefits to family members and expanding the level of chronic condition coverage.
How School Choice Programs Can Save Money. WebMemo #727
Johnson, Kirk A.
2005-01-01
Educational choice can improve educational achievement and states' bottom lines. Not only do choice programs help students from lower-income families attend schools that they otherwise might not be able to attend, but they can also save money in the process. A record number of state legislatures have considered school choice legislation this year,…
People's Financial Choice Depends on their Previous Task Success or Failure.
Sekścińska, Katarzyna
2015-01-01
Existing knowledge about the impact of the experience prior to financial choices has been limited almost exclusively to single risky choices. Moreover, the results obtained in these studies have not been entirely consistent. For example, some studies suggested that the experience of success makes people more willing to take a risk, while other studies led to the opposite conclusions. The results of the two experimental studies presented in this paper provide evidence for the hypothesis that the experience of success or failure influences people's financial choices, but the effect of the success or failure depends on the type of task (financial and non-financial) preceding a financial decision. The experience of success in financial tasks increased participants' tendency to invest and make risky investment choices, while it also made them less prone to save. On the other hand, the experience of failure heightened the amount of money that participants decided to save, and lowered their tendency to invest and make risky investment choices. However, the effects of the experience of success or failure in non-financial tasks were exactly the opposite. The presented studies indicated the role of the specific circumstances in which the individual gains the experience as a possible way to explain the discrepancies in the results of studies on the relationship between the experience prior to financial choice with a tendency to take risks.
Thurston-Gonzalez, Sara J.
2009-01-01
The focus of this qualitative study is on U.S. third culture kids (TCKs), youth who have grown up abroad because of their parent's work, and their college choice experiences and reentry expectations. Through a background questionnaire and personal interviews with eleven students transitioning from two international secondary schools in a…
Rockers, Peter C; Jaskiewicz, Wanda; Wurts, Laura; Kruk, Margaret E; Mgomella, George S; Ntalazi, Francis; Tulenko, Kate
2012-07-23
Health facilities require teams of health workers with complementary skills and responsibilities to efficiently provide quality care. In low-income countries, failure to attract and retain health workers in rural areas reduces population access to health services and undermines facility performance, resulting in poor health outcomes. It is important that governments consider health worker preferences in crafting policies to address attraction and retention in underserved areas. We investigated preferences for job characteristics among final year medical, nursing, pharmacy, and laboratory students at select universities in Uganda. Participants were administered a cadre-specific discrete choice experiment that elicited preferences for attributes of potential job postings they were likely to pursue after graduation. Job attributes included salary, facility quality, housing, length of commitment, manager support, training tuition, and dual practice opportunities. Mixed logit models were used to estimate stated preferences for these attributes. Data were collected from 246 medical students, 132 nursing students, 50 pharmacy students and 57 laboratory students. For all student-groups, choice of job posting was strongly influenced by salary, facility quality and manager support, relative to other attributes. For medical and laboratory students, tuition support for future training was also important, while pharmacy students valued opportunities for dual practice. In Uganda, financial and non-financial incentives may be effective in attracting health workers to underserved areas. Our findings contribute to mounting evidence that salary is not the only important factor health workers consider when deciding where to work. Better quality facilities and supportive managers were important to all students. Similarities in preferences for these factors suggest that team-based, facility-level strategies for attracting health workers may be appropriate. Improving facility quality
2010-04-01
... its choice of a payment system for use when functioning as an EN? 411.365 Section 411.365 Employees... agency notify us about its choice of a payment system for use when functioning as an EN? (a) The State VR agency must send us a letter telling us which EN payment system it will use when it functions as an EN...
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Lassen, Christa; Lund Jensen, Kirsten
2005-06-01
Flexible electricity consumption has potential to become an important step towards achieving an economically efficient electricity supply. One way to obtain flexible electricity consumption is to establish agreements with private consumers regarding power-cuts during periods of peak consumption. Whether these agreements are economically efficient depends on how big a welfare loss the consumers experience during controlled power-cuts. This loss has so far not been estimated; hence the objective of this rapport is to indicate the level of such welfare loss. This rapport aims to analyse and quantify the private consumer's preferences for a number of characteristics relating to 'controlled power-cuts' of washing machine, dish-washer and dry-tumbler respectively. These characteristics are decisive factors in determining loss of utility the consumer associate with the power-cuts. Additionally, these characteristics are significant for the application of power-cuts. The selected characteristics investigated are duration and frequency. The consumers required compensation for acceptance of changes to the various characteristics is derived. (A combination of number of power cuts per year with a given duration is to be considered as an agreement) Data was collected through questionnaires and analysed using Discrete Choice Experiment. This method is based on the consumers choice between various combinations of controlled power-cut agreements. Apart from providing the possibility to value a change to each of the specified characteristics, the method can also estimate a total value of a changed agreement. The survey shows that the consumers experience an increasing welfare loss the longer duration of the power-cuts and the greater the frequency. Preferences and compensation for the various agreements are shown not to be dependent on whether the consumer has received information regarding the environmental benefits of the agreement. A lower compensation threshold
Severin, Franziska; Schmidtke, Jörg; Mühlbacher, Axel; Rogowski, Wolf H
2013-01-01
Given the increasing number of genetic tests available, decisions have to be made on how to allocate limited health-care resources to them. Different criteria have been proposed to guide priority setting. However, their relative importance is unclear. Discrete-choice experiments (DCEs) and best-worst scaling experiments (BWSs) are methods used to identify and weight various criteria that influence orders of priority. This study tests whether these preference eliciting techniques can be used f...
Identifying decision strategies in a consumer choice situation
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Nils Reisen
2008-12-01
Full Text Available In two studies on mobile phone purchase decisions, we investigated consumers' decision strategies with a newly developed process tracing tool called extit{InterActive Process Tracing} (IAPT. This tool is a combination of several process tracing techniques (Active Information Search, Mouselab, and retrospective verbal protocol. After repeatedly choosing one of four mobile phones, participants formalized their strategy so that it could be used to make choices for them. The choices made by the identified strategies correctly predicted the observed choices in 73\\% (Experiment 1 and 67\\% (Experiment 2 of the cases. Moreover, in Experiment 2 we directly compared Mouselab and eye tracking with respect to their impact on information search and strategy description. We found only minor differences between these two methods. We conclude that IAPT is a useful research tool to identify choice strategies, and that using eye tracking technology did not increase its validity beyond that gained with Mouselab.
The High Cost of Failing to Reform Public Education in Indiana. School Choice Issues in the State
Gottlob, Brian J.
2006-01-01
This study documents the public costs of high school dropouts in Indiana, and examines how school choice would provide large public benefits by increasing the graduation rate in Indiana public schools. It calculates the annual cost of high school dropouts in Indiana due to lower state income tax payments, increased reliance on Medicaid, and…
Using Choice Experiments to Assess Environmental Impacts of Dams in Portugal
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Anabela Botelho
2015-08-01
Full Text Available Despite their well-known benefits in electricity production, dams are also responsible for some adverse environmental impacts affecting particularly the wellbeing of residents of the local communities. These environmental damages have not been included in the cost-benefit analysis of hydropower developments mainly because of the difficulty to determine their value. The prime objective of this paper is to measure the economic values of several environmental impacts due to the dams' activity in Portugal, using a discrete choice experiments approach. With the results of this research paper, we expect to contribute to a more efficient and thorough cost-benefit analysis within the complex process of deciding the optimal location of future dams to be built not only in Portugal, but elsewhere. The addition of this stage to the decision-making process allows the integration of economic, social and environmental dimensions, promoting a richer and more informed decision process.
A decision network account of reasoning about other people's choices
Jern, Alan; Kemp, Charles
2015-01-01
The ability to predict and reason about other people's choices is fundamental to social interaction. We propose that people reason about other people's choices using mental models that are similar to decision networks. Decision networks are extensions of Bayesian networks that incorporate the idea that choices are made in order to achieve goals. In our first experiment, we explore how people predict the choices of others. Our remaining three experiments explore how people infer the goals and knowledge of others by observing the choices that they make. We show that decision networks account for our data better than alternative computational accounts that do not incorporate the notion of goal-directed choice or that do not rely on probabilistic inference. PMID:26010559
Multiple-choice pretesting potentiates learning of related information.
Little, Jeri L; Bjork, Elizabeth Ligon
2016-10-01
Although the testing effect has received a substantial amount of empirical attention, such research has largely focused on the effects of tests given after study. The present research examines the effect of using tests prior to study (i.e., as pretests), focusing particularly on how pretesting influences the subsequent learning of information that is not itself pretested but that is related to the pretested information. In Experiment 1, we found that multiple-choice pretesting was better for the learning of such related information than was cued-recall pretesting or a pre-fact-study control condition. In Experiment 2, we found that the increased learning of non-pretested related information following multiple-choice testing could not be attributed to increased time allocated to that information during subsequent study. Last, in Experiment 3, we showed that the benefits of multiple-choice pretesting over cued-recall pretesting for the learning of related information persist over 48 hours, thus demonstrating the promise of multiple-choice pretesting to potentiate learning in educational contexts. A possible explanation for the observed benefits of multiple-choice pretesting for enhancing the effectiveness with which related nontested information is learned during subsequent study is discussed.
Introducing Upfront Money Can Decrease Discounting in Intertemporal Choices with Losses.
Jiang, Cheng-Ming; Sun, Hong-Yue; Zheng, Sheng-Hua; Wang, Liang-Jun; Qin, Yu
2016-01-01
People generally tend to advance gains and postpone losses in intertemporal choice. Jiang et al. (2014) recently showed that adding upfront losses or gains to both smaller and sooner (SS) and larger and later (LL) rewards can decrease people's discounting. To account for this decrease, they proposed the salience hypothesis, which states that introducing upfront losses or gains makes the money dimension more salient than not, thus increasing people's preference for LL rewards. Considering that decreasing the discounting of delayed losses is imperative and that most previous studies have focused on intertemporal choices with gains, in the current paper we conducted two experiments and used hypothetical money outcomes to examine whether the effect of upfront money could be extended to intertemporal choices with losses. The results showed that when both SS and LL intertemporal losses were combined with an upfront loss or gain, people's discounting rate decreased and the preference for the SS option increased. This finding further supports the salience account.
Notten, K. J. B.; Essers, B. A.; Weemhoff, M.; Rutten, A. G. H.; Donners, J. J. A. E.; van Gestel, I.; Kruitwagen, R. F. M. P.; Roovers, J. P. W. R.; Dirksen, C. D.
2015-01-01
We investigated patients' preferences for anterior colporrhaphy or mesh surgery as surgical correction of anterior vaginal wall prolapse. Labelled discrete choice experiment. Three Dutch teaching hospitals. Women with anterior vaginal wall prolapse Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification stage 2 or
Criteria for prioritization of HIV programs in Viet Nam: a discrete choice experiment.
Safarnejad, Ali; Pavlova, Milena; Son, Vo Hai; Phuong, Huynh Lan; Groot, Wim
2017-11-13
With the decline in funding for Viet Nam's response to the HIV epidemic, there is a need for evidence on the criteria to guide the prioritization of HIV programs. There is a gap in the research on the relative importance of multiple criteria for prioritizing a package of interventions. This study elicits preferences and the trade-offs made between different HIV programs by relevant stakeholders and decision-makers in Viet Nam. It also pays attention to how differences in social and professional characteristics of stakeholders and their agency affiliations shape preferences for HIV program criteria in Viet Nam. This study uses self-explicated ranking and discrete choice experiments to determine the relative importance of five criteria - effectiveness, feasibility, cost-effectiveness, rate of investment and prevention/treatment investment ratio - to stakeholders when they evaluate and select hypothetical HIV programs. The study includes 69 participants from government, civil society, and international development partners. Results of the discrete choice experiment show that overall the feasibility criterion is ranked highest in importance to the participants when choosing a hypothetical HIV program, followed by sustainability, treatment to prevention spending ratio, and effectiveness. The participant's work in management, programming, or decision-making has a significant effect on the importance of some criteria to the participant. In the self-explicated ranking effectiveness is the most important criterion and the cost-effectiveness criterion ranks low in importance across all groups. This study has shown that the preferred HIV program in Viet Nam is feasible, front-loaded for sustainability, has a higher proportion of investment on prevention, saves more lives and prevents more infections. Similarities in government and civil society rankings of criteria can create common grounds for future policy dialogues between stakeholders. Innovative models of planning should
Indigenous Parents Navigating School Choice in Constrained Landscapes
Anthony-Stevens, Vanessa
2017-01-01
Educational reform policies in the United States promote school choice as a central tool to empower low-income and minoritized families in order to close the achievement gap. However, research on school choice rarely reflects the voice of minoritized families and offers little evidence that choice significantly addresses inequities in educational…
A Choice Experiment Analysis of the Management of the Stray Dog Population in the UK.
Siettou, Christina; Fraser, Iain; Fraser, Rob
2013-01-01
In this paper we present the results of a pilot study investigating the public’s view on the pet overpopulation problem. The Choice Experiment aims to understand the UK public’s awareness of the issue, its views and its willingness to participate and pay for a reduction in the rate of animals being “put to sleep”. Our preliminary results indicate that the public are willing to pay to keep healthy stray dogs alive for longer in Local Authority kennels beyond the current seven day statutory per...
Vinogradov, G. P.
2017-01-01
The problem of constructing a choice model of an agent with endogenous purposes of evolution is under debate. It is demonstrated that its solution requires the development of well-known methods of decision-making while taking into account the relation of action mode motivation to an agent’s ambition to implement subjectively understood interests and the environment state. The latter is submitted for consideration as a purposeful state situation model that exists only in the mind of an agent. It is the situation that is a basis for getting an insight into the agent’s ideas on the possible selected action mode results. The agent’s ambition to build his confidence in the feasibility of the action mode and the possibility of achieving the desired state requires him to use the procedures of forming an idea model based on the measured values of environment state. This leads to the gaming approach for the choice problem and its solution can be obtained on a set of trade-off alternatives.
Child and adolescent fast-food choice and the influence of calorie labeling: a natural experiment
Elbel, B; Gyamfi, J; Kersh, R
2013-01-01
Objective Obesity is an enormous public health problem and children have been particularly highlighted for intervention. Of notable concern is the fast-food consumption of children. However, we know very little about how children or their parents make fast-food choices, including how they respond to mandatory calorie labeling. We examined children’s and adolescents’ fast-food choice and the influence of calorie labels in low-income communities in New York City (NYC) and in a comparison city (Newark, NJ). Design Natural experiment: Survey and receipt data were collected from low-income areas in NYC, and Newark, NJ (as a comparison city), before and after mandatory labeling began in NYC. Study restaurants included four of the largest chains located in NYC and Newark: McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken. Subjects A total of 349 children and adolescents aged 1–17 years who visited the restaurants with their parents (69%) or alone (31%) before or after labeling was introduced. In total, 90% were from racial or ethnic minority groups. Results We found no statistically significant differences in calories purchased before and after labeling; many adolescents reported noticing calorie labels after their introduction (57% in NYC) and a few considered the information when ordering (9%). Approximately 35% of adolescents ate fast food six or more times per week and 72% of adolescents reported that taste was the most important factor in their meal selection. Adolescents in our sample reported that parents have some influence on their meal selection. Conclusions Adolescents in low-income communities notice calorie information at similar rates as adults, although they report being slightly less responsive to it than adults. We did not find evidence that labeling influenced adolescent food choice or parental food choices for children in this population. PMID:21326209
Child and adolescent fast-food choice and the influence of calorie labeling: a natural experiment.
Elbel, B; Gyamfi, J; Kersh, R
2011-04-01
Obesity is an enormous public health problem and children have been particularly highlighted for intervention. Of notable concern is the fast-food consumption of children . However, we know very little about how children or their parents make fast-food choices, including how they respond to mandatory calorie labeling. We examined children's and adolescents' fast-food choice and the influence of calorie labels in low-income communities in New York City (NYC) and in a comparison city (Newark, NJ). Natural experiment: Survey and receipt data were collected from low-income areas in NYC, and Newark, NJ (as a comparison city), before and after mandatory labeling began in NYC. Study restaurants included four of the largest chains located in NYC and Newark: McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's and Kentucky Fried Chicken. A total of 349 children and adolescents aged 1-17 years, who visited the restaurants with their parents (69%) or alone (31%) before or after labeling was introduced. In total, 90% were from racial or ethnic minority groups. We found no statistically significant differences in calories purchased before and after labeling; many adolescents reported noticing calorie labels after their introduction (57% in NYC) and a few considered the information when ordering (9%). Approximately 35% of adolescents ate fast food six or more times per week and 72% of adolescents reported that taste was the most important factor in their meal selection. Adolescents in our sample reported that parents have some influence on their meal selection. Adolescents in low-income communities notice calorie information at similar rates as adults, although they report being slightly less responsive to it than adults. We did not find evidence that labeling influenced adolescent food choice or parental food choices for children in this population.
Hifinger, M.; Hiligsmann, M.; Ramiro, S.; Watson, V.; Severens, J. L.; Fautrel, B.; Uhlig, T.; van Vollenhoven, R.; Jacques, P.; Detert, J.; Canas da Silva, J.; Scirè, C. A.; Berghea, F.; Carmona, L.; Péntek, M.; Keat, A.; Boonen, A.
2017-01-01
To compare the value that rheumatologists across Europe attach to patients' preferences and economic aspects when choosing treatments for patients with rheumatoid arthritis. In a discrete choice experiment, European rheumatologists chose between two hypothetical drug treatments for a patient with
Responsibility and School Choice in Education
Colburn, Ben
2012-01-01
Consider the following argument for school choice, based on an appeal to the virtues of the market: allowing parents some measure of choice over their particular children's education ultimately serves the interests of all children, because creating a market mechanism in state education will produce improvements through the same pressures that lead…
Accounting for Attribute-Level Non-Attendance in a Health Choice Experiment: Does it Matter?
Erdem, Seda; Campbell, Danny; Hole, Arne Risa
2015-07-01
An extensive literature has established that it is common for respondents to ignore attributes of the alternatives within choice experiments. In most of the studies on attribute non-attendance, it is assumed that respondents consciously (or unconsciously) ignore one or more attributes of the alternatives, regardless of their levels. In this paper, we present a new line of enquiry and approach for modelling non-attendance in the context of investigating preferences for health service innovations. This approach recognises that non-attendance may not just be associated with attributes but may also apply to the attribute's levels. Our results show that respondents process each level of an attribute differently: while attending to the attribute, they ignore a subset of the attribute's levels. In such cases, the usual approach of assuming that respondents either attend to the attribute or not, irrespective of its levels, is erroneous and could lead to misguided policy recommendations. Our results indicate that allowing for attribute-level non-attendance leads to substantial improvements in the model fit and has an impact on estimated marginal willingness to pay and choice predictions. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Shang, Ce; Huang, Jidong; Chaloupka, Frank J; Emery, Sherry L
2017-11-02
To examine the impact of flavour, device type and health warning messages on youth preference for electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), and to provide evidence and data to inform the Food and Drug Administration's potential regulatory actions on ENDS. An online discrete choice experiment was conducted in September 2015. Each participant was given nine choice sets and asked to choose one out of two alternative ENDS products, with varying characteristics in three attributes (flavour, device type and warning message). The impact of the attributes on the probability of choosing ENDS was analysed using conditional and nested logit regressions, controlling for individual sociodemographic characteristics and current smoking status. A general population sample of 515 participants (50 ever-users and 465 never-users of ENDS) aged 14-17 years were recruited to complete the experiment using an online panel. Fruit/sweets/beverage flavours significantly increase the probability of choosing ENDS among youth (pe-cigarettes, increase (p<0.05) the probability of choosing ENDS among adolescent never-users. Warning messages reduce (p<0.01) the probability of choosing ENDS among never-users. Restricting fruit/sweets/beverage flavours in ENDS, regulating modifiable vaping devices and adopting strong health warning messages may reduce the uptake of ENDS among youth. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.
Influence of convenience on healthy food choice
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Mueller Loose, Simone; Peschel, Anne; Grebitus, Carola
Although seafood is considered to be a healthy food choice, the recommended consumption level of two servings per week is still not reached in most countries. Previous research has identified potential barriers of seafood consumption, including purchase and consumption convenience, but it is still...... participated in an online choice experiment with visual product stimuli to simulate their choice of oysters in a retail store. Considering preference heterogeneity respondents’ choices were analyzed with a scale adjusted latent class model and six different consumer segments differing in their preferences were...
The Constitutionality of School Choice in New Hampshire
Douglas, Charles G., III; Komer, Richard D.
2004-01-01
Does a "school choice" program, under which state funds are disbursed on a neutral basis to parents in the form of a voucher to defray the cost of sending their children to a school of their choice, run afoul of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, or of the New Hampshire Constitution? No. A…
Does Educator Training or Experience Affect the Quality of Multiple-Choice Questions?
Webb, Emily M; Phuong, Jonathan S; Naeger, David M
2015-10-01
Physicians receive little training on proper multiple-choice question (MCQ) writing methods. Well-constructed MCQs follow rules, which ensure that a question tests what it is intended to test. Questions that break these are described as "flawed." We examined whether the prevalence of flawed questions differed significantly between those with or without prior training in question writing and between those with different levels of educator experience. We assessed 200 unedited MCQs from a question bank for our senior medical student radiology elective: an equal number of questions (50) were written by faculty with previous training in MCQ writing, other faculty, residents, and medical students. Questions were scored independently by two readers for the presence of 11 distinct flaws described in the literature. Questions written by faculty with MCQ writing training had significantly fewer errors: mean 0.4 errors per question compared to a mean of 1.5-1.7 errors per question for the other groups (P Educator experience alone had no effect on the frequency of flaws; faculty without dedicated training, residents, and students performed similarly. Copyright © 2015 AUR. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
People’s financial choice depends on their previous task success or failure
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Katarzyna eSekścińska
2015-11-01
Full Text Available Existing knowledge about the impact of the experience prior to financial choices has been limited almost exclusively to single risky choices. Moreover, the results obtained in these studies have not been entirely consistent. For example, some studies suggested that the experience of success makes people more willing to take a risk, while other studies led to the opposite conclusions. The results of the two experimental studies presented in this paper provide evidence for the hypothesis that the experience of success or failure influences people’s financial choices, but the effect of the success or failure depends on the type of task (financial and non-financial preceding a financial decision. The experience of success in financial tasks increased participants’ tendency to invest and make risky investment choices, while it also made them less prone to save. On the other hand, the experience of failure heightened the amount of money that participants decided to save, and lowered their tendency to invest and make risky investment choices. However, the effects of the experience of success or failure in non-financial tasks were exactly the opposite. The presented studies indicated the role of the specific circumstances in which the individual gains the experience as a possible way to explain the discrepancies in the results of studies on the relationship between the experience prior to financial choice with a tendency to take risks.
People’s Financial Choice Depends on their Previous Task Success or Failure
Sekścińska, Katarzyna
2015-01-01
Existing knowledge about the impact of the experience prior to financial choices has been limited almost exclusively to single risky choices. Moreover, the results obtained in these studies have not been entirely consistent. For example, some studies suggested that the experience of success makes people more willing to take a risk, while other studies led to the opposite conclusions. The results of the two experimental studies presented in this paper provide evidence for the hypothesis that the experience of success or failure influences people’s financial choices, but the effect of the success or failure depends on the type of task (financial and non-financial) preceding a financial decision. The experience of success in financial tasks increased participants’ tendency to invest and make risky investment choices, while it also made them less prone to save. On the other hand, the experience of failure heightened the amount of money that participants decided to save, and lowered their tendency to invest and make risky investment choices. However, the effects of the experience of success or failure in non-financial tasks were exactly the opposite. The presented studies indicated the role of the specific circumstances in which the individual gains the experience as a possible way to explain the discrepancies in the results of studies on the relationship between the experience prior to financial choice with a tendency to take risks. PMID:26635654
Hearne, Robert R; Salinas, Zenia M
2002-06-01
Many nations promote nature-based tourism in order to promote the dual goals of nature conservation and income generation. To be most effective in providing services that facilitate achievement of these goals, decision makers will need to understand and incorporate tourist preferences for nature appreciation, infrastructure, use restrictions, and other attributes of national parks and protected areas. This paper presents the use of choice experiments as a mechanism to analyze preferences of national and international tourists in relation to the development of Barva Volcano Area in Costa Rica. In this section of the Braulio Carrillo National Park, managers are faced with an immediate need to plan for greatly increased visitation rates due to a new road, which will greatly improve access. Choice sets were developed in collaboration with park managers. A survey was conducted of 171 Costa Rican and 271 foreign tourists who visited Poás Volcano, a well-visited alternative site to Barva Volcano. Survey data was analyzed using conditional multinomial logit models. Results of the study demonstrate, that both sets of tourists preferred: (i) improved infrastructure; (ii) aerial trams with observation towers and picnic areas; (iii) more information; and (iv) low entrance fees. Foreign tourists demonstrated strong preferences for the inclusion of restrictions in the access to some trails, whereas Costa Ricans did not show any significant preference for restrictions. Marginal willingness-to-pay for greater information was estimated to be $1.54 for foreign tourists and $1.01 for Costa Rican visitors. The study concludes that choice experiments are a useful tool in the analyses of tourist preferences for the development of protected areas in developing countries.
Schaafsma, M.; van Beukering, P. J.H.; Oskolokaite, I.
2017-01-01
This study explores the benefits of combining results of qualitative focus group discussions (FGDs) with a quantitative choice experiment (CE) in a low-income country context. The assessment addresses the compensation needed by local communities in Central Kalimantan to cooperate in peatland
Baji, Petra; Gulácsi, László; Lovász, Barbara D; Golovics, Petra A; Brodszky, Valentin; Péntek, Márta; Rencz, Fanni; Lakatos, Péter L
2016-01-01
To explore preferences of gastroenterologists for biosimilar drugs in Crohn's disease. Discrete choice experiment was carried out involving 51 Hungarian gastroenterologists in May 2014. The following attributes were used to describe hypothetical choice sets: 1) type of the treatment (biosimilar/originator), 2) severity of disease, 3) availability of continuous medicine supply, 4) frequency of the efficacy check-ups. Multinomial logit model was used to differentiate between three attitude types: 1) always opting for the originator, 2) willing to consider biosimilar for biological-naïve patients only, 3) willing to consider biosimilar treatment for both types of patients. Conditional logit model was used to estimate the probabilities of choosing a given profile. Men, senior consultants, working in inflammatory bowel disease center and treating more patients were more likely willing to consider biosimilar for biological-naïve patients only. Treatment type (originator/biosimilar) was the most important determinant of choice for patients already treated with biologicals, and the availability of continuous medicine supply in case of biological-naïve patients. The probabilities of choosing the biosimilar with all the benefits offered over the originator under current reimbursement conditions are 89% versus 11% for new patients, and 44% versus 56% for patients already treated with biological. For gastroenterologist, the continuous medical supply would be one of the major benefits of biosimilars. However, benefits offered in the scenarios do not compensate for the change from the originator to the biosimilar treatment of patients already treated with biologicals.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ching-Hua Yeh
2016-08-01
Full Text Available Based on an online discrete choice experiment (DCE this study investigates the relative importance of food label information (country of origin, production methods, chemical residue testing (CRT and price for Taiwanese consumers’ in their purchase of sweet peppers. Results show that respondents focus mostly on the COO labeling during their sweet-pepper shopping, followed by price. Information concerning CRT results and production methods are of less importance. Our findings also indicate that interaction between attributes matter and that preference for attribute levels differs depending on socioeconomic characteristics.
Paradoxical choice in rats: Subjective valuation and mechanism of choice.
Ojeda, Andrés; Murphy, Robin A; Kacelnik, Alex
2018-07-01
Decision-makers benefit from information only when they can use it to guide behavior. However, recent experiments found that pigeons and starlings value information that they cannot use. Here we show that this paradox is also present in rats, and explore the underlying decision process. Subjects chose between two options that delivered food probabilistically after a fixed delay. In one option ("info"), outcomes (food/no-food) were signaled immediately after choice, whereas in the alternative ("non-info") the outcome was uncertain until the delay lapsed. Rats sacrificed up to 20% potential rewards by preferring the info option, but reversed preference when the cost was 60%. This reversal contrasts with the results found with pigeons and starlings and may reflect species' differences worth of further investigation. Results are consistent with predictions of the Sequential Choice Model (SCM), that proposes that choices are driven by the mechanisms that control action in sequential encounters. As expected from the SCM, latencies to respond in single-option trials predicted preferences in choice trials, and latencies in choice trials were the same or shorter than in single-option trials. We argue that the congruence of results in distant vertebrates probably reflects evolved adaptations to shared fundamental challenges in nature, and that the apparently paradoxical overvaluing of information is not sub-optimal as has been claimed, even though its functional significance is not yet understood. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Eriksson Wiklund, Ann-Kristin; Vilhelmsson, Sandra; Wiklund, Stig Johan; Eklund, Britta
2009-01-01
The invasive polychaete genus, Marenzelleria and the native amphipod, Monoporeia affinis are food and habitat competitors in the Baltic Sea. Previous studies have shown that moderate densities of Marenzelleria can affect the behaviour of M. affinis. To examine the short-term interactive effects of interspecific habitat choice and environmental contaminants a series of habitat colonisation experiments were performed. The contaminants examined included harbor sediments and sediment spiked with the antifouling substances, Cu, Zn and Irgarol. Polychaetes and amphipods were exposed to contaminants in single-species and two-species experiments. In spiked-sediment experiments, M. affinis showed clear dose-dependent response. These experiments verified that behavioural response of M. affinis to different habitats is a sensitive method for testing toxicity under controlled conditions. In experiments with three different harbor sediments and reference sediment both species showed the lowest preference for the reference sediment. This sediment also had the lowest content of quality food, indicating that factors such as food quality and quantity may override the disturbing effects of contaminants in natural sediments. The presence of Marenzelleria spp. did not affect amphipod habitat choice, indicating no short-term effects, which implies that both species can co-exist provided sufficient food is available.
Is there a place for psychology in the framework of rational choice theory?
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Mladenović Ivan
2010-01-01
Full Text Available This paper aims to discuss psychological aspect of rational choice theory. The standard version of rational choice rests on a kind of psychology, since it operates with mental states. In standard davidsonian version it is claimed that we explain rational actions by stating proper desires and beliefs that caused the action. We will explore two challenges to the standard version that might be called cultural and naturalistic versions of rational choice. Satz and Ferejohn (1994 challenged standard version by stating that we can provide rational-choice explanations without relying too much on psychological assumptions. They argued in favor of moderate externalism, which should replace thin desire-belief model with thick structuralist conception. According to their model moderate externalism is compatible with realism about psychological states, while at the same time those states need not figure in the best rational choice explanations of actions. The focus of rational choice explanations therefore shifts to non-individual and non-psychological entities, such as firms in explaining economic behavior, parties in explaining functioning of democracy, etc. Although there is a place for psychological states within a moderate externalism, those states are not causally relevant. On Pettit’s account desires and beliefs figure in rational choice explanations merely as “standby causes”. They explain resilience of certain behavior, not its actual cause. Quite contrary to standard rational choice theory, the programming model (Pettit, 2002 defines the neurophysiological level as more basic in explaining behavior. This means that higher-level psychological states are causally relevant for certain behavior only if certain lower-level neurophysiological producer obtains. In this paper standard rational choice theory will be defended against culturalist and naturalist criticism.
Vlakveld, W.P. Twisk, D.A.M. Christoph, M.W.T. Boele, M.J. Sikkema, R. Remy, R. & Schwab, A.L.
2014-01-01
To study the speed choice and mental workload of elderly cyclists on electrical assisted bicycles (e-bikes) in simple and complex traffic situations compared to these on conventional bicycles, a field experiment was conducted using two instrumented bicycles. These bicycles were identical except for
Women's Preferences for Treatment of Perinatal Depression and Anxiety: A Discrete Choice Experiment.
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Jemimah Ride
Full Text Available Perinatal depression and anxiety (PNDA are an international healthcare priority, associated with significant short- and long-term problems for women, their children and families. Effective treatment is available but uptake is suboptimal: some women go untreated whilst others choose treatments without strong evidence of efficacy. Better understanding of women's preferences for treatment is needed to facilitate uptake of effective treatment. To address this issue, a discrete choice experiment (DCE was administered to 217 pregnant or postnatal women in Australia, who were recruited through an online research company and had similar sociodemographic characteristics to Australian data for perinatal women. The DCE investigated preferences regarding cost, treatment type, availability of childcare, modality and efficacy. Data were analysed using logit-based models accounting for preference and scale heterogeneity. Predicted probability analysis was used to explore relative attribute importance and policy change scenarios, including how these differed by women's sociodemographic characteristics. Cost and treatment type had the greatest impact on choice, such that a policy of subsidising effective treatments was predicted to double their uptake compared with the base case. There were differences in predicted uptake associated with certain sociodemographic characteristics: for example, women with higher educational attainment were more likely to choose effective treatment. The findings suggest policy directions for decision makers whose goal is to reduce the burden of PNDA on women, their children and families.
Women's Preferences for Treatment of Perinatal Depression and Anxiety: A Discrete Choice Experiment.
Ride, Jemimah; Lancsar, Emily
2016-01-01
Perinatal depression and anxiety (PNDA) are an international healthcare priority, associated with significant short- and long-term problems for women, their children and families. Effective treatment is available but uptake is suboptimal: some women go untreated whilst others choose treatments without strong evidence of efficacy. Better understanding of women's preferences for treatment is needed to facilitate uptake of effective treatment. To address this issue, a discrete choice experiment (DCE) was administered to 217 pregnant or postnatal women in Australia, who were recruited through an online research company and had similar sociodemographic characteristics to Australian data for perinatal women. The DCE investigated preferences regarding cost, treatment type, availability of childcare, modality and efficacy. Data were analysed using logit-based models accounting for preference and scale heterogeneity. Predicted probability analysis was used to explore relative attribute importance and policy change scenarios, including how these differed by women's sociodemographic characteristics. Cost and treatment type had the greatest impact on choice, such that a policy of subsidising effective treatments was predicted to double their uptake compared with the base case. There were differences in predicted uptake associated with certain sociodemographic characteristics: for example, women with higher educational attainment were more likely to choose effective treatment. The findings suggest policy directions for decision makers whose goal is to reduce the burden of PNDA on women, their children and families.
Electric utility fuel choice behavior in the United States
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Joskow, P.L.; Mishkin, F.S.
1977-10-01
Electric utility fuel choice behavior is analyzed by a conditional logit model to determine the effects of changing oil prices of five plants. Three of the plants faced favorable expected coal prices and, like many areas of the country, were insensitive to changing oil prices. This was not the case at the New England plant, however, where relatively small price increases would decrease the likelihood of choosing oil as an alternative fuel for new plants. The modeling of utility behavior in fuel decisions is felt to be applicable to other industries where a continuum of decision possibilities does not reasonably characterize choice alternatives. New behavior models are urged in order to obtain better predictions of the effects of a changing economic environment. 10 references.
Behavioural social choice: a status report.
Regenwetter, Michel; Grofman, Bernard; Popova, Anna; Messner, William; Davis-Stober, Clintin P; Cavagnaro, Daniel R
2009-03-27
Behavioural social choice has been proposed as a social choice parallel to seminal developments in other decision sciences, such as behavioural decision theory, behavioural economics, behavioural finance and behavioural game theory. Behavioural paradigms compare how rational actors should make certain types of decisions with how real decision makers behave empirically. We highlight that important theoretical predictions in social choice theory change dramatically under even minute violations of standard assumptions. Empirical data violate those critical assumptions. We argue that the nature of preference distributions in electorates is ultimately an empirical question, which social choice theory has often neglected. We also emphasize important insights for research on decision making by individuals. When researchers aggregate individual choice behaviour in laboratory experiments to report summary statistics, they are implicitly applying social choice rules. Thus, they should be aware of the potential for aggregation paradoxes. We hypothesize that such problems may substantially mar the conclusions of a number of (sometimes seminal) papers in behavioural decision research.
The impact of the multi-channel retail mix on online store choice: Does online experience matter?
Melis, Kristina; Campo, Katia; Breugelmans, Els; Lamey, Lien
2015-01-01
More and more grocery retailers are becoming multi-channel retailers, as they are opening an online alternative next to their traditional offline supermarkets. While the number of multi-channel grocery shoppers is also expanding at a fast growth rate, there are still large differences in online shopping frequency, and as a result, in the levels of experience with buying in the online grocery channel. This study wants to (i) identify the underlying drivers of online store choice and (ii) explo...
Choice blindness in financial decision making
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Owen McLaughlin
2013-09-01
Full Text Available Choice Blindness is an experimental paradigm that examines the interplay between individuals' preferences, decisions, and expectations by manipulating the relationship between intention and choice. This paper expands upon the existing Choice Blindness framework by investigating the presence of the effect in an economically significant decision context, specifically that of pension choice. In addition, it investigates a number of secondary factors hypothesized to modulate Choice Blindness, including reaction time, risk preference, and decision complexity, as well as analysing the verbal reports of non-detecting participants. The experiment was administered to 100 participants of mixed age and educational attainment. The principal finding was that no more than 37.2% of manipulated trials were detected over all conditions, a result consistent with previous Choice Blindness research. Analysis of secondary factors found that reaction time, financial sophistication and decision complexity were significant predictors of Choice Blindness detection, while content analysis of non-detecting participant responses found that 20% implied significant preference changes and 62% adhered to initial preferences. Implications of the Choice Blindness effect in the context of behavioural economics are discussed, and an agenda for further investigation of the paradigm in this context is outlined.
Reducing Brain Signal Noise in the Prediction of Economic Choices: A Case Study in Neuroeconomics
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Raanju R. Sundararajan
2017-12-01
Full Text Available In order to reduce the noise of brain signals, neuroeconomic experiments typically aggregate data from hundreds of trials collected from a few individuals. This contrasts with the principle of simple and controlled designs in experimental and behavioral economics. We use a frequency domain variant of the stationary subspace analysis (SSA technique, denoted as DSSA, to filter out the noise (nonstationary sources in EEG brain signals. The nonstationary sources in the brain signal are associated with variations in the mental state that are unrelated to the experimental task. DSSA is a powerful tool for reducing the number of trials needed from each participant in neuroeconomic experiments and also for improving the prediction performance of an economic choice task. For a single trial, when DSSA is used as a noise reduction technique, the prediction model in a food snack choice experiment has an increase in overall accuracy by around 10% and in sensitivity and specificity by around 20% and in AUC by around 30%, respectively.
Vehicle choice in aging population: Some insights from a stated preference survey for California
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Kavalec, C.
1999-07-01
This paper investigates the potential effects that an aging baby boomer generation will have on gasoline use through their vehicle choice decisions. The study uses stated preference data for both conventional and alternative fuel vehicles, and measures the impact of age of survey respondent on the perceived value of vehicle characteristics such as fuel economy, performance, and body style (e.g., car vs. truck). The results suggest the possibility that average fleet fuel economy may improve in the next few years, if survey preferences translate to actual purchase behavior. No clear implications can be drawn regarding the demand for alternative fuel vehicles.
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KLAUS D. KUBINGER
2007-12-01
Full Text Available Multiple choice response formats are problematical as an item is often scored as solved simply because the test-taker is a lucky guesser. Instead of applying pertinent IRT models which take guessing effects into account, a pragmatic approach of re-conceptualizing multiple choice response formats to reduce the chance of lucky guessing is considered. This paper compares the free response format with two different multiple choice formats. A common multiple choice format with a single correct response option and five distractors (“1 of 6” is used, as well as a multiple choice format with five response options, of which any number of the five is correct and the item is only scored as mastered if all the correct response options and none of the wrong ones are marked (“x of 5”. An experiment was designed, using pairs of items with exactly the same content but different response formats. 173 test-takers were randomly assigned to two test booklets of 150 items altogether. Rasch model analyses adduced a fitting item pool, after the deletion of 39 items. The resulting item difficulty parameters were used for the comparison of the different formats. The multiple choice format “1 of 6” differs significantly from “x of 5”, with a relative effect of 1.63, while the multiple choice format “x of 5” does not significantly differ from the free response format. Therefore, the lower degree of difficulty of items with the “1 of 6” multiple choice format is an indicator of relevant guessing effects. In contrast the “x of 5” multiple choice format can be seen as an appropriate substitute for free response format.
Preferences for Early Intervention Mental Health Services: A Discrete-Choice Conjoint Experiment.
Becker, Mackenzie P E; Christensen, Bruce K; Cunningham, Charles E; Furimsky, Ivana; Rimas, Heather; Wilson, Fiona; Jeffs, Lisa; Bieling, Peter J; Madsen, Victoria; Chen, Yvonne Y S; Mielko, Stephanie; Zipursky, Robert B
2016-02-01
Early intervention services (EISs) for mental illness may improve outcomes, although treatment engagement is often a problem. Incorporating patients' preferences in the design of interventions improves engagement. A discrete-choice conjoint experiment was conducted in Canada to identify EIS attributes that encourage treatment initiation. Sixteen four-level attributes were formalized into a conjoint survey, completed by patients, family members, and mental health professionals (N=562). Participants were asked which EIS option people with mental illness would contact. Latent-class analysis identified respondent classes characterized by shared preferences. Randomized first-choice simulations predicted which hypothetical options, based on attributes, would result in maximum utilization. Participants in the conventional-service class (N=241, 43%) predicted that individuals would contact traditional services (for example, hospital location and staffed by psychologists or psychiatrists). Membership was associated with being a patient or family member and being male. Participants in the convenient-service class (N=321, 57%) predicted that people would contact services promoting easy access (for example, self-referral and access from home). Membership was associated with being a professional. Both classes predicted that people would contact services that included short wait times, direct contact with professionals, patient autonomy, and psychological treatment information. The convenient-service class predicted that people would use an e-health model, whereas the conventional-service class predicted that people would use a primary care or clinic-hospital model. Provision of a range of services may maximize EIS use. Professionals may be more apt to adopt EISs in line with their beliefs regarding patient preferences. Considering several perspectives is important for service design.
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Hiligsmann M
2013-02-01
Full Text Available Mickael Hiligsmann,1-3 Caroline van Durme,2 Piet Geusens,2 Benedict GC Dellaert,4 Carmen D Dirksen,3 Trudy van der Weijden,5 Jean-Yves Reginster,6 Annelies Boonen21Department of Health Services Research, School for Public Health and Primary Care (CAPHRI, Maastricht University, The Netherlands, 2Department of Internal Medicine, CAPHRI, Maastricht University, The Netherlands, 3Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Medical Technology Assessment, CAPHRI, Maastricht University, The Netherlands, 4Department of Business Economics, Erasmus Rotterdam University, The Netherlands, 5Department of General Practice, CAPHRI, Maastricht University, The Netherlands, 6Department of Public Health, Epidemiology and Health Economics, University of Liege, BelgiumBackground: Attribute selection represents an important step in the development of discrete-choice experiments (DCEs, but is often poorly reported. In some situations, the number of attributes identified may exceed what one may find possible to pilot in a DCE. Hence, there is a need to gain insight into methods to select attributes in order to construct the final list of attributes. This study aims to test the feasibility of using the nominal group technique (NGT to select attributes for DCEs.Methods: Patient group discussions (4–8 participants were convened to prioritize a list of 12 potentially important attributes for osteoporosis drug therapy. The NGT consisted of three steps: an individual ranking of the 12 attributes by importance from 1 to 12, a group discussion on each of the attributes, including a group review of the aggregate score of the initial rankings, and a second ranking task of the same attributes.Results: Twenty-six osteoporotic patients participated in five NGT sessions. Most (80% of the patients changed their ranking after the discussion. However, the average initial and final ranking did not differ markedly. In the final ranking, the most important medication attributes were
Discrete choice modeling of season choice for Minnesota turkey hunters
Schroeder, Susan A.; Fulton, David C.; Cornicelli, Louis; Merchant, Steven S.
2018-01-01
Recreational turkey hunting exemplifies the interdisciplinary nature of modern wildlife management. Turkey populations in Minnesota have reached social or biological carrying capacities in many areas, and changes to turkey hunting regulations have been proposed by stakeholders and wildlife managers. This study employed discrete stated choice modeling to enhance understanding of turkey hunter preferences about regulatory alternatives. We distributed mail surveys to 2,500 resident turkey hunters. Results suggest that, compared to season structure and lotteries, additional permits and level of potential interference from other hunters most influenced hunter preferences for regulatory alternatives. Low hunter interference was preferred to moderate or high interference. A second permit issued only to unsuccessful hunters was preferred to no second permit or permits for all hunters. Results suggest that utility is not strictly defined by harvest or an individual's material gain but can involve preference for other outcomes that on the surface do not materially benefit an individual. Discrete stated choice modeling offers wildlife managers an effective way to assess constituent preferences related to new regulations before implementing them.
Incorporating outcome uncertainty and prior outcome beliefs in stated preferences
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Lundhede, Thomas; Jacobsen, Jette Bredahl; Hanley, Nick
2015-01-01
Stated preference studies tell respondents that policies create environmental changes with varying levels of uncertainty. However, respondents may include their own a priori assessments of uncertainty when making choices among policy options. Using a choice experiment eliciting respondents......’ preferences for conservation policies under climate change, we find that higher outcome uncertainty reduces utility. When accounting for endogeneity, we find that prior beliefs play a significant role in this cost of uncertainty. Thus, merely stating “objective” levels of outcome uncertainty...
Yong, Chin-Khian
2013-09-01
A partially confounded factorial conjoint choice experiments design was used to examine the monetary value of the willingness to pay for E-book Reader's attributes. Conjoint analysis is an efficient, cost-effective, and most widely used quantitative method in marketing research to understand consumer preferences and value trade-off. Value can be interpreted by customer or consumer as the received of multiple benefits from a price that was paid. The monetary value of willingness to pay for battery life, internal memory, external memory, screen size, text to Speech, touch screen, and converting handwriting to digital text of E-book reader were estimated in this study. Due to the significant interaction effect of the attributes with the price, the monetary values for the seven attributes were found to be different at different values of odds of purchasing versus not purchasing. The significant interactions effects were one of the main contribution of the partially confounded factorial conjoint choice experiment.
A choice experiment on fuel taxation and earmarking in Norway
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Saelen, Haakon; Kallbekken, Steffen
2010-07-01
Pigouvian taxes are efficient - but unpopular among voters. Earmarking of revenues has been widely reported to increase support for taxes, but this practice represents a deviation from optimal policy design. This trade-off between efficiency and political feasibility is the inspiration for this paper's attempt to quantify the effect of earmarking on voter support for fuel tax rises. Another aim of the paper is to investigate why earmarking increases support. The study estimates models of voter preferences for fuel taxes based on data are collected through a choice experiment conducted on a sample of 1177 respondents representative of the Norwegian voter population, and fitted using logistic regression models. The results show that earmarking the revenues for environmental measures has a substantial effect on voter support for fuel tax increases, garnering a majority for increases of up to 20 per cent above present levels. Earmarking the additional revenue for income redistribution does not result in a majority for any increase. Further analysis indicates that a prime reason why earmarking for environmental measures is popular is that it increases the perceived environmental effectiveness of the tax, and hence its legitimacy as an environmental rather than a fiscal policy. (Author)
Rasouli, S.; Timmermans, H.J.P.
2016-01-01
Electric cars can potentially make a substantial contribution to the reduction of pollution and noise. The size of this contribution depends on the acceptance of this new technology in the market. This paper reports on the design and results of an elaborate stated choice experiment to investigate
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Eeva Alho
2017-12-01
Full Text Available The sourcing of outside investment capital from non-members has motivated the emergence of innovative cooperative structures, but the literature on these new organizational forms omits the perspective of an outside investor. This paper reports a study that applied a choice experiment method in a novel setting to increase understanding of the preferences of investors in agricultural firms. A large questionnaire dataset consisting of 845 financially literate subjects enabled testing of the form in which residual and control rights provide incentives for non-producer investors to invest in agricultural firms. The choice experiment data were analyzed using a latent class model. The results demonstrate that the subjects were interested in the currently hypothetical, new types of investment instruments in agricultural producer cooperatives. Three investor classes were distinguished based on the preferences: return-seeking, ownership-oriented and risk-averse investors. Who controls the firm appears to be irrelevant concerning willingness to invest, while the rural ties of the respondent are positively related to the preference for voting rights.
Brown, Ashley; Ismail, Rahim; Gookin, Glenn; Hernandez, Caridad; Logan, Grace; Pasarica, Magdalena
2017-01-09
Student-run free clinics (SRFCs) are a recent popular addition to medical school education, and a subset of studies has looked at the influence of SRFC volunteering on the medical student's career development. The majority of the research done in this area has focused on understanding if these SRFCs produce physicians who are more likely to practice medicine in underserved communities, caring for the uninsured. The remainder of the research has investigated if volunteering in an SRFC influences the specialty choice of medical school students. The results of these specialty choice studies give no definitive answer as to whether medical students chose primary or specialty care residencies as a result of their SRFC experience. Keeping Neighbors in Good Health through Service (KNIGHTS) is the SRFC of the University of Central Florida College of Medicine (UCF COM). Both primary and specialty care is offered at the clinic. It is the goal of this study to determine if volunteering in the KNIGHTS SRFC influences UCF COM medical students to choose primary care, thereby helping to meet the rising need for primary care physicians in the United States. A survey was distributed to first, second, and third-year medical students at the UCF COM to collect data on demographics, prior volunteering experience, and specialty choice for residency. Responses were then combined with records of volunteer hours from the KNIGHTS Clinic and analyzed for correlations. We analyzed the frequency and Pearson's chi-squared values. A p value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Our survey had a total response rate of 39.8%. We found that neither the act of becoming a KNIGHTS Clinic volunteer nor the hours volunteered at the KNIGHTS Clinic influenced the UCF COM student's choice to enter a primary care specialty (p = NS). Additionally, prior volunteering/clinical experience or the gender of the medical school student did not influence a student's choice to volunteer at
Liede, Alexander; Mansfield, Carol A; Metcalfe, Kelly A; Price, Melanie A; Snyder, Carrie; Lynch, Henry T; Friedman, Sue; Amelio, Justyna; Posner, Joshua; Narod, Steven A; Lindeman, Geoffrey J; Evans, D Gareth
2017-09-01
Unaffected women who carry BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations face difficult choices about reducing their breast cancer risk. Understanding their treatment preferences could help us improve patient counseling and inform drug trials. The objective was to explore preferences for various risk-reducing options among women with germline BRCA1/2 mutations using a discrete-choice experiment survey and to compare expressed preferences with actual behaviors. A discrete-choice experiment survey was designed wherein women choose between hypothetical treatments to reduce breast cancer risk. The hypothetical treatments were characterized by the extent of breast cancer risk reduction, treatment duration, impact on fertility, hormone levels, risk of uterine cancer, and ease and mode of administration. Data were analyzed using a random-parameters logit model. Women were also asked to express their preference between surgical and chemoprevention options and to report on their actual risk-reduction actions. Women aged 25-55 years with germline BRCA1/2 mutations who were unaffected with breast or ovarian cancer were recruited through research registries at five clinics and a patient advocacy group. Between January 2015 and March 2016, 622 women completed the survey. Breast cancer risk reduction was the most important consideration expressed, followed by maintaining fertility. Among the subset of women who wished to have children in future, the ability to maintain fertility was the most important factor, followed by the extent of risk reduction. Many more women said they would take a chemoprevention drug than had actually taken chemoprevention. Women with BRCA1/2 mutations indicated strong preferences for breast cancer risk reduction and maintaining fertility. The expressed desire to have a safe chemoprevention drug available to them was not met by current chemoprevention options.
Lagarde, Mylene
2013-05-01
A growing literature, mainly from transport and environment economics, has started to explore whether respondents violate some of the axioms about individuals' preferences in Discrete Choice Experiments (DCEs) and use simple strategies to make their choices. One of these strategies, termed attribute non-attendance (ANA), consists in ignoring one or more attributes. Using data from a DCE administered to healthcare providers in Ghana to evaluate their potential resistance to changes in clinical guidelines, this study illustrates how latent class models can be used in a step-wise approach to account for all possible ANA strategies used by respondents and explore the consequences of such behaviours. Results show that less than 3% of respondents considered all attributes when choosing between the two hypothetical scenarios proposed, with a majority looking at only one or two attributes. Accounting for ANA strategies improved the goodness-of-fit of the model and affected the magnitude of some of the coefficient and willingness-to-pay estimates. However, there was no difference in the predicted probabilities of the model taking into account ANA and the standard approach. Although the latter result is reassuring about the ability of DCEs to produce unbiased policy guidance, it should be confirmed by other studies. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Hauber, A. Brett; Gonzalez, Juan Marcos; Groothuis-Oudshoorn, Catharina Gerarda Maria; Prior, Thomas; Marshall, Deborah A.; Cunningham, Charles; IJzerman, Maarten Joost; Bridges, John
2016-01-01
Conjoint analysis is a stated-preference survey method that can be used to elicit responses that reveal preferences, priorities, and the relative importance of individual features associated with health care interventions or services. Conjoint analysis methods, particularly discrete choice
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Mørkbak, Morten Raun; Christensen, Tove; Gyrd-Hansen, Dorte
2012-01-01
The paper investigates to what extent context dependency is present, when consumers are introduced to different risk reducing technologies and how this will affect their preferences for reductions in food risks. In particular, choice experiments are used to elicit consumer preferences for reducin...... findings of bad news having greater effect than good news – now applied to context dependency of preferences for food safety technologies....
Relative Gains, Losses, and Reference Points in Probabilistic Choice in Rats
Marshall, Andrew T.; Kirkpatrick, Kimberly
2015-01-01
Theoretical reference points have been proposed to differentiate probabilistic gains from probabilistic losses in humans, but such a phenomenon in non-human animals has yet to be thoroughly elucidated. Three experiments evaluated the effect of reward magnitude on probabilistic choice in rats, seeking to determine reference point use by examining the effect of previous outcome magnitude(s) on subsequent choice behavior. Rats were trained to choose between an outcome that always delivered reward (low-uncertainty choice) and one that probabilistically delivered reward (high-uncertainty). The probability of high-uncertainty outcome receipt and the magnitudes of low-uncertainty and high-uncertainty outcomes were manipulated within and between experiments. Both the low- and high-uncertainty outcomes involved variable reward magnitudes, so that either a smaller or larger magnitude was probabilistically delivered, as well as reward omission following high-uncertainty choices. In Experiments 1 and 2, the between groups factor was the magnitude of the high-uncertainty-smaller (H-S) and high-uncertainty-larger (H-L) outcome, respectively. The H-S magnitude manipulation differentiated the groups, while the H-L magnitude manipulation did not. Experiment 3 showed that manipulating the probability of differential losses as well as the expected value of the low-uncertainty choice produced systematic effects on choice behavior. The results suggest that the reference point for probabilistic gains and losses was the expected value of the low-uncertainty choice. Current theories of probabilistic choice behavior have difficulty accounting for the present results, so an integrated theoretical framework is proposed. Overall, the present results have implications for understanding individual differences and corresponding underlying mechanisms of probabilistic choice behavior. PMID:25658448
Relative gains, losses, and reference points in probabilistic choice in rats.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Andrew T Marshall
Full Text Available Theoretical reference points have been proposed to differentiate probabilistic gains from probabilistic losses in humans, but such a phenomenon in non-human animals has yet to be thoroughly elucidated. Three experiments evaluated the effect of reward magnitude on probabilistic choice in rats, seeking to determine reference point use by examining the effect of previous outcome magnitude(s on subsequent choice behavior. Rats were trained to choose between an outcome that always delivered reward (low-uncertainty choice and one that probabilistically delivered reward (high-uncertainty. The probability of high-uncertainty outcome receipt and the magnitudes of low-uncertainty and high-uncertainty outcomes were manipulated within and between experiments. Both the low- and high-uncertainty outcomes involved variable reward magnitudes, so that either a smaller or larger magnitude was probabilistically delivered, as well as reward omission following high-uncertainty choices. In Experiments 1 and 2, the between groups factor was the magnitude of the high-uncertainty-smaller (H-S and high-uncertainty-larger (H-L outcome, respectively. The H-S magnitude manipulation differentiated the groups, while the H-L magnitude manipulation did not. Experiment 3 showed that manipulating the probability of differential losses as well as the expected value of the low-uncertainty choice produced systematic effects on choice behavior. The results suggest that the reference point for probabilistic gains and losses was the expected value of the low-uncertainty choice. Current theories of probabilistic choice behavior have difficulty accounting for the present results, so an integrated theoretical framework is proposed. Overall, the present results have implications for understanding individual differences and corresponding underlying mechanisms of probabilistic choice behavior.
An Investigation of ACCI's User Choice Proposals. Working Paper.
Ferrier, Fran; Smith, Chris Selby
A project investigated Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI)-developed proposals designed to strengthen User Choice. (The ability of employers and employees to select a training provider of their choice, providing it is registered in their state or territory, is known as "User Choice.") Stage 1 analyzed the ACCI position,…
Camasso, M J; Jagannathan, R
2001-01-01
This study employed stated preference (SP) models to determine why general aviation pilots choose to base and operate their aircraft at some airports and not others. Thirteen decision variables identified in pilot focus groups and in the general aviation literature were incorporated into a series of hypothetical choice tasks or scenarios. The scenarios were offered within a fractional factorial design to establish orthogonality and to preclude dominance in any combination of variables. Data from 113 pilots were analyzed for individual differences across pilots using conditional logit regression with and without controls. The results demonstrate that some airport attributes (e.g., full-range hospitality services, paved parallel taxiway, and specific types of runway lighting and landing aids) increase pilot utility. Heavy airport congestion and airport landing fees, on the other hand, decrease pilot utility. The importance of SP methodology as a vehicle for modeling choice behavior and as an input into the planning and prioritization process is discussed. Actual or potential applications include the development of structured decision-making instruments in the behavioral sciences and in human service programs.
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Rockers Peter C
2012-07-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background Health facilities require teams of health workers with complementary skills and responsibilities to efficiently provide quality care. In low-income countries, failure to attract and retain health workers in rural areas reduces population access to health services and undermines facility performance, resulting in poor health outcomes. It is important that governments consider health worker preferences in crafting policies to address attraction and retention in underserved areas. Methods We investigated preferences for job characteristics among final year medical, nursing, pharmacy, and laboratory students at select universities in Uganda. Participants were administered a cadre-specific discrete choice experiment that elicited preferences for attributes of potential job postings they were likely to pursue after graduation. Job attributes included salary, facility quality, housing, length of commitment, manager support, training tuition, and dual practice opportunities. Mixed logit models were used to estimate stated preferences for these attributes. Results Data were collected from 246 medical students, 132 nursing students, 50 pharmacy students and 57 laboratory students. For all student-groups, choice of job posting was strongly influenced by salary, facility quality and manager support, relative to other attributes. For medical and laboratory students, tuition support for future training was also important, while pharmacy students valued opportunities for dual practice. Conclusions In Uganda, financial and non-financial incentives may be effective in attracting health workers to underserved areas. Our findings contribute to mounting evidence that salary is not the only important factor health workers consider when deciding where to work. Better quality facilities and supportive managers were important to all students. Similarities in preferences for these factors suggest that team-based, facility-level strategies for
Criteria for prioritization of HIV programs in Viet Nam: a discrete choice experiment
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Ali Safarnejad
2017-11-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background With the decline in funding for Viet Nam’s response to the HIV epidemic, there is a need for evidence on the criteria to guide the prioritization of HIV programs. There is a gap in the research on the relative importance of multiple criteria for prioritizing a package of interventions. This study elicits preferences and the trade-offs made between different HIV programs by relevant stakeholders and decision-makers in Viet Nam. It also pays attention to how differences in social and professional characteristics of stakeholders and their agency affiliations shape preferences for HIV program criteria in Viet Nam. Methods This study uses self-explicated ranking and discrete choice experiments to determine the relative importance of five criteria - effectiveness, feasibility, cost-effectiveness, rate of investment and prevention/treatment investment ratio - to stakeholders when they evaluate and select hypothetical HIV programs. The study includes 69 participants from government, civil society, and international development partners. Results Results of the discrete choice experiment show that overall the feasibility criterion is ranked highest in importance to the participants when choosing a hypothetical HIV program, followed by sustainability, treatment to prevention spending ratio, and effectiveness. The participant’s work in management, programming, or decision-making has a significant effect on the importance of some criteria to the participant. In the self-explicated ranking effectiveness is the most important criterion and the cost-effectiveness criterion ranks low in importance across all groups. Conclusions This study has shown that the preferred HIV program in Viet Nam is feasible, front-loaded for sustainability, has a higher proportion of investment on prevention, saves more lives and prevents more infections. Similarities in government and civil society rankings of criteria can create common grounds for future
Ozawa, Sachiko; Grewal, Simrun; Bridges, John F P
2016-04-01
Community-based health insurance (CBHI) schemes have been introduced in low- and middle-income countries to increase health service utilization and provide financial protection from high healthcare expenditures. We assess the impact of household size on decisions to enroll in CBHI and demonstrate how to correct for group disparity in scale (i.e. variance differences). A discrete choice experiment was conducted across five CBHI attributes. Preferences were elicited through forced-choice paired comparison choice tasks designed based on D-efficiency. Differences in preferences were examined between small (1-4 family members) and large (5-12 members) households using conditional logistic regression. Swait and Louviere test was used to identify and correct for differences in scale. One-hundred and sixty households were surveyed in Northwest Cambodia. Increased insurance premium was associated with disutility [odds ratio (OR) 0.61, p decisions regardless of household size. Understanding how community members make decisions about health insurance can inform low- and middle-income countries' paths towards universal health coverage.
Electricity contract choices of Finnish residential customers. A choice based conjoint analysis
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Rouvinen, S.; Matero, J. (Univ. of Eastern Finland, Joensuu (Finland), School of Forest Sciences), e-mail: seppo.rouvinen@uef.fi, e-mail: jukka.matero@uef.fi
2010-07-01
Our aim is to examine how different environmental attributes of electricity contracts affect the residential customer choices when heterogeneity in customer preferences and motivations is taken into account. The data was acquired by a mail questionnaire to random sample of Finnish people in October-November 2009 with a response rate of 38 %. In addition to conventional questions, like questions on socio-demographic and agreements of energy related statements, the discrete choice experiment (DCE) of electricity contracts was included. The choice sets in the DCE had three electricity contract alternatives with varying levels of predetermined attributes (including unit price, supplier type, frequency of power outages, energy source and CO{sub 2} emissions). In this paper, we present the findings of our DCE design. Modeling respondent choices resulted in implicit prices for various electricity contract attributes that provide guidance for green marketing strategies of electricity suppliers and energy related informational activities of public institutions. We conclude that currently the potential for increasing demand-based environmental competitiveness from the wood electricity differentiation remains limited as we did not find any significant market segment of residential customers with strong preferences for wood over other sources of electricity (including 'mixture'). (orig.)
Bekele, Alemayehu Dekeba; Beuving, Joost; Ruben, Ruerd
2016-01-01
This article reports results from a framed market experiment conducted to examine whether milk choices are responsive to changes in the nutritional characteristics of milk products. Using a random-effect Tobit model, we analyzed experimental data collected from 160 participants in urban Ethiopia.
Valuing energy-saving measures in residential buildings. A choice experiment study
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Kwak, So-Yoon; Kwak, Seung-Jun [Department of Economics, Korea University, 5-1 Anam-Dong, Seoul 136-701 (Korea); Yoo, Seung-Hoon [Department of International Area Studies, Hoseo University, 268 Anseo-Dong, Cheonan, Chungnam 330-713 (Korea)
2010-01-15
Air-conditioning and heating energy-saving measures can cut back the usage of energy. This paper attempts to apply a choice experiment in evaluating the consumer's willingness to pay (WTP) for air-conditioning and heating energy-saving measures in Korea's residential buildings. We consider the trade-offs between price and three attributes of energy-saving (window, facade, and ventilation) for selecting a preferred alternative and derive the marginal WTP (MWTP) estimate for each attribute. We also try to test irrelevant alternatives property for the estimation model holds and compare the estimation results of the multinomial logit (MNL) and the nested logit (NL) models. The NL model outperforms the MNL model. The NL model show that MWTPs for increasing the number of glasses and their variety, for increasing the thickness of facade for 1 mm, and for establishing a ventilation system are KRW 17,392 (USD 18.2), 1,112 (1.2), and 11,827 (12.4), respectively. Overall, the potential consumers have significant amount of WTP. (author)
Expanding Choice: Tax Credits and Educational Access in Indiana
Carpenter, Dick M., II; Ross, John K.
2009-01-01
One of the oldest and more popular forms of school choice in the United States is educational tax credits. Like many other types of school choice, educational tax credits enable parents to send their children to the K-12 school of their choice, public or private, religious or non-religious. One type of educational tax credits, tax-credit…
How does consumer knowledge affect environmentally sustainable choices?
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Peschel, Anne O; Grebitus, Carola; Steiner, Bodo
2016-01-01
. Subjective knowledge was found to be more important in this context. Usage experience had relatively little impact on environmentally sustainable choices. Our results suggest that about 20 % of consumers in both countries are ready to adopt footprint labels in their food choices. Another 10 - 20% could...
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Luis Huicho
Full Text Available Robust evidence on interventions to improve the shortage of health workers in rural areas is needed. We assessed stated factors that would attract short-term contract nurses and midwives to work in a rural area of Peru.A discrete choice experiment (DCE was conducted to evaluate the job preferences of nurses and midwives currently working on a short-term contract in the public sector in Ayacucho, Peru. Job attributes, and their levels, were based on literature review, qualitative interviews and focus groups of local health personnel and policy makers. A labelled design with two choices, rural community or Ayacucho city, was used. Job attributes were tailored to these settings. Multiple conditional logistic regressions were used to assess the determinants of job preferences. Then we used the best-fitting estimated model to predict the impact of potential policy incentives on the probability of choosing a rural job or a job in Ayacucho city. We studied 205 nurses and midwives. The odds of choosing an urban post was 14.74 times than that of choosing a rural one. Salary increase, health center-type of facility and scholarship for specialization were preferred attributes for choosing a rural job. Increased number of years before securing a permanent contract acted as a disincentive for both rural and urban jobs. Policy simulations showed that the most effective attraction package to uptake a rural job included a 75% increase in salary plus scholarship for a specialization, which would increase the proportion of health workers taking a rural job from 36.4% up to 60%.Urban jobs were more strongly preferred than rural ones. However, combined financial and non-financial incentives could almost double rural job uptake by nurses and midwifes. These packages may provide meaningful attraction strategies to rural areas and should be considered by policy makers for implementation.
Evers, Ellen R K; Inbar, Yoel; Zeelenberg, Marcel
2014-04-01
In 4 experiments, we investigate how the "fit" of an item with a set of similar items affects choice. We find that people have a notion of a set that "fits" together--one where all items are the same, or all items differ, on salient attributes. One consequence of this notion is that in addition to preferences over the set's individual items, choice reflects set-fit. This leads to predictable shifts in preferences, sometimes even resulting in people choosing normatively inferior options over superior ones.
Energy efficient appliance choice under the EU labeling scheme
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Mills, Bradford F.; Schleich, Joachim [Fraunhofer-Institut fuer System- und Innovationsforschung (ISI), Karlsruhe (Germany)
2010-02-15
purchase energy efficient appliances. Economic incentives, both as the stated importance of financial savings and in the form of country energy prices, also do not translate into energy efficient appliance purchases. Similarly, there is no clear indication that proper country compliance with labeling directives increases energy efficient appliance purchase propensity. This latter finding casts some doubt on the effectiveness of current labels in influencing appliance energy class choice. The findings have important implications for the design of more effective appliance energy efficiency labels. Energy labeling scheme awareness appears to respond to financial incentives, but purchase decisions are not directly influenced by financial incentives. This disconnect may stem from the fact that current labels provide no information on expected energy costs savings associated with the appliance purchase. Thus, consumers can not readily calculate if the additional investment associated with a more energy efficient appliance is justified by future energy costs savings. The need to clearly identify energy-savings associated with energy efficient products has also been highlighted in the eco-marketing literature, which stresses that customers need to benefit (in this case via lower energy costs) from environmental innovations in order to generate green market demand (e.g. Kammerer 2009). Hence, a re-designed energy label for household appliances should not just include energy use (in kWh) but also energy costs, based on average energy prices for households in the country of sale in a particular year. Stated preferences for energy savings for environmental reasons appear to have a more limited impact on label awareness. Thus, the provision of label information on environmental amenities associated with energy efficient appliance choice (e.g. reductions in CO{sub 2} output) may have a weaker effect on purchase propensities than cost information. However, controlled experiments to
The economics of choice: lessons from the U.S. health-care market.
Hanoch, Yaniv; Rice, Thomas
2011-03-01
The English health-care system is moving towards increasing consumers' choice. Following economic thinking, it is assumed that such a policy will improve quality, enhance patient satisfaction and reduce health disparities. Indeed, the English health-care system has already built the necessary infrastructure to increase patients' choice. Before expanding the range of choices further, however, it is important that policy makers be aware of the limitations and hurdles that such a policy contains. Here, we highlight these limitations by drawing on the influential work of Kenneth Arrow, who has argued that we cannot treat the health-care market as if it was just another market, and the ideas of Herbert Simon, who questioned whether people had sufficient cognitive abilities to make effective choices in an information-rich environment. In the light of these two strands of thought, we review evidence suggesting that many older adults have low (health) literacy levels, raising concerns over their ability to obtain, process and understand medical-related information, with its increasing complexity, associated risks and emotional involvement. We also discuss recent findings from the United States highlighting the difficulties older users of health-care face with a wide range of prescription drug insurance plans from which to choose. Thus, learning from the experience of health-care systems where choice is abundant could help any health system interested in extending patients' choice to better target the domains where more choice could be beneficial and possibly avoid those where it could be detrimental. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
The economics of choice: lessons from the U.S. health‐care market
Hanoch, Yaniv; Rice, Thomas
2011-01-01
Abstract The English health‐care system is moving towards increasing consumers’ choice. Following economic thinking, it is assumed that such a policy will improve quality, enhance patient satisfaction and reduce health disparities. Indeed, the English health‐care system has already built the necessary infrastructure to increase patients’ choice. Before expanding the range of choices further, however, it is important that policy makers be aware of the limitations and hurdles that such a policy contains. Here, we highlight these limitations by drawing on the influential work of Kenneth Arrow, who has argued that we cannot treat the health‐care market as if it was just another market, and the ideas of Herbert Simon, who questioned whether people had sufficient cognitive abilities to make effective choices in an information‐rich environment. In the light of these two strands of thought, we review evidence suggesting that many older adults have low (health) literacy levels, raising concerns over their ability to obtain, process and understand medical‐related information, with its increasing complexity, associated risks and emotional involvement. We also discuss recent findings from the United States highlighting the difficulties older users of health‐care face with a wide range of prescription drug insurance plans from which to choose. Thus, learning from the experience of health‐care systems where choice is abundant could help any health system interested in extending patients’ choice to better target the domains where more choice could be beneficial and possibly avoid those where it could be detrimental. PMID:21122041
Kotnowski, Kathy; Fong, Geoffrey T; Gallopel-Morvan, Karine; Islam, Towhidul; Hammond, David
2016-05-01
The tobacco industry uses various aspects of cigarette packaging design to market to specific groups. The current study examined the relative importance of five cigarette packaging attributes--pack structure (eg, "slims"), brand, branding, warning label size, and price--on perceptions of product taste, harm, and interest in trying, among young females in Canada. A discrete choice experiment was conducted with smoking and nonsmoking females, aged 16 to 24 (N = 448). Respondents were shown 10 choice sets, each containing four packs with different combinations of the attributes: pack structure (slim, lipstick, booklet, traditional); brand ("Vogue," "du Maurier"); branding (branded, plain); warning label size (50%, 75%); and price ($8.45, $10.45). For each choice set, respondents chose the brand that they: (1) would rather try, (2) would taste better, and (3) would be less harmful, or "none." For each outcome, the attributes' impact on consumer choice was analyzed using a multinomial logit model. The multinomial logit analyses revealed that young females weighted pack structure to be most important to their intention to try (46%), judgment of product taste (52%), and judgment of product harm (48%). Price and branding were weighted important in trial intent decisions (23% and 18%, respectively) and product taste judgments (29% and 15%, respectively). Whereas warning label size and brand were weighted important when judging product harm (23% and 17%, respectively). The findings suggest that standardized cigarette packaging may decrease demand and reduce misleading perceptions about product harm among young females. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
Neural correlates of affective influence on choice.
Piech, Richard M; Lewis, Jade; Parkinson, Caroline H; Owen, Adrian M; Roberts, Angela C; Downing, Paul E; Parkinson, John A
2010-03-01
Making the right choice depends crucially on the accurate valuation of the available options in the light of current needs and goals of an individual. Thus, the valuation of identical options can vary considerably with motivational context. The present study investigated the neural structures underlying context dependent evaluation. We instructed participants to choose from food menu items based on different criteria: on their anticipated taste or on ease of preparation. The aim of the manipulation was to assess which neural sites were activated during choice guided by incentive value, and which during choice based on a value-irrelevant criterion. To assess the impact of increased motivation, affect-guided choice and cognition-guided choice was compared during the sated and hungry states. During affective choice, we identified increased activity in structures representing primarily valuation and taste (medial prefrontal cortex, insula). During cognitive choice, structures showing increased activity included those implicated in suppression and conflict monitoring (lateral orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate). Hunger influenced choice-related activity in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. Our results show that choice is associated with the use of distinct neural structures for the pursuit of different goals. Published by Elsevier Inc.
Choosing to regulate: does choice enhance craving regulation?
Mobasser, Arian; Zeithamova, Dagmar; Pfeifer, Jennifer H
2018-01-01
Abstract Goal-directed behavior and lifelong well-being often depend on the ability to control appetitive motivations, such as cravings. Cognitive reappraisal is an effective way to modulate emotional states, including cravings, but is often studied under explicit instruction to regulate. Despite the strong prediction from Self-Determination Theory that choice should enhance task engagement and regulation success, little is known empirically about whether and how regulation is different when participants choose (vs are told) to exert control. To investigate how choice affects neural activity and regulation success, participants reappraised their responses to images of personally-craved foods while undergoing functional neuroimaging. Participants were either instructed to view or reappraise (‘no-choice’) or chose freely to view or reappraise (‘yes-choice’). Choice increased activity in the frontoparietal control network. We expected this activity would be associated with increased task engagement, resulting in better regulation success. However, contrary to this prediction, choice slightly reduced regulation success. Follow-up multivariate functional neuroimaging analyses indicated that choice likely disrupted allocation of limited cognitive resources during reappraisal. While unexpected, these results highlight the importance of studying upstream processes such as regulation choice, as they may affect the ability to regulate cravings and other emotional states. PMID:29462475
Determinants of Parental Choice in Schooling: The Coquitlam Experience.
Cogan, Susana
Parents living in the Coquitlam School District in British Columbia can choose between public and private schools and between English language and French immersion programs in the public schools. This study investigates the choice-making behavior of parents enrolling their children in kindergarten in fall 1977 in terms of socioeconomic factors,…
The response dynamics of preferential choice.
Koop, Gregory J; Johnson, Joseph G
2013-12-01
The ubiquity of psychological process models requires an increased degree of sophistication in the methods and metrics that we use to evaluate them. We contribute to this venture by capitalizing on recent work in cognitive science analyzing response dynamics, which shows that the bearing information processing dynamics have on intended action is also revealed in the motor system. This decidedly "embodied" view suggests that researchers are missing out on potential dependent variables with which to evaluate their models-those associated with the motor response that produces a choice. The current work develops a method for collecting and analyzing such data in the domain of decision making. We first validate this method using widely normed stimuli from the International Affective Picture System (Experiment 1), and demonstrate that curvature in response trajectories provides a metric of the competition between choice options. We next extend the method to risky decision making (Experiment 2) and develop predictions for three popular classes of process model. The data provided by response dynamics demonstrate that choices contrary to the maxim of risk seeking in losses and risk aversion in gains may be the product of at least one "online" preference reversal, and can thus begin to discriminate amongst the candidate models. Finally, we incorporate attentional data collected via eye-tracking (Experiment 3) to develop a formal computational model of joint information sampling and preference accumulation. In sum, we validate response dynamics for use in preferential choice tasks and demonstrate the unique conclusions afforded by response dynamics over and above traditional methods. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Initial state radiation experiment at MAMI
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Mihovilovič, M.; Merkel, H. [Institut für Kernphysik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Johann-Joachim-Becher-Weg 45, 55128 Mainz (Germany); Collaboration: A1-Collaboration
2013-11-07
In an attempt to contribute further insight into the discrepancy between the Lamb shift and elastic scattering determinations of the proton charge radius, a new experiment at MAMI is underway, aimed at measuring proton form-factors at very low momentum transfers by using a new technique based on initial state radiation. This paper reports on first findings of the pilot measurement performed in 2010, whose main goal was to check the feasibility of the proposed experiment and to recognize and overcome potential obstacles before running the full experiment in 2013.
van Dijk, J.D.; Groothuis-Oudshoorn, Karin; Marshall, D.; IJzerman, Maarten Joost
2013-01-01
Objectives Empirical comparison of two preference elicitation methods, discrete choice experiment (DCE) and profile case best-worst scaling (BWS), regarding the estimation of the risk tolerance for hip replacement surgery (total hip arthroplasty and total hip resurfacing arthroplasty). Methods An
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Byun JH
2016-06-01
Full Text Available Ji-Hye Byun,1 Sun-Hong Kwon,1 Ji-Hye Ha,2 Eui-Kyung Lee1 1School of Pharmacy, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, 2Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Cheongju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea Purpose: The benefit–risk balance for drugs can alter post approval owing to additional data on efficacy or adverse events. This study developed a quantitative benefit–risk assessment (BRA model for statins using multicriteria decision analysis with discrete choice experiments and compared a recent BRA with that at the time of approval. Patients and methods: Following a systematic review of the literature, the benefit criteria within the statin BRA model were defined as a reduction in the plasma low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level and a reduction in myocardial infarction incidence; the risk criteria were hepatotoxicity (Liv and fatal rhabdomyolysis (Rha. The scores for these criteria were estimated using mixed treatment comparison methods. Weighting was calculated from a discrete choice experiment involving 203 Korean patients. The scores and weights were integrated to produce an overall value representing the benefit–risk balance, and sensitivity analyses were conducted. Results: In this BRA model, low-density lipoprotein (relative importance [RI]: 37.50% was found to be a more important benefit criterion than myocardial infarction (RI: 35.43%, and Liv (RI: 16.28% was a more important risk criterion than Rha (RI: 10.79%. Patients preferred atorvastatin, and the preference ranking of cerivastatin and simvastatin was switched post approval because of the emergence of additional risk information related to cerivastatin. Conclusion: A quantitative statin BRA model confirmed that the preference ranking of statins changed post approval because of the identification of additional benefits or risks. Keywords: multicriteria decision analysis, statin, quantitative benefit–risk assessment, discrete choice experiment
Choice experiment study on the willingness to pay to improve electricity services
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Abdullah, Sabah [Department of Economics, Claverton Down, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY (United Kingdom); Department of Economic Analysis and Institute of Public Economics, University of the Basque Country Avda. Lehendakari Aguirre 81, 48015 Bilbao (Spain); Mariel, Petr [Department of Applied Economics III (Econometrics and Statistics), University of the Basque Country Avda. Lehendakari Aguirre 83, E48015 Bilbao (Spain)
2010-08-15
Modern forms of energy are an important vehicle towards poverty alleviation in rural areas of developing countries. Most developing countries' households rely heavily on wood fuel which impacts on their health and socio-economic status. To ease such a dependency, other modern forms of energy, namely electricity, need to be provided. However, the quality of the electricity service, namely reliability, is an important factor in reducing this dependency. This paper discusses a choice experiment valuation study conducted among electrified rural households located in Kisumu, Kenya, in which the willingness to pay (WTP) to avoid power outages or blackouts was estimated. A mixed logit estimation was applied to identify the various socio-economic and demographic characteristics which determine preferences in reducing power outages among a household's users. In conclusion, several of the socio-economic and demographic characteristics outlined in this paper were identified and can assist service differentiation to accommodate the diverse households' preferences towards the improvement of the electricity service. (author)
Choice experiment study on the willingness to pay to improve electricity services
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Abdullah, Sabah; Mariel, Petr
2010-01-01
Modern forms of energy are an important vehicle towards poverty alleviation in rural areas of developing countries. Most developing countries' households rely heavily on wood fuel which impacts on their health and socio-economic status. To ease such a dependency, other modern forms of energy, namely electricity, need to be provided. However, the quality of the electricity service, namely reliability, is an important factor in reducing this dependency. This paper discusses a choice experiment valuation study conducted among electrified rural households located in Kisumu, Kenya, in which the willingness to pay (WTP) to avoid power outages or blackouts was estimated. A mixed logit estimation was applied to identify the various socio-economic and demographic characteristics which determine preferences in reducing power outages among a household's users. In conclusion, several of the socio-economic and demographic characteristics outlined in this paper were identified and can assist service differentiation to accommodate the diverse households' preferences towards the improvement of the electricity service.
Choosing health, constrained choices.
Chee Khoon Chan
2009-12-01
In parallel with the neo-liberal retrenchment of the welfarist state, an increasing emphasis on the responsibility of individuals in managing their own affairs and their well-being has been evident. In the health arena for instance, this was a major theme permeating the UK government's White Paper Choosing Health: Making Healthy Choices Easier (2004), which appealed to an ethos of autonomy and self-actualization through activity and consumption which merited esteem. As a counterpoint to this growing trend of informed responsibilization, constrained choices (constrained agency) provides a useful framework for a judicious balance and sense of proportion between an individual behavioural focus and a focus on societal, systemic, and structural determinants of health and well-being. Constrained choices is also a conceptual bridge between responsibilization and population health which could be further developed within an integrative biosocial perspective one might refer to as the social ecology of health and disease.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Byun, Hyunsuk; Lee, Chul-Yong
2017-01-01
Generally, consumers use electricity without considering the source the electricity was generated from. Since different energy sources exert varying effects on society, it is necessary to analyze consumers’ latent preference for electricity generation sources. The present study estimates Korean consumers’ marginal utility and an appropriate generation mix is derived using the hierarchical Bayesian logit model in a discrete choice experiment. The results show that consumers consider the danger posed by the source of electricity as the most important factor among the effects of electricity generation sources. Additionally, Korean consumers wish to reduce the contribution of nuclear power from the existing 32–11%, and increase that of renewable energy from the existing 4–32%. - Highlights: • We derive an electricity mix reflecting Korean consumers’ latent preferences. • We use the discrete choice experiment and hierarchical Bayesian logit model. • The danger posed by the generation source is the most important attribute. • The consumers wish to increase the renewable energy proportion from 4.3% to 32.8%. • Korea's cost-oriented energy supply policy and consumers’ preference differ markedly.
Women’s Preferences for Treatment of Perinatal Depression and Anxiety: A Discrete Choice Experiment
Ride, Jemimah; Lancsar, Emily
2016-01-01
Perinatal depression and anxiety (PNDA) are an international healthcare priority, associated with significant short- and long-term problems for women, their children and families. Effective treatment is available but uptake is suboptimal: some women go untreated whilst others choose treatments without strong evidence of efficacy. Better understanding of women’s preferences for treatment is needed to facilitate uptake of effective treatment. To address this issue, a discrete choice experiment (DCE) was administered to 217 pregnant or postnatal women in Australia, who were recruited through an online research company and had similar sociodemographic characteristics to Australian data for perinatal women. The DCE investigated preferences regarding cost, treatment type, availability of childcare, modality and efficacy. Data were analysed using logit-based models accounting for preference and scale heterogeneity. Predicted probability analysis was used to explore relative attribute importance and policy change scenarios, including how these differed by women’s sociodemographic characteristics. Cost and treatment type had the greatest impact on choice, such that a policy of subsidising effective treatments was predicted to double their uptake compared with the base case. There were differences in predicted uptake associated with certain sociodemographic characteristics: for example, women with higher educational attainment were more likely to choose effective treatment. The findings suggest policy directions for decision makers whose goal is to reduce the burden of PNDA on women, their children and families. PMID:27258096
Preferences for Management of Near-Shore Marine Ecosystems: A Choice Experiment in New Zealand
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Sophal Chhun
2013-09-01
Full Text Available There is considerable interest in New Zealand in establishing “Customary Management Areas” (taiāpure and mātaitai and Marine Reserves to support Māori cultural practices and restore declining biodiversity and fish stocks. Allocation of near-shore marine areas for these management systems potentially benefits the larger public, but it has often been vigorously opposed by recreational and commercial fishers. This paper reports estimates of the relative values held by the public toward four potentially conflicting uses of near-shore marine areas. These estimates come from a web-based choice survey completed by 1055 respondents recruited from throughout New Zealand. The response rate was especially high at 60%. We present results weighted to the characteristics of the population and test the results against a variety of well-known sources of survey bias. Scenario development suggests that some reallocation of near-shore marine areas to any of the management systems under discussion alternative to the status quo is likely to yield a welfare gain. A combination of marine reserves and taiāpure is most preferred. The exercise supports the use of discrete choice experiments to provide crucial information about difficult-to-quantify public values for aspects of management of near-shore marine areas, such as proposed taiāpure, mātaitai, or marine reserves.
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Christensen, Tove; Pedersen, Anders Branth; Nielsen, Helle Ørsted
2010-01-01
Danish farmers have been far less interested in agri-environmental subsidy schemes than anticipated. We use choice experiments to estimate 486 Danish farmers' preferences for a number of policy relevant schemecharacteristics. Subsidy schemes for pesticide free buffer zones along hedgerows...... management restrictions (choice of buffer zone width, using fertilizer, and reduced administrative burden). As a novelty, the administrative burden is captured by estimating how farmers value costless assistance to the actual application. For example, our model estimates indicate that an average farmer...... is willing to give up 120 Euros per hectare per year for changing a 5 year contract to a one year contract. However, whether a shorter contract is preferable from a societal point of view still depends on the environmental costs of reducing the contract length....
Housing choices and care home design for people with dementia.
Hadjri, Karim; Rooney, Cliona; Faith, Verity
2015-01-01
This article reviews the current state of housing for people with dementia by exploring housing choices available to this group, and identifying potential issues with design of care homes. Older people who wish to age in place are faced with the challenge of adapting their domestic environment to ensure independence, accessibility, and social connectivity. This is even more challenging for people with dementia who continue to live at home, given the risks of self-harm and getting lost. More imaginative and inclusive forms of collective housing are needed. For people with dementia, a move to a new environment is often a stressful experience that causes shock, withdrawal, and anger. Hence, more research is needed to develop more fitting long-term housing options for people with dementia. This article presents a brief review on housing choices and housing design for people with dementia. Interviews with managers of 22 care homes were conducted to explore housing choices and design issues. Results show that the main housing choices available to people with dementia offer different levels of care. The choice of care homes relates to the atmosphere of a home as some occupants favor a homely or relaxing environment and others prefer dynamic settings. A combination of appropriate level of care, a good atmosphere, and design quality within the care home are elements that lead to a more enabling environment. Design of a successful caring environment also requires appropriate care and a positive therapeutic and domestic-looking environment. © The Author(s) 2015.
Self-choice enhances value in reward-seeking in primates.
Setogawa, Tsuyoshi; Mizuhiki, Takashi; Matsumoto, Narihisa; Akizawa, Fumika; Shidara, Munetaka
2014-03-01
When an individual chooses one item from two or more alternatives, they compare the values of the expected outcomes. The outcome value can be determined by the associated reward amount, the probability of reward, and the workload required to earn the reward. Rational choice theory states that choices are made to maximize rewards over time, and that the same outcome values lead to an equal likelihood of choices. However, the theory does not distinguish between conditions with the same reward value, even when acquired under different circumstances, and does not always accurately describe real behavior. We have found that allowing a monkey to choose a reward schedule endows the schedule with extra value when compared to performance in an identical schedule that is chosen by another agent (a computer here). This behavior is not consistent with pure rational choice theory. Theoretical analysis using a modified temporal-difference learning model showed an enhanced schedule state value by self-choice. These results suggest that an increased reward value underlies the improved performances by self-choice during reward-seeking behavior. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd and the Japan Neuroscience Society. All rights reserved.
Baji, Petra; Gulácsi, László; Golovics, Petra A; Lovász, Barbara D; Péntek, Márta; Brodszky, Valentin; Rencz, Fanni; Lakatos, Péter L
2016-09-01
In middle-income countries, access to biological therapy is limited in ulcerative colitis in terms of the number of patients and the length of therapy. Because of their cost advantages, biosimilars have the potential to improve access to therapy, but physicians have concerns toward their use because of the lack of evidence from randomized clinical trials. To explore the preferences of gastroenterologists for biosimilar drugs in ulcerative colitis as well as to compare our results with results of previous studies on gastroenterologists' preferences toward biosimilars. A discrete choice experiment was carried out involving 51 Hungarian gastroenterologists treating patients with inflammatory bowel disease in May 2014 with the following attributes: type of treatment (biosimilar/originator), severity of disease, availability of continuous medicine supply, and the stopping rule (whether the treatment is covered after 12 months). A conditional logit model was used to estimate the probabilities of choosing a given profile. According to the results, the stopping rule was the most important attribute. The type of treatment mattered only for patients already on biologicals. The probabilities of choosing the biosimilar option with all the benefits offered in the discrete choice experiment over the originator option under the present reimbursement conditions are 85% for new patients and 63% for patients already treated. Most gastroenterologists have concerns about using biosimilars. They, however, are willing to consider the use of biosimilars if they could reallocate the potential savings to provide their patients better access to biological treatment. Copyright © 2016 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Current issues in the analysis of consumer food choice
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Grunert, Klaus G.
2001-01-01
before or during purchase, and then have a quality experience after the purchase. However, an increasing role of credence characteristics in food choice assigns communication a stronger role in understanding food choice, and consumer concern for food production technologies gives prior attitudes...
Pupil-linked arousal is driven by decision uncertainty and alters serial choice bias
Urai, Anne E.; Braun, Anke; Donner, Tobias H.
2017-03-01
While judging their sensory environments, decision-makers seem to use the uncertainty about their choices to guide adjustments of their subsequent behaviour. One possible source of these behavioural adjustments is arousal: decision uncertainty might drive the brain's arousal systems, which control global brain state and might thereby shape subsequent decision-making. Here, we measure pupil diameter, a proxy for central arousal state, in human observers performing a perceptual choice task of varying difficulty. Pupil dilation, after choice but before external feedback, reflects three hallmark signatures of decision uncertainty derived from a computational model. This increase in pupil-linked arousal boosts observers' tendency to alternate their choice on the subsequent trial. We conclude that decision uncertainty drives rapid changes in pupil-linked arousal state, which shape the serial correlation structure of ongoing choice behaviour.
Shabat-Simon, Maytal; Shuster, Anastasia; Sela, Tal; Levy, Dino J.
2018-01-01
Hunger is a powerful driver of human behavior, and is therefore of great interest to the study of psychology, economics, and consumer behavior. Assessing hunger levels in experiments is often biased, when using self-report methods, or complex, when using blood tests. We propose a novel way of objectively measuring subjects’ levels of hunger by identifying levels of alpha-amylase (AA) enzyme in their saliva samples. We used this measure to uncover the effect of hunger on different types of choice behaviors. We found that hunger increases risk-seeking behavior in a lottery-choice task, modifies levels of vindictiveness in a social decision-making task, but does not have a detectible effect on economic inconsistency in a budget-set choice task. Importantly, these findings were moderated by AA levels and not by self-report measures. We demonstrate the effects hunger has on choice behavior and the problematic nature of subjective measures of physiological states, and propose to use reliable and valid biologically based methods to overcome these problems. PMID:29875715
Segmenting patients and physicians using preferences from discrete choice experiments.
Deal, Ken
2014-01-01
People often form groups or segments that have similar interests and needs and seek similar benefits from health providers. Health organizations need to understand whether the same health treatments, prevention programs, services, and products should be applied to everyone in the relevant population or whether different treatments need to be provided to each of several segments that are relatively homogeneous internally but heterogeneous among segments. Our objective was to explain the purposes, benefits, and methods of segmentation for health organizations, and to illustrate the process of segmenting health populations based on preference coefficients from a discrete choice conjoint experiment (DCE) using an example study of prevention of cyberbullying among university students. We followed a two-level procedure for investigating segmentation incorporating several methods for forming segments in Level 1 using DCE preference coefficients and testing their quality, reproducibility, and usability by health decision makers. Covariates (demographic, behavioral, lifestyle, and health state variables) were included in Level 2 to further evaluate quality and to support the scoring of large databases and developing typing tools for assigning those in the relevant population, but not in the sample, to the segments. Several segmentation solution candidates were found during the Level 1 analysis, and the relationship of the preference coefficients to the segments was investigated using predictive methods. Those segmentations were tested for their quality and reproducibility and three were found to be very close in quality. While one seemed better than others in the Level 1 analysis, another was very similar in quality and proved ultimately better in predicting segment membership using covariates in Level 2. The two segments in the final solution were profiled for attributes that would support the development and acceptance of cyberbullying prevention programs among university
Kaambwa, Billingsley; Lancsar, Emily; McCaffrey, Nicola; Chen, Gang; Gill, Liz; Cameron, Ian D; Crotty, Maria; Ratcliffe, Julie
2015-09-01
Consumer directed care (CDC) is currently being embraced internationally as a means to promote autonomy and choice for consumers (people aged 65 and over) receiving community aged care services (CACSs). CDC involves giving CACS clients (consumers and informal carers of consumers) control over how CACSs are administered. However, CDC models have largely developed in the absence of evidence on clients' views and preferences. We explored CACS clients' preferences for a variety of CDC attributes and identified factors that may influence these preferences and potentially inform improved design of future CDC models. Study participants were clients of CACSs delivered by five Australian providers. Using a discrete choice experiment (DCE) approach undertaken in a group setting between June and December 2013, we investigated the relative importance to CACS consumers and informal (family) carers of gradations relating to six salient features of CDC (choice of service provider(s), budget management, saving unused/unspent funds, choice of support/care worker(s), support-worker flexibility and level of contact with service coordinator). The DCE data were analysed using conditional, mixed and generalised logit regression models, accounting for preference and scale heterogeneity. Mean ages for 117 study participants were 80 years (87 consumers) and 74 years (30 informal carers). All participants preferred a CDC approach that allowed them to: save unused funds from a CACS package for future use; have support workers that were flexible in terms of changing activities within their CACS care plan and; choose the support workers that provide their day-to-day CACSs. The CDC attributes found to be important to both consumers and informal carers receiving CACSs will inform the design of future CDC models of service delivery. The DCE approach used in this study has the potential for wide applicability and facilitates the assessment of preferences for elements of potential future aged care
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Cunningham CE
2016-07-01
Full Text Available Charles E Cunningham,1 Tracy Hutchings,2 Jennifer Henderson,2 Heather Rimas,1 Yvonne Chen1 1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Michael G DeGroote School of Medicine, McMaster University, 2Department of Quality and Performance, Hamilton Health Sciences, Hamilton, ON, Canada Background: Patients and their families play an important role in efforts to improve health service safety. Objective: The objective of this study is to understand the safety partnership preferences of patients and their families. Method: We used a discrete choice conjoint experiment to model the safety partnership preferences of 1,084 patients or those such as parents acting on their behalf. Participants made choices between hypothetical safety partnerships composed by experimentally varying 15 four-level partnership design attributes. Results: Participants preferred an approach to safety based on partnerships between patients and staff rather than a model delegating responsibility for safety to hospital staff. They valued the opportunity to participate in point of service safety partnerships, such as identity and medication double checks, that might afford an immediate risk reduction. Latent class analysis yielded two segments. Actively engaged participants (73.3% comprised outpatients with higher education, who anticipated more benefits to safety partnerships, were more confident in their ability to contribute, and were more intent on participating. They were more likely to prefer a personal engagement strategy, valued scientific evidence, preferred a more active approach to safety education, and advocated disclosure of errors. The passively engaged segment (26.7% anticipated fewer benefits, were less confident in their ability to contribute, and were less intent on participating. They were more likely to prefer an engagement strategy based on signage. They preferred that staff explain why they thought patients should help
Mutual mate choice for olorful traits in King Penguins
Nolan, Paul M.; Dobson, F. Stephen; Nicolaus, Marion; Karels, Tim J.; McGraw, Kevin J.; Jouventin, Pierre
While studies of mate choice based on male color pattern are ubiquitous, studies of mate choice based on ornamental color traits in sexually monomorphic species are less common. We conducted manipulative field experiments on two color ornaments of king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus), the size of
Timing of union formation and partner choice in immigrant societies: The United States and Germany.
Soehl, Thomas; Yahirun, Jenjira
2011-12-01
As Gordon noted in his 1964 treatise on assimilation, marriage across ethnic boundaries and in particular, marriage into the mainstream is a key indicator as well as a mechanism of immigrant assimilation. Since then research has investigated numerous micro- and macro level correlates of exogamy. In this paper we focus on a topic that has received less attention thus far - how the timing of marriage is associated with partner choice. We compare the United States and Germany as two countries with significant immigrant and second-generation populations but where mainstream patterns of union formation differ. In both contexts we show that unions that cross ethnic boundaries happen later in life than those that stay within. Comparing across countries we argue that in Germany differences in the timing of union formation between the second generation and the mainstream, may pose additional barriers to intermarriage that do not exist in the United States.
Dopamine and the Neural "Now": Essay and Review of Addiction: A Disorder of Choice.
Lewis, Marc D
2011-03-01
Rather than view addiction as a disease, Heyman sees it as a choice-one that works like other choices, whereby immediate rewards outshine long-term gains. He rejects neuroscientific explanations of addictive behavior, because he believes they cast it as involuntary or disease-like. I argue that the disease-versus-choice debate creates a false dichotomy: Neuroscience does not have to frame addiction as a disease. Rather, it can help explain how addicts make impulsive choices in the moment and distort appraisal and decision-making habits in the long run. Specifically, the salience of drug-related cues is enhanced by dopamine activity in the ventral striatum, orbitofrontal cortex, and amygdala, due to the intense hedonic impact of repeated drug experiences. Moreover, dopamine-based craving peaks when drug (or alcohol or gambling) rewards become available, in the moment, and this rapid increase in attractiveness preempts rational judgment. Finally, repeated dopamine enhancement modifies brain structures to maximize the appeal of addictive activities, minimize the appeal of competing rewards, and undermine the cognitive capacities necessary to choose between them. I conclude that addiction is not a monolithic state but a recurrent series of choices that permit negotiation, and sometimes cooperation, between immediate and long-range goals. © The Author(s) 2011.
Salloum, Ramzi G; Maziak, Wasim; Hammond, David; Nakkash, Rima; Islam, Farahnaz; Cheng, Xi; Thrasher, James F
2015-09-09
Waterpipe smoking is highly prevalent among university students, and has been increasing in popularity despite mounting evidence showing it is harmful to health. The aim of this study was to measure preferences for waterpipe smoking and determine which product characteristics are most important to smokers. A large university in the Southeastern USA. Adult waterpipe smokers attending the university (N=367). Participants completed an Internet-based discrete choice experiment to reveal their preferences for, and trade-offs between, the attributes of hypothetical waterpipe smoking sessions. Participants were presented with waterpipe lounge menus, each with three fruit-flavoured options and one tobacco flavoured option, in addition to an opt out option. Nicotine content and price were provided for each choice. Participants were randomised to either receive menus with a text-only health-warning message or no message. Multinomial and nested logit models were used to estimate the impact on consumer choice of attributes and between-subject assignment of health warnings respectively. On average, participants preferred fruit-flavoured varieties to tobacco flavour. They were averse to options labelled with higher nicotine content. Females and non-smokers of cigarettes were more likely than their counterparts to prefer flavoured and nicotine-free varieties. Participants exposed to a health warning were more likely to opt out. Fruit-flavoured tobacco and lower nicotine content labels, two strategies widely used by the industry, increase the demand for waterpipe smoking among young adults. Waterpipe-specific regulation should limit the availability of flavoured waterpipe tobacco and require accurate labelling of constituents. Waterpipe-specific tobacco control regulation, along with research to inform policy, is required to curb this emerging public health threat. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence
Hauber, A Brett; González, Juan Marcos; Groothuis-Oudshoorn, Catharina G M; Prior, Thomas; Marshall, Deborah A; Cunningham, Charles; IJzerman, Maarten J; Bridges, John F P
2016-06-01
Conjoint analysis is a stated-preference survey method that can be used to elicit responses that reveal preferences, priorities, and the relative importance of individual features associated with health care interventions or services. Conjoint analysis methods, particularly discrete choice experiments (DCEs), have been increasingly used to quantify preferences of patients, caregivers, physicians, and other stakeholders. Recent consensus-based guidance on good research practices, including two recent task force reports from the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research, has aided in improving the quality of conjoint analyses and DCEs in outcomes research. Nevertheless, uncertainty regarding good research practices for the statistical analysis of data from DCEs persists. There are multiple methods for analyzing DCE data. Understanding the characteristics and appropriate use of different analysis methods is critical to conducting a well-designed DCE study. This report will assist researchers in evaluating and selecting among alternative approaches to conducting statistical analysis of DCE data. We first present a simplistic DCE example and a simple method for using the resulting data. We then present a pedagogical example of a DCE and one of the most common approaches to analyzing data from such a question format-conditional logit. We then describe some common alternative methods for analyzing these data and the strengths and weaknesses of each alternative. We present the ESTIMATE checklist, which includes a list of questions to consider when justifying the choice of analysis method, describing the analysis, and interpreting the results. Copyright © 2016 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
When choice matters: task-dependent memory effects in older adulthood.
Depping, Miriam K; Freund, Alexandra M
2013-12-01
As goal orientation shifts across adulthood from a primary orientation toward gains to an increased importance of the prevention of losses, older adults' information processing may be particularly sensitive to potential losses if there is a possibility of avoiding them. In line with these motivational changes, we expected older adults to remember more loss-related information when choosing between 2 options than when not having to make a decision and when compared with younger adults. Using an incidental memory paradigm, we asked younger and older adults to recall as much information as possible of 2 previously presented hypothetical travel packages (Experiment 1) or 2 hospitals (Experiment 2) containing positive (gain-related), negative (loss-related), and neutral information in either a decision or a control condition (evaluating the readability of the texts). Experiment 1 showed that older adults remembered more negative information than younger adults and more negative than positive information in the choice but not in the control condition. Experiment 2 followed the same procedure using a choice between 2 hospitals for minor surgery. This choice was assumed to trigger a stronger orientation toward the prevention of losses than the choice between travel packages. As expected, in this situation, both age groups remembered more negative information relative to neutral and positive information regardless of the condition (choice vs. control). Importantly, older adults remembered more negative information in the choice condition compared with younger adults. Taken together, results suggest that the processing of decision-relevant information promotes a stronger focus on negative information in older adults. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.
The latent effect of inertia in the modal choice
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Cherchi, Elisabetta; Meloni, Italo; Ortúzar, Juan de Dios
2014-01-01
The existence of habit (leading to inertia) in the choice process has been approached in the literature in a number of ways. In transport, inertia has been studied mainly using “long panel” data, or mixed revealed and stated preference data. In these studies inertia links the choice made in two...... approaches. We assume that inertia is revealed by past behaviour and affects also the initial condition, but we recognise that past behaviour is only an indicator of habitual behaviour, the true process behind the formation of habitual behaviour being latent. We estimate a hybrid choice model using a set...... of revealed and stated mode choice preferences collected in Cagliari (Italy). We found a significant latent inertia in the revealed preference data, indicating that inertia affects the initial conditions. The latent inertia is revealed by the frequency of past behaviour but the effect of trip frequency...
Education Savings Accounts: A Promising Way Forward on School Choice. WebMemo. No. 3382
Burke, Lindsey M.
2011-01-01
Across the country, states are enacting and expanding school choice options for families. This year alone, 12 states and the District of Columbia have implemented new school choice options for children or expanded existing options, leading The Wall Street Journal to label 2011 "The Year of School Choice." Among the many school choice…
Mechanisms of impulsive choice: III. The role of reward processes
Marshall, Andrew T.
2015-01-01
Two experiments examined the relationship between reward processing and impulsive choice. In Experiment 1, rats chose between a smaller-sooner (SS) reward (1 pellet, 10 s) and a larger-later (LL) reward (1, 2, and 4 pellets, 30 s). The rats then experienced concurrent variable-interval 30-s schedules with variations in reward magnitude to evaluate reward magnitude discrimination. LL choice behavior positively correlated with reward magnitude discrimination. In Experiment 2, rats chose between an SS reward (1 pellet, 10 s) and an LL reward (2 and 4 pellets, 30 s). The rats then received either a reward intervention which consisted of concurrent fixed-ratio schedules associated with different magnitudes to improve their reward magnitude discrimination, or a control task. All rats then experienced a post-intervention impulsive choice task followed by a reward magnitude discrimination task to assess intervention efficacy. The rats that received the intervention exhibited increases in post-intervention LL choice behavior, and made more responses for larger-reward magnitudes in the reward magnitude discrimination task, suggesting that the intervention heightened sensitivities to reward magnitude. The results suggest that reward magnitude discrimination plays a key role in individual differences in impulsive choice, and could be a potential target for further intervention developments. PMID:26506254
Do framing effects reveal irrational choice?
Mandel, David R
2014-06-01
Framing effects have long been viewed as compelling evidence of irrationality in human decision making, yet that view rests on the questionable assumption that numeric quantifiers used to convey the expected values of choice options are uniformly interpreted as exact values. Two experiments show that when the exactness of such quantifiers is made explicit by the experimenter, framing effects vanish. However, when the same quantifiers are given a lower bound (at least) meaning, the typical framing effect is found. A 3rd experiment confirmed that most people spontaneously interpret the quantifiers in standard framing tests as lower bounded and that their interpretations strongly moderate the framing effect. Notably, in each experiment, a significant majority of participants made rational choices, either choosing the option that maximized expected value (i.e., lives saved) or choosing consistently across frames when the options were of equal expected value. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.
42 CFR 431.51 - Free choice of providers.
2010-10-01
... Requirements § 431.51 Free choice of providers. (a) Statutory basis. This section is based on sections 1902(a... restrictions on freedom of choice. (3) Section 1915(b) of the Act authorizes waiver of the section 1902(a)(23...) Certification requirement—(1) Content of certification. If a State implements a project under one of the...
Nunes, Paulo A L D; Loureiro, Maria L; Piñol, Laia; Sastre, Sergio; Voltaire, Louinord; Canepa, Antonio
2015-01-01
Jellyfish outbreaks and their consequences appear to be on the increase around the world, and are becoming particularly relevant in the Mediterranean. No previous studies have quantified tourism losses caused by jellyfish outbreaks. We used a stated-choice questionnaire and a Random Utility Model to estimate the amount of time respondents would be willing to add to their journey, in terms of reported extra travel time, in order to reduce the risk of encountering jellyfish blooms in the Catalan coast. The estimation results indicated that the respondents were willing to spend on average an additional 23.8% of their travel time to enjoy beach recreation in areas with a lower risk of jellyfish blooms. Using as a reference the opportunity cost of time, we found that the subsample of individuals who made a trade-off between the disutility generated by travelling longer in order to lower the risk of jellyfish blooms, and the utility gained from reducing this risk, are willing to pay on average €3.20 per beach visit. This estimate, combined with the respondents' mean income, yielded annual economic gains associated with reduction of jellyfish blooms on the Catalan coast around €422.57 million, or about 11.95% of the tourism expenditures in 2012. From a policy-making perspective, this study confirms the importance of the economic impacts of jellyfish blooms and the need for mitigation strategies. In particular, providing daily information using social media applications or other technical devices may reduce these social costs. The current lack of knowledge about jellyfish suggests that providing this information to beach recreationists may be a substantially effective policy instrument for minimising the impact of jellyfish blooms.
Can a future choice affect a past measurement’s outcome?
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Aharonov, Yakir [School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 6997801 (Israel); Schmid College of Science, Chapman University, Orange, CA 92866 (United States); Iyar, The Israeli Institute for Advanced Research, Rehovot (Israel); Cohen, Eliahu, E-mail: eliahuco@post.tau.ac.il [School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 6997801 (Israel); Elitzur, Avshalom C. [Iyar, The Israeli Institute for Advanced Research, Rehovot (Israel)
2015-04-15
An EPR experiment is studied where each particle within the entangled pair undergoes a few weak measurements (WMs) along some pre-set spin orientations, with the outcomes individually recorded. Then the particle undergoes one strong measurement along an orientation chosen at the last moment. Bell-inequality violation is expected between the two final measurements within each EPR pair. At the same time, statistical agreement is expected between these strong measurements and the earlier weak ones performed on that pair. A contradiction seemingly ensues: (i) Bell’s theorem forbids spin values to exist prior to the choice of the orientation measured; (ii) A weak measurement is not supposed to determine the outcome of a successive strong one; and indeed (iii) Almost no disentanglement is inflicted by the WMs; and yet (iv) The outcomes of weak measurements statistically agree with those of the strong ones, suggesting the existence of pre-determined values, in contradiction with (i). Although the conflict can be solved by mere mitigation of the above restrictions, the most reasonable resolution seems to be that of the Two-State-Vector Formalism (TSVF), namely, that the choice of the experimenter has been encrypted within the weak measurement’s outcomes, even before the experimenters themselves know what their choice will be.
Search predicts and changes patience in intertemporal choice
Johnson, Eric J.
2017-01-01
Intertemporal choice impacts many important outcomes, such as decisions about health, education, wealth, and the environment. However, the psychological processes underlying decisions involving outcomes at different points in time remain unclear, limiting opportunities to intervene and improve people’s patience. This research examines information-search strategies used during intertemporal choice and their impact on decisions. In experiment 1, we demonstrate that search strategies vary substantially across individuals. We subsequently identify two distinct search strategies across individuals. Comparative searchers, who compare features across options, discount future options less and are more susceptible to acceleration versus delay framing than integrative searchers, who integrate the features of an option. Experiment 2 manipulates search using an unobtrusive method to establish a causal relationship between strategy and choice, randomly assigning participants to conditions promoting either comparative or integrative search. Again, comparative search promotes greater patience than integrative search. Additionally, when participants adopt a comparative search strategy, they also exhibit greater effects of acceleration versus delay framing. Although most participants reported that the manipulation did not change their behavior, promoting comparative search decreased discounting of future rewards substantially and speeded patient choices. These findings highlight the central role that heterogeneity in psychological processes plays in shaping intertemporal choice. Importantly, these results indicate that theories that ignore variability in search strategies may be inadvertently aggregating over different subpopulations that use very different processes. The findings also inform interventions in choice architecture to increase patience and improve consumer welfare. PMID:29078303
Training impulsive choices for healthy and sustainable food.
Veling, Harm; Chen, Zhang; Tombrock, Merel C; Verpaalen, Iris A M; Schmitz, Laura I; Dijksterhuis, Ap; Holland, Rob W
2017-06-01
Many people find it hard to change their dietary choices. Food choice often occurs impulsively, without deliberation, and it has been unclear whether impulsive food choice can be experimentally created. Across 3 exploratory and 2 confirmatory preregistered experiments we examined whether impulsive food choice can be trained. Participants were cued to make motor responses upon the presentation of, among others, healthy and sustainable food items. They subsequently selected these food items more often for actual consumption when they needed to make their choices impulsively as a result of time pressure. This effect disappeared when participants were asked to think about their choices, merely received more time to make their choices, or when choosing required attention to alternatives. Participants preferred high to low valued food items under time pressure and without time pressure, suggesting that the impulsive choices reflect valid preferences. These findings demonstrate that it is possible to train impulsive choices for food items while leaving deliberative choices for these items unaffected, and connect research on attention training to dual-process theories of decision making. The present research suggests that attention training may lead to behavioral change only when people behave impulsively. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).
Evoked emotions predict food choice.
Dalenberg, Jelle R; Gutjar, Swetlana; Ter Horst, Gert J; de Graaf, Kees; Renken, Remco J; Jager, Gerry
2014-01-01
In the current study we show that non-verbal food-evoked emotion scores significantly improve food choice prediction over merely liking scores. Previous research has shown that liking measures correlate with choice. However, liking is no strong predictor for food choice in real life environments. Therefore, the focus within recent studies shifted towards using emotion-profiling methods that successfully can discriminate between products that are equally liked. However, it is unclear how well scores from emotion-profiling methods predict actual food choice and/or consumption. To test this, we proposed to decompose emotion scores into valence and arousal scores using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and apply Multinomial Logit Models (MLM) to estimate food choice using liking, valence, and arousal as possible predictors. For this analysis, we used an existing data set comprised of liking and food-evoked emotions scores from 123 participants, who rated 7 unlabeled breakfast drinks. Liking scores were measured using a 100-mm visual analogue scale, while food-evoked emotions were measured using 2 existing emotion-profiling methods: a verbal and a non-verbal method (EsSense Profile and PrEmo, respectively). After 7 days, participants were asked to choose 1 breakfast drink from the experiment to consume during breakfast in a simulated restaurant environment. Cross validation showed that we were able to correctly predict individualized food choice (1 out of 7 products) for over 50% of the participants. This number increased to nearly 80% when looking at the top 2 candidates. Model comparisons showed that evoked emotions better predict food choice than perceived liking alone. However, the strongest predictive strength was achieved by the combination of evoked emotions and liking. Furthermore we showed that non-verbal food-evoked emotion scores more accurately predict food choice than verbal food-evoked emotions scores.
Hurlburt, Russell T.; Alderson-Day, Ben; Fernyhough, Charles; Kühn, Simone
2015-01-01
The brain’s resting-state has attracted considerable interest in recent years, but currently little is known either about typical experience during the resting-state or about whether there are inter-individual differences in resting-state phenomenology. We used descriptive experience sampling (DES) in an attempt to apprehend high fidelity glimpses of the inner experience of five participants in an extended fMRI study. Results showed that the inner experiences and the neural activation patterns (as quantified by amplitude of low frequency fluctuations analysis) of the five participants were largely consistent across time, suggesting that our extended-duration scanner sessions were broadly similar to typical resting-state sessions. However, there were very large individual differences in inner phenomena, suggesting that the resting-state itself may differ substantially from one participant to the next. We describe these individual differences in experiential characteristics and display some typical moments of resting-state experience. We also show that retrospective characterizations of phenomena can often be very different from moment-by-moment reports. We discuss implications for the assessment of inner experience in neuroimaging studies more generally, concluding that it may be possible to use fMRI to investigate neural correlates of phenomena apprehended in high fidelity. PMID:26500590
Embar, Keren; Mukherjee, Shomen; Kotler, Burt P
2014-02-01
In predator-prey foraging games, predators should respond to variations in prey state. The value of energy for the prey changes depending on season. Prey in a low energetic state and/or in a reproductive state should invest more in foraging and tolerate higher predation risk. This should make the prey more catchable, and thereby, more preferable to predators. We ask, can predators respond to prey state? How does season and state affect the foraging game from the predator's perspective? By letting owls choose between gerbils whose states we experimentally manipulated, we could demonstrate predator sensitivity to prey state and predator selectivity that otherwise may be obscured by the foraging game. During spring, owls invested more time and attacks in the patch with well-fed gerbils. During summer, owls attacked both patches equally, yet allocated more time to the patch with hungry gerbils. Energetic state per se does not seem to be the basis of owl choice. The owls strongly responded to these subtle differences. In summer, gerbils managed their behavior primarily for survival, and the owls equalized capture opportunities by attacking both patches equally.
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Thorhauge, Mikkel; Cherchi, Elisabetta; Rich, Jeppe
2016-01-01
for each of these activities. We then built a stated preference experiment to infer preferences on departure time choice, and estimated a mixed logit model, based on the scheduling model, to account for the effects of daily activity schedules and their constraints. Our results show that measuring......In departure time studies it is crucial to ascertain whether or not individuals are flexible in their choices. Previous studies have found that individuals with flexible work times have a lower value of time for late arrivals. Flexibility is usually measured in terms of flexible work start time...... is not accounted for....
State system experience with safeguarding power reactors
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Roehnsch, W.
1982-01-01
This session describes the development and operation of the State System of Accountancy and Control in the German Democratic Republic, and summarizes operating experience with safeguards at power reactor facilities. Overall organization and responsibilities, containment and surveillance measures, materials accounting, and inspection procedures will be outlined. Cooperation between the IAEA, State system, facility, and supplier authorities will also be addressed
Bottom-up effects on attention capture and choice
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Peschel, Anne; Orquin, Jacob Lund; Mueller Loose, Simone
Attention processes and decision making are accepted to be closely linked together because only information that is attended to can be incorporated in the decision process. Little is known however, to which extent bottom-up processes of attention affect stimulus selection and therefore...... the information available to form a decision. Does changing one visual cue in the stimulus set affect attention towards this cue and what does that mean for the choice outcome? To address this, we conducted a combined eye tracking and choice experiment in a consumer choice setting with visual shelf simulations...... salient. The observed effect on attention also carries over into increased choice likelihood. From these results, we conclude that even small changes in the choice capture attention based on bottom-up processes. Also for eye tracking studies in other domains (e.g. search tasks) this means that stimulus...
77 FR 26827 - Medicaid Program; Community First Choice Option
2012-05-07
... Medicare & Medicaid Services 42 CFR Part 441 Medicaid Program; Community First Choice Option; Final Rule #0... [CMS-2337-F] RIN 0938-AQ35 Medicaid Program; Community First Choice Option AGENCY: Centers for Medicare... Affordable Care Act, which establishes a new State option to provide home and community-based attendant...
Choice Orientations, Discussions, and Prospects.
Raywid, Mary Anne
1992-01-01
Examining the contemporary school choice debate yields arguments that are education, economics, governance, and policy driven. To "break the exclusive franchise," school districts are increasingly sponsoring school operation and education services supplied by multiple sources, and states are discussing sponsorship of schools by entities…
Trait and State Positive Emotional Experience in Schizophrenia: A Meta-Analysis
Yan, Chao; Cao, Yuan; Zhang, Yang; Song, Li-Ling; Cheung, Eric F. C.; Chan, Raymond C. K.
2012-01-01
Background Prior meta-analyses indicated that people with schizophrenia show impairment in trait hedonic capacity but retain their state hedonic experience (valence) in laboratory-based assessments. Little is known about what is the extent of differences for state positive emotional experience (especially arousal) between people with schizophrenia and healthy controls. It is also not clear whether negative symptoms and gender effect contribute to the variance of positive affect. Methods and Findings The current meta-analysis examined 21 studies assessing state arousal experience, 40 studies measuring state valence experience, and 47studies assessing trait hedonic capacity in schizophrenia. Patients with schizophrenia demonstrated significant impairment in trait hedonic capacity (Cohen’s d = 0.81). However, patients and controls did not statistically differ in state hedonic (valence) as well as exciting (arousal) experience to positive stimuli (Cohen’s d = −0.24 to 0.06). They also reported experiencing relatively robust state aversion and calmness to positive stimuli compared with controls (Cohen’s d = 0.75, 0.56, respectively). Negative symptoms and gender contributed to the variance of findings in positive affect, especially trait hedonic capacity in schizophrenia. Conclusions Our findings suggest that schizophrenia patients have no deficit in state positive emotional experience but impairment in “noncurrent” hedonic capacity, which may be mediated by negative symptoms and gender effect. PMID:22815785
Women's choice of childbirth setting.
Mackey, M C
1990-01-01
As part of a larger study on women's views of the childbirth experience, this study was focused on women's choice of childbirth setting. Sixty-one Lamaze-prepared, married multigravidae between the ages of 21 and 37 and experiencing a normal pregnancy were interviewed twice: at 36-38 weeks gestation in their homes and during their postpartum stay in the hospital. Data were collected using (a) two semistructured interview guides consisting of open-ended questions about choosing a caregiver and the place of birth and about describing the actual childbirth experience, (b) a self-administered sociodemographic questionnaire, and (c) an obstetrical and infant data form. The tape-recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim. Qualitative data analysis was focused on reasons for choosing a hospital and a physician, reasons for choosing or not choosing a birthing room, and the outcomes of the decisions. An understanding of women's childbirth needs as reflected in their choices can suggest areas where flexibility might be built into maternity care programs.
Are groups more likely to defer choice than their members?
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Chris M. White
2011-04-01
Full Text Available When faced with a choice, people can normally select no option, i.e., defer choice. Previous research has investigated when and why individuals defer choice, but has almost never looked at these questions when groups of people make choices. Separate reasons predict that groups may be equally likely, more likely, or less likely than individuals to defer choice. We re-analyzed some previously published data and conducted a new experiment to address this question. We found that small groups of people tended to defer choice more often than their members would. Assuming that the groups used a plurality rule but gave additional weight to individual preferences to defer choice allowed the groups' responses to be predicted quite well. We discuss several possible explanations of these findings.
Mate-choice copying, social information processing, and the roles of oxytocin.
Kavaliers, Martin; Matta, Richard; Choleris, Elena
2017-01-01
Social and sexual behaviors, including that of mate choice, are dependent on social information. Mate choice can be modified by prior and ongoing social factors and experience. The mate choice decisions of one individual can be influenced by either the actual or potential mate choice of another female or male. Such non-independent mate choice, where individuals gain social information and socially learn about and recognizes potential mates by observing the choices of another female or male, has been termed "mate-choice copying". Here we first briefly review how, why, and under what circumstances individuals engage in mate-choice copying. Secondly, we review the neurobiological mechanisms underlying mate-choice copying. In particular, we consider the roles of the nonapeptide, oxytocin, in the processing of social information and the expression of mate-choice copying. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Lynn, Fiona A; Crealey, Grainne E; Alderdice, Fiona A; McElnay, James C
2015-10-01
Establish maternal preferences for a third-trimester ultrasound scan in a healthy, low-risk pregnant population. Cross-sectional study incorporating a discrete choice experiment. A large, urban maternity hospital in Northern Ireland. One hundred and forty-six women in their second trimester of pregnancy. A discrete choice experiment was designed to elicit preferences for four attributes of a third-trimester ultrasound scan: health-care professional conducting the scan, detection rate for abnormal foetal growth, provision of non-medical information, cost. Additional data collected included age, marital status, socio-economic status, obstetric history, pregnancy-specific stress levels, perceived health and whether pregnancy was planned. Analysis was undertaken using a mixed logit model with interaction effects. Women's preferences for, and trade-offs between, the attributes of a hypothetical scan and indirect willingness-to-pay estimates. Women had significant positive preference for higher rate of detection, lower cost and provision of non-medical information, with no significant value placed on scan operator. Interaction effects revealed subgroups that valued the scan most: women experiencing their first pregnancy, women reporting higher levels of stress, an adverse obstetric history and older women. Women were able to trade on aspects of care and place relative importance on clinical, non-clinical outcomes and processes of service delivery, thus highlighting the potential of using health utilities in the development of services from a clinical, economic and social perspective. Specifically, maternal preferences exhibited provide valuable information for designing a randomized trial of effectiveness and insight for clinical and policy decision makers to inform woman-centred care. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Emerging markets for imported beef in China: Results from a consumer choice experiment in Beijing.
Ortega, David L; Hong, Soo Jeong; Wang, H Holly; Wu, Laping
2016-11-01
The purpose of this study is to explore emerging markets for imported beef in China by assessing Beijing consumer demand for quality attributes. This study utilizes data from an in-store choice experiment to evaluate consumer willingness-to-pay for select food quality attributes (food safety, animal welfare, Green Food and Organic certification) taking into account country-of-origin information. Our results show that Beijing consumers value food safety information the most, and are willing to pay more for Australian beef products than for US or domestic (Chinese) beef. We explore the various relationships between the quality attributes, find evidence of preference heterogeneity and discuss agribusiness and marketing implications of our findings. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Reed Johnson, F; Lancsar, Emily; Marshall, Deborah; Kilambi, Vikram; Mühlbacher, Axel; Regier, Dean A; Bresnahan, Brian W; Kanninen, Barbara; Bridges, John F P
2013-01-01
Stated-preference methods are a class of evaluation techniques for studying the preferences of patients and other stakeholders. While these methods span a variety of techniques, conjoint-analysis methods-and particularly discrete-choice experiments (DCEs)-have become the most frequently applied approach in health care in recent years. Experimental design is an important stage in the development of such methods, but establishing a consensus on standards is hampered by lack of understanding of available techniques and software. This report builds on the previous ISPOR Conjoint Analysis Task Force Report: Conjoint Analysis Applications in Health-A Checklist: A Report of the ISPOR Good Research Practices for Conjoint Analysis Task Force. This report aims to assist researchers specifically in evaluating alternative approaches to experimental design, a difficult and important element of successful DCEs. While this report does not endorse any specific approach, it does provide a guide for choosing an approach that is appropriate for a particular study. In particular, it provides an overview of the role of experimental designs for the successful implementation of the DCE approach in health care studies, and it provides researchers with an introduction to constructing experimental designs on the basis of study objectives and the statistical model researchers have selected for the study. The report outlines the theoretical requirements for designs that identify choice-model preference parameters and summarizes and compares a number of available approaches for constructing experimental designs. The task-force leadership group met via bimonthly teleconferences and in person at ISPOR meetings in the United States and Europe. An international group of experimental-design experts was consulted during this process to discuss existing approaches for experimental design and to review the task force's draft reports. In addition, ISPOR members contributed to developing a consensus
76 FR 10735 - Medicaid Program; Community First Choice Option
2011-02-25
... for Medicare & Medicaid Services 42 CFR Part 441 Medicaid Program; Community First Choice Option... Part 441 [CMS-2337-P] RIN 0938-AQ35 Medicaid Program; Community First Choice Option AGENCY: Centers for... Section 2401 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) which establishes a new State option to provide home and...
Tervonen, Tommi; Gelhorn, Heather; Sri Bhashyam, Sumitra; Poon, Jiat-Ling; Gries, Katharine S; Rentz, Anne; Marsh, Kevin
2017-12-01
Multiple criteria decision analysis swing weighting (SW) and discrete choice experiments (DCE) are appropriate methods for capturing patient preferences on treatment benefit-risk trade-offs. This paper presents a qualitative comparison of the 2 methods. We review and critically assess similarities and differences of SW and DCE based on 6 aspects: comprehension by study participants, cognitive biases, sample representativeness, ability to capture heterogeneity in preferences, reliability and validity, and robustness of the results. The SW choice task can be more difficult, but the workshop context in which SW is conducted may provide more support to patients who are unfamiliar with the end points being evaluated or who have cognitive impairments. Both methods are similarly prone to a number of biases associated with preference elicitation, and DCE is prone to simplifying heuristics, which limits its application with large number of attributes. The low cost per patient of the DCE means that it can be better at achieving a representative sample, though SW does not require such large sample sizes due to exact nature of the collected preference data. This also means that internal validity is automatically enforced with SW, while the internal validity of DCE results needs to be assessed manually. Choice between the 2 methods depends on characteristics of the benefit-risk assessment, especially on how difficult the trade-offs are for the patients to make and how many patients are available. Although there exist some empirical studies on many of the evaluation aspects, critical evidence gaps remain. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Search predicts and changes patience in intertemporal choice.
Reeck, Crystal; Wall, Daniel; Johnson, Eric J
2017-11-07
Intertemporal choice impacts many important outcomes, such as decisions about health, education, wealth, and the environment. However, the psychological processes underlying decisions involving outcomes at different points in time remain unclear, limiting opportunities to intervene and improve people's patience. This research examines information-search strategies used during intertemporal choice and their impact on decisions. In experiment 1, we demonstrate that search strategies vary substantially across individuals. We subsequently identify two distinct search strategies across individuals. Comparative searchers, who compare features across options, discount future options less and are more susceptible to acceleration versus delay framing than integrative searchers, who integrate the features of an option. Experiment 2 manipulates search using an unobtrusive method to establish a causal relationship between strategy and choice, randomly assigning participants to conditions promoting either comparative or integrative search. Again, comparative search promotes greater patience than integrative search. Additionally, when participants adopt a comparative search strategy, they also exhibit greater effects of acceleration versus delay framing. Although most participants reported that the manipulation did not change their behavior, promoting comparative search decreased discounting of future rewards substantially and speeded patient choices. These findings highlight the central role that heterogeneity in psychological processes plays in shaping intertemporal choice. Importantly, these results indicate that theories that ignore variability in search strategies may be inadvertently aggregating over different subpopulations that use very different processes. The findings also inform interventions in choice architecture to increase patience and improve consumer welfare. Copyright © 2017 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.
Nunes, Paulo A. L. D.; Loureiro, Maria L.; Piñol, Laia; Sastre, Sergio; Voltaire, Louinord; Canepa, Antonio
2015-01-01
Jellyfish outbreaks and their consequences appear to be on the increase around the world, and are becoming particularly relevant in the Mediterranean. No previous studies have quantified tourism losses caused by jellyfish outbreaks. We used a stated-choice questionnaire and a Random Utility Model to estimate the amount of time respondents would be willing to add to their journey, in terms of reported extra travel time, in order to reduce the risk of encountering jellyfish blooms in the Catalan coast. The estimation results indicated that the respondents were willing to spend on average an additional 23.8% of their travel time to enjoy beach recreation in areas with a lower risk of jellyfish blooms. Using as a reference the opportunity cost of time, we found that the subsample of individuals who made a trade-off between the disutility generated by travelling longer in order to lower the risk of jellyfish blooms, and the utility gained from reducing this risk, are willing to pay on average €3.20 per beach visit. This estimate, combined with the respondents’ mean income, yielded annual economic gains associated with reduction of jellyfish blooms on the Catalan coast around €422.57 million, or about 11.95% of the tourism expenditures in 2012. From a policy-making perspective, this study confirms the importance of the economic impacts of jellyfish blooms and the need for mitigation strategies. In particular, providing daily information using social media applications or other technical devices may reduce these social costs. The current lack of knowledge about jellyfish suggests that providing this information to beach recreationists may be a substantially effective policy instrument for minimising the impact of jellyfish blooms. PMID:26053674
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Paulo A L D Nunes
Full Text Available Jellyfish outbreaks and their consequences appear to be on the increase around the world, and are becoming particularly relevant in the Mediterranean. No previous studies have quantified tourism losses caused by jellyfish outbreaks. We used a stated-choice questionnaire and a Random Utility Model to estimate the amount of time respondents would be willing to add to their journey, in terms of reported extra travel time, in order to reduce the risk of encountering jellyfish blooms in the Catalan coast. The estimation results indicated that the respondents were willing to spend on average an additional 23.8% of their travel time to enjoy beach recreation in areas with a lower risk of jellyfish blooms. Using as a reference the opportunity cost of time, we found that the subsample of individuals who made a trade-off between the disutility generated by travelling longer in order to lower the risk of jellyfish blooms, and the utility gained from reducing this risk, are willing to pay on average €3.20 per beach visit. This estimate, combined with the respondents' mean income, yielded annual economic gains associated with reduction of jellyfish blooms on the Catalan coast around €422.57 million, or about 11.95% of the tourism expenditures in 2012. From a policy-making perspective, this study confirms the importance of the economic impacts of jellyfish blooms and the need for mitigation strategies. In particular, providing daily information using social media applications or other technical devices may reduce these social costs. The current lack of knowledge about jellyfish suggests that providing this information to beach recreationists may be a substantially effective policy instrument for minimising the impact of jellyfish blooms.
Transitivity of an entangled choice
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Makowski, Marcin; Piotrowski, Edward W
2011-01-01
We describe a quantum model of a simple choice game (constructed upon the entangled state of two qubits), which involves the fundamental problem of transitive-intransitive preferences. We compare attainability of optimal intransitive strategies in both classical and quantum models with the use of geometrical interpretation.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Rouven Doran
2017-01-01
Full Text Available Two online experiments explored the effects of social comparison feedback on indicators of eco-friendly travel choices. It was tested whether the chosen indicators are sensitive to the information conveyed, and if this varies as a function of in-group identification. Study 1 (N = 134 focused on unfavourable feedback (i.e., being told that one has a larger ecological footprint than the average member of a reference group. People who received unfavourable feedback reported stronger intentions to choose eco-friendly travel options than those who received nondiscrepant feedback, when in-group identification was high (not moderate or low. Perceived self- and collective efficacy were not associated with the feedback. Study 2 (N = 323 extended the focus on favourable feedback (i.e., being told that one has a smaller ecological footprint than the average member of a reference group. Neither unfavourable nor favourable feedback was associated with behavioural intentions, self- or collective efficacy. This means that Study 2 failed to replicate the finding of Study 1 that behavioural intentions were associated with unfavourable feedback, given that in-group identification is high. The findings are discussed in light of the existing literature. Suggestions are made for future studies investigating social comparison feedback as a means to motivate people to make eco-friendly travel choices.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Laba Tracey-Lea
2012-06-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background In spite of the potential impact upon population health and expenditure, interventions promoting medication adherence have been found to be of moderate effectiveness and cost effectiveness. Understanding the relative influence of factors affecting patient medication adherence decisions and the characteristics of individuals associated with variation in adherence will lead to a better understanding of how future interventions should be designed and targeted. This study aims to explore medication-taking decisions that may underpin intentional medication non-adherence behaviour amongst a community sample and the relative importance of medication specific factors and patient background characteristics contributing to those decisions. Methods A discrete choice experiment conducted through a web-enabled online survey was used to estimate the relative importance of eight medication factors (immediate and long-term medication harms and benefits, cost, regimen, symptom severity, alcohol restrictions on the preference to continue taking a medication. To reflect more closely what usually occurs in practice, non-disease specific medication and health terms were used to mimic decisions across multiple medications and conditions.161 general community participants, matching the national Australian census data (age, gender were recruited through an online panel provider (participation rate: 10% in 2010. Results Six of the eight factors (i.e. immediate and long-term medication harms and benefits, cost, and regimen had a significant influence on medication choice. Patient background characteristics did not improve the model. Respondents with private health insurance appeared less sensitive to cost then those without private health insurance. In general, health outcomes, framed as a side-effect, were found to have a greater influence over adherence than outcomes framed as therapeutic benefits. Conclusions Medication-taking decisions are the
Laba, Tracey-Lea; Brien, Jo-Anne; Jan, Stephen
2012-06-20
In spite of the potential impact upon population health and expenditure, interventions promoting medication adherence have been found to be of moderate effectiveness and cost effectiveness. Understanding the relative influence of factors affecting patient medication adherence decisions and the characteristics of individuals associated with variation in adherence will lead to a better understanding of how future interventions should be designed and targeted. This study aims to explore medication-taking decisions that may underpin intentional medication non-adherence behaviour amongst a community sample and the relative importance of medication specific factors and patient background characteristics contributing to those decisions. A discrete choice experiment conducted through a web-enabled online survey was used to estimate the relative importance of eight medication factors (immediate and long-term medication harms and benefits, cost, regimen, symptom severity, alcohol restrictions) on the preference to continue taking a medication. To reflect more closely what usually occurs in practice, non-disease specific medication and health terms were used to mimic decisions across multiple medications and conditions.161 general community participants, matching the national Australian census data (age, gender) were recruited through an online panel provider (participation rate: 10%) in 2010. Six of the eight factors (i.e. immediate and long-term medication harms and benefits, cost, and regimen) had a significant influence on medication choice. Patient background characteristics did not improve the model. Respondents with private health insurance appeared less sensitive to cost then those without private health insurance. In general, health outcomes, framed as a side-effect, were found to have a greater influence over adherence than outcomes framed as therapeutic benefits. Medication-taking decisions are the subject of rational choices, influenced by the attributes of
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Defendini, A.; Jones, R.; Matheys, J.P.; Vyvre, P.V.; Vascotto, A.
1992-01-01
The State Manager system (SM) is a set of tools, developed at CERN, for the control of large data-acquisition systems. A dedicated object-based language is used to describe the various components of the data-acquisition system. Each component is declared in terms of finite state machines and sequences of parametrized actions to be performed for operations such as the start and end of a run. The description, written by the user, is translated into Ada to produce a run-control program capable of controlling processes in a distributed environment. A Motif-based graphical interface to the control program displays the current state of all the components and can be used to control the overall data-acquisition system. The SM has been used by several experiments both at CERN and other organizations. We present here the architecture of the SM, some design choices, and the experience acquired from its use. (author)
Wackermann, Jiri; Pütz, Peter; Büchi, Simone; Strauch, Inge; Lehmann, Dietrich
2002-11-01
Manifestations of experimentally induced altered states of consciousness in the brain's electrical activity as well as in subjective experience were explored via the hypnagogic state at sleep onset, and the state induced by exposure to an unstructured perceptual field (ganzfeld). Twelve female paid volunteers participated in sessions involving sleep onset, ganzfeld, and eyes-closed relaxed waking, and were repeatedly prompted for recall of their momentary mentation, according to a predefined schedule. Nineteen channel EEG, two channels EOG and EMG were recorded simultaneously. The mentation reports were followed by the subjects' ratings of their experience on a number of ordinal scales. Two-hundred and forty-one mentation reports were collected. EEG epochs immediately preceding the mentation reports were FFT-analysed and the spectra compared between states. The ganzfeld EEG spectrum, showing no signs of decreased vigilance, was very similar to the EEG spectrum of waking states, even showed a minor acceleration of alpha activity. The subjective experience data were reduced to four principal components: Factor I represented the subjective vigilance dimension, as confirmed by correlations with EEG spectral indices. Only Factor IV, the 'absorption' dimension, differentiated between the ganzfeld state (more absorption) and other states. In waking states and in ganzfeld, the subjects estimated elapsed time periods significantly shorter than in states at sleep onset. The results did not support the assumption of a hypnagogic nature of the ganzfeld imagery. Dream-like imagery can occur in various global functional states of the brain; hypnagogic and ganzfeld-induced states should be conceived as special cases of a broader class of 'hypnagoid' phenomena.
Hifinger, M; Hiligsmann, M; Ramiro, S; Watson, V; Severens, J L; Fautrel, B; Uhlig, T; van Vollenhoven, R; Jacques, P; Detert, J; Canas da Silva, J; Scirè, C A; Berghea, F; Carmona, L; Péntek, M; Keat, A; Boonen, A
2017-01-01
To compare the value that rheumatologists across Europe attach to patients' preferences and economic aspects when choosing treatments for patients with rheumatoid arthritis. In a discrete choice experiment, European rheumatologists chose between two hypothetical drug treatments for a patient with moderate disease activity. Treatments differed in five attributes: efficacy (improvement and achieved state on disease activity), safety (probability of serious adverse events), patient's preference (level of agreement), medication costs and cost-effectiveness (incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER)). A Bayesian efficient design defined 14 choice sets, and a random parameter logit model was used to estimate relative preferences for rheumatologists across countries. Cluster analyses and latent class models were applied to understand preference patterns across countries and among individual rheumatologists. Responses of 559 rheumatologists from 12 European countries were included in the analysis (49% females, mean age 48 years). In all countries, efficacy dominated treatment decisions followed by economic considerations and patients' preferences. Across countries, rheumatologists avoided selecting a treatment that patients disliked. Latent class models revealed four respondent profiles: one traded off all attributes except safety, and the remaining three classes disregarded ICER. Among individual rheumatologists, 57% disregarded ICER and these were more likely from Italy, Romania, Portugal or France, whereas 43% disregarded uncommon/rare side effects and were more likely from Belgium, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden or UK. Overall, European rheumatologists are willing to trade between treatment efficacy, patients' treatment preferences and economic considerations. However, the degree of trade-off differs between countries and among individuals. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted
Attitudes towards honey among Italian consumers: A choice experiment approach.
Cosmina, Marta; Gallenti, Gianluigi; Marangon, Francesco; Troiano, Stefania
2016-04-01
Honey is becoming increasingly popular with consumers for its nutritional benefits as well as many other functions. The objective of this article is to determine which factors influence consumers' purchase intentions and to assess the importance of certain honey characteristics to enable identification of the constituents of an ideal honey profile. This information will lead to satisfaction of consumers' preferences and formulation of marketing strategies that support honey makers. We applied a choice experiment to the Italian honey market to define the preferences and the willingness to pay for key characteristics of the product. A face-to-face questionnaire survey was conducted in 2014 (January-July) among Italian consumers; it was completed by 427 respondents. A latent class model was estimated and four classes were identified, with different preferences, illustrating that respondents seem to be heterogeneous honey consumers. Results suggest the "organic" attribute was more important than others factors, such as the place where the honey was produced (landscape), but less important than the country of origin; local Italian honey was preferred to foreign honey. Respondents showed a higher willingness to pay (WTP) for honey from their country of origin versus the production method used. Our results suggest that while organic beekeeping might be an important strategy for diversification, if suitable communication is not taken into consideration, the added value of the production method might not be perceived by consumers. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Engjell Skreli
2017-12-01
Full Text Available Albania has potential for developing the organic agriculture sector; however, it is a new industry and constraints abound including lack of consumer preferences information for organic food. Knowledge on consumer preferences and behaviour toward organic (bio products is crucial for market development benefiting potential entrepreneurs and government policies. They need to know the preference for preferred product attributes and willingness to pay. Tomato, which is the most important vegetable in terms of consumption and production in Albania, is the subject of this study. A conjoint choice experiment with the most important product attributes: production type (bio vs. conventional, production system (open field vs. greenhouse, origin and price were used to design the choice surveys. Four distinct classes have been identified as significant using latent class analysis. The classes are summarized as: bio-ready consumers, price sensitive consumers, variety seeking consumers and quality seeking consumers. Origin played a small influence on preference. Education and income did show some influence on preference for organic tomatoes. Although the organic food market in Albania is in its infancy stage, organic tomatoes are clearly preferred and many consumers are willing to pay a premium price.
Veldwijk, Jorien; Essers, Brigitte A B; Lambooij, Mattijs S; Dirksen, Carmen D; Smit, Henriette A; de Wit, G Ardine
2016-01-01
To test how attribute framing in a discrete choice experiment (DCE) affects respondents' decision-making behavior and their preferences. Two versions of a DCE questionnaire containing nine choice tasks were distributed among a representative sample of the Dutch population aged 55 to 65 years. The DCE consisted of four attributes related to the decision regarding participation in genetic screening for colorectal cancer (CRC). The risk attribute included was framed positively as the probability of surviving CRC and negatively as the probability of dying from CRC. Panel mixed-logit models were used to estimate the relative importance of the attributes. The data of the positively and negatively framed DCE were compared on the basis of direct attribute ranking, dominant decision-making behavior, preferences, and importance scores. The majority (56%) of the respondents ranked survival as the most important attribute in the positively framed DCE, whereas only a minority (8%) of the respondents ranked mortality as the most important attribute in the negatively framed DCE. Respondents made dominant choices based on survival significantly more often than based on mortality. The framing of the risk attribute significantly influenced all attribute-level estimates and resulted in different preference structures among respondents in the positively and negatively framed data set. Risk framing affects how respondents value the presented risk. Positive risk framing led to increased dominant decision-making behavior, whereas negative risk framing led to risk-seeking behavior. Attribute framing should have a prominent part in the expert and focus group interviews, and different types of framing should be used in the pilot version of DCEs as well as in actual DCEs to estimate the magnitude of the effect of choosing different types of framing. Copyright © 2016 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Sicsic, Jonathan; Pelletier-Fleury, Nathalie; Moumjid, Nora
2018-01-01
Over the past decade, the benefits and harms balance of breast cancer (BC) screening has been widely debated. To elicit women's trade-offs between the benefits and harms of BC screening and to analyze the main determinants of these trade-offs. A discrete-choice experiment with seven attributes depicting BC screening programs including varying levels of BC mortality, overdiagnosis, and false-positive result was used. Eight hundred twelve women aged 40 to 74 years with no personal history of BC recruited by a survey institute and representative of the French general population (age, socioeconomic level, and geographical location) completed the discrete-choice experiment. Preference heterogeneity was investigated using generalized multinomial logit models from which individual trade-offs were derived, and their main determinants were assessed using generalized linear models. Screening acceptance rates under various benefits and harms ratios were simulated on the basis of the distribution of individual preferences. The women would be willing to accept on average 14.1 overdiagnosis cases (median = 9.6) and 47.8 false-positive results (median = 27.2) to avoid one BC-related death. After accounting for preference heterogeneity, less than 50% of women would be willing to accept 10 overdiagnosis cases for one BC-related death avoided. Screening acceptance rates were higher among women with higher socioeconomic level and lower among women with poor health. Women are sensitive to both the benefits and the harms of BC screening and their preferences are highly heterogeneous. Our study provides useful results for public health authorities and clinicians willing to improve their recommendations of BC screening on the basis of women's preferences. Copyright © 2018 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Hartmann, Monika; Cash, Sean B; Yeh, Ching-Hua; Landwehr, Stefanie C; McAlister, Anna R
2017-10-01
Children's dietary-related diseases and their associated costs have expanded dramatically in many countries, making children's food choice a policy issue of increasing relevance. As children spend a considerable amount of money on energy-dense, nutrient-poor (EDNP) products, a better understanding of the main drivers of children's independent food purchase decisions is crucial to move this behavior toward healthier options. The objective of the study is to investigate the role of branding and price in motivating children to choose healthier snack options. The study investigates snack choices of children ages 8 to 11, using a survey and a purchase experiment. The research took place in after-school programs of selected schools in the Boston area. Participants included 116 children. Products in the choice experiment differed on three factors: product type, brand, and price. Data were analyzed using aggregated and mixed logit models. Children's purchase decisions are primarily determined by product type (Importance Value (IV) 56.6%), while brand (IV 22.8%) and price (IV 20.6%) prove to be of less relevance. Only those children who state that they like the familiar brand reveal a preference for the branded product in their purchase decision. Price is a significant predictor of choice when controlling for whether or not children obtain an allowance. It is not simple brand awareness but a child's liking of the brand that determines whether a brand is successful in motivating a child to choose a product. The extent of children's experience with money influences their price responsiveness. To the extent that children who receive an allowance are primarily the ones buying food snacks, higher prices for EDNP snacks could be successful in motivating children to choose a healthier option. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ng-Mak D
2017-12-01
Full Text Available Daisy Ng-Mak,1 Jiat-Ling Poon,2 Laurie Roberts,2 Leah Kleinman,2 Dennis A Revicki,2 Krithika Rajagopalan1 1Global Health Economics and Outcomes Research, Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc., Marlborough, MA, 2Patient-Centered Research, Evidera, Bethesda, MD, USA Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess patient preferences regarding pharmacological treatment attributes for bipolar depression using a discrete choice experiment (DCE.Methods: Adult members of an Internet survey panel with a self-reported diagnosis of bipolar depression were invited via e-mail to participate in a web-based DCE survey. Participants were asked to choose between hypothetical medication alternatives defined by attributes and levels that were varied systematically. The six treatment attributes included in the DCE were time to improvement, risk of becoming manic, weight gain, risk of sedation, increased blood sugar, and increased cholesterol. Attributes were supported by literature review, expert input, and results of focus groups with patients. Sawtooth CBC System for Choice-Based Conjoint Analysis was used to estimate the part-worth utilities for the DCE analyses.Results: The analytical sample included 185 participants (50.8% females from a total of 200 participants. The DCE analyses found weight gain to be the most important treatment attribute (relative importance =49.6%, followed by risk of sedation (20.2%, risk of mania (13.0%, increased blood sugar (8.3%, increased cholesterol (5.2%, and time to improvement (3.7%.Conclusion: Results from this DCE suggest that adults with bipolar depression considered risks of weight gain and sedation associated with pharmacotherapy as the most important attributes for the treatment of bipolar depression. Incorporating patient preferences in the treatment decision-making process may potentially have an impact on treatment adherence and satisfaction and, ultimately, patient outcomes. Keywords: bipolar depression, treatment
Can a Repeated Opt-Out Reminder remove hypothetical bias in discrete choice experiments?
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Alemu, Mohammed Hussen; Olsen, Søren Bøye
hypothetical bias in stated DCE. The data originates from a field experiment concerning consumer preferences for a novel food product made from cricket flour. Utilizing a between-subject design with three treatments, we find significantly higher marginal willingness to pay values in hypothetical than...
Diwan, Faizan; Makana, Grace; McKenzie, David; Paruzzolo, Silvia
2014-01-01
Business training programs are a common form of support to small businesses, but organizations providing this training often struggle to get business owners to attend. We evaluate the role of invitation choice structure in determining agreement to participate and actual attendance. A field experiment randomly assigned female small business owners in Kenya (N = 1172) to one of three invitation types: a standard opt-in invitation; an active choice invitation where business owners had to explicitly say yes or no to the invitation; and an enhanced active choice invitation which highlighted the costs of saying no. We find no statistically significant effect of these alternative choice structures on willingness to participate in training, attending at least one day, and completing the course. The 95 percent confidence interval for the active treatment effect on attendance is [−1.9%, +9.5%], while for the enhanced active choice treatment it is [−4.1%, +7.7%]. The effect sizes consistent with our data are smaller than impacts measured in health and retirement savings studies in the United States. We examine several potential explanations for the lack of effect in a developing country setting. We find evidence consistent with two potential reasons being limited decision-making power amongst some women, and lower levels of cognition making the enhanced active choice wording less effective. PMID:25299647
Diwan, Faizan; Makana, Grace; McKenzie, David; Paruzzolo, Silvia
2014-01-01
Business training programs are a common form of support to small businesses, but organizations providing this training often struggle to get business owners to attend. We evaluate the role of invitation choice structure in determining agreement to participate and actual attendance. A field experiment randomly assigned female small business owners in Kenya (N = 1172) to one of three invitation types: a standard opt-in invitation; an active choice invitation where business owners had to explicitly say yes or no to the invitation; and an enhanced active choice invitation which highlighted the costs of saying no. We find no statistically significant effect of these alternative choice structures on willingness to participate in training, attending at least one day, and completing the course. The 95 percent confidence interval for the active treatment effect on attendance is [-1.9%, +9.5%], while for the enhanced active choice treatment it is [-4.1%, +7.7%]. The effect sizes consistent with our data are smaller than impacts measured in health and retirement savings studies in the United States. We examine several potential explanations for the lack of effect in a developing country setting. We find evidence consistent with two potential reasons being limited decision-making power amongst some women, and lower levels of cognition making the enhanced active choice wording less effective.
Are personal values related to sustainable attribute choice
Mueller, Simone; Sirieix, Lucie; Remaud, Hervé
2011-01-01
Purpose: A cross-cultural study with large representative samples analyses to what degree Schwartz’s personal values and environmental concerns are related to consumers’ choices of wine with sustainable characteristics. Methodology: Across seven countries, the attribute importance and willingness to pay of consumer segments resulting from choice experiments are related to Schwartz’s personal value dimensions and environmental attitudes. Findings: Personal values were only weakly related to re...
Resolving the paradox of suboptimal choice.
Zentall, Thomas R
2016-01-01
When humans engage in commercial (totally probabilistic) gambling they are making suboptimal choices because the return is generally less than the investment. This review (a) examines the literature on pigeon suboptimal choice, (b) describes the conditions under which it occurs, (c) identifies the mechanisms that appear to be responsible for the effect, and (d) suggests that similar processes may be able to account for analogous suboptimal choice when humans engage in commercial gambling. Pigeons show suboptimal choice when they choose between 1 alternative that 20% of the time provides them with a signal that they will always get fed or 80% of the time with a signal that they will not get fed (overall 20% reinforcement) and a second alternative that 100% of the time provides them with a signal that they will get fed 50% of the time (overall 50% reinforcement). The pigeons' strong preference for the suboptimal choice was investigated in a series of experiments that found the preference for the suboptimal alternative was determined by the value of the signal that predicted reinforcement, rather its frequency and that the frequency of the signal that predicted nonreinforcement had little effect on the suboptimal choice. Paradoxically, this account makes the prediction that pigeons will be indifferent between an alternative that 50% of the time provides a fully predictive stimulus for reinforcement and an alternative that 100% of the time provides a fully predictive stimulus for reinforcement. The similarities and differences of this suboptimal choice task to human gambling are discussed. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).
Melioration as rational choice: sequential decision making in uncertain environments.
Sims, Chris R; Neth, Hansjörg; Jacobs, Robert A; Gray, Wayne D
2013-01-01
Melioration-defined as choosing a lesser, local gain over a greater longer term gain-is a behavioral tendency that people and pigeons share. As such, the empirical occurrence of meliorating behavior has frequently been interpreted as evidence that the mechanisms of human choice violate the norms of economic rationality. In some environments, the relationship between actions and outcomes is known. In this case, the rationality of choice behavior can be evaluated in terms of how successfully it maximizes utility given knowledge of the environmental contingencies. In most complex environments, however, the relationship between actions and future outcomes is uncertain and must be learned from experience. When the difficulty of this learning challenge is taken into account, it is not evident that melioration represents suboptimal choice behavior. In the present article, we examine human performance in a sequential decision-making experiment that is known to induce meliorating behavior. In keeping with previous results using this paradigm, we find that the majority of participants in the experiment fail to adopt the optimal decision strategy and instead demonstrate a significant bias toward melioration. To explore the origins of this behavior, we develop a rational analysis (Anderson, 1990) of the learning problem facing individuals in uncertain decision environments. Our analysis demonstrates that an unbiased learner would adopt melioration as the optimal response strategy for maximizing long-term gain. We suggest that many documented cases of melioration can be reinterpreted not as irrational choice but rather as globally optimal choice under uncertainty.
The impact of the household decision environment on fuel choice behavior
van der Kroon, B.; Brouwer, R.; van Beukering, P.J.H.
2014-01-01
Consumer preferences for fuels and alternative cookstove technologies in Kenya are examined, focusing on household internal and external determinants driving choice behavior in a choice experiment. The potential for a transition towards cleaner and more efficient fuels and technologies is assessed
Anxiety and Search during Food Choice
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Hansen, Torben; Uth Thomsen, Thyra; Mukherjee, Ashkesh
2011-01-01
this type of condensed information will in fact motivate extended information search. Originality/value – This paper contributes to research in marketing on food choice and consumption: a consumption area that is important but difficult to navigate due to an increasing complexity of nutritional information......Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the effect of anxiety on information search during food choice and to test a key moderator of the effect of anxiety on search, namely attitude towards nutritional claims. Design/methodology/approach – By means of qualitative study the paper investigates...... the notion that consumers experience anxiety about health outcomes during food choice. Further, by means of structural equation modelling based on two studies with representative samples of Danish consumers, the paper investigates the effects outlined above. Findings – The authors show that anxiety during...
Pregnant women's choice of birthing hospital
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Tayyari Dehbarez, Nasrin; Lou, Stina; Uldbjerg, Niels
2017-01-01
design was used and women were recruited during their first pregnancy-related visit to a general practitioner. The interviews were conducted using a semi-structured interview guide, and a thematic analysis of the data was carried out. RESULTS: Women made their hospital choice decision independently......OBJECTIVE: To investigate pregnant women's decision making in relation to their choice of birthing hospital and, in particular, their priorities regarding hospital characteristics. METHODS: The focus of this study was the choice of birthing hospital among pregnant women. A qualitative interview...... and they relied extensively on their own or peers' experiences. Travel distance played a role, but some women were willing to incur longer travel times to give birth at a specialized hospital in order to try to reduce the risks (in case of unexpected events). The women associated the presence of specialized...
The impact of choice context on consumers' choice heuristics
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Mueller Loose, Simone; Scholderer, Joachim; Corsi, Armando M.
2012-01-01
Context effects in choice settings have received recent attention but little is known about the impact of context on choice consistency and the extent to which consumers apply choice heuristics. The sequence of alternatives in a choice set is examined here as one specific context effect. We compare...... how a change from a typical price order to a sensory order in wine menus affects consumer choice. We use pre-specified latent heuristic classes to analyse the existence of different choice processes, which begins to untangle the ‘black box’ of how consumers choose. Our findings indicate...... that in the absence of price order, consumers are less price-sensitive, pay more attention to visually salient cues, are less consistent in their choices and employ other simple choice heuristics more frequently than price. Implications for consumer research, marketing and consumer policy are discussed....
Breaking Down Blaine Amendments' Indefensible Barrier to Education Choice
Burke, Lindsey M.; Stepman, Jarrett
2014-01-01
Though school choice has proven to be popular, barriers remain in some states as a result of so-called Blaine Amendments and similar policies to prevent education funding from following students to religious schools as a part of school choice options. If left to stand, these ignoble 19th century amendments will remain major impediments to the…
Harvest choice and timber supply models for forest forecasting
Maksym Polyakov; David N Wear
2010-01-01
Timber supply has traditionally been modeled using aggregate data, whereas individual harvest choices have been shown to be sensitive to the vintage and condition of forest capital stocks. In this article, we build aggregate supply models for four roundwood products in a seven-state region of the US South directly from stand-level harvest choice models applied to...
How choices in exchange design for states could affect insurance premiums and levels of coverage.
Blavin, Fredric; Blumberg, Linda J; Buettgens, Matthew; Holahan, John; McMorrow, Stacey
2012-02-01
The Affordable Care Act gives states the option to create health insurance exchanges from which individuals and small employers can purchase health insurance. States have considerable flexibility in how they design and implement these exchanges. We analyze several key design options being considered, using the Urban Institute's Health Insurance Policy Simulation Model: creating separate versus merged small-group and nongroup markets, eliminating age rating in these markets, removing the small-employer credit, and setting the maximum number of employees for firms in the small-group market at 50 versus 100 workers. Among our findings are that merging the small-group and nongroup markets would result in 1.7 million more people nationwide participating in the exchanges and, because of greater affordability of nongroup coverage, approximately 1.0 million more people being insured than if the risk pools were not merged. The various options generate relatively small differences in overall coverage and cost, although some, such as reducing age rating bands, would result in higher costs for some people while lowering costs for others. These cost effects would be most apparent among people who purchase coverage without federal subsidies. On the whole, we conclude that states can make these design choices based on local support and preferences without dramatic repercussions for overall coverage and cost outcomes.
The influence of media characters on children's food choices.
Kotler, Jennifer A; Schiffman, Jennifer M; Hanson, Katherine G
2012-01-01
Two experiments were conducted to assess the role of media characters in influencing children's food choices; the first focused on children's self-reported preference, whereas the second focused on actual choice. The results of the experiments suggest that popular characters can make a difference in encouraging children to select one food over another. In the first experiment, children were more likely to indicate a preference for one food over another when one was associated with characters that they liked and with whom they were familiar. This effect was particularly strong when a sugary or salty snack branded by a favored character was competing with a healthier option branded by an unknown character or no character. Alternatively, when children were asked to choose between a healthy food and a sugary or salty snack, branding of the healthy food with a favored character did not significantly change appeal of that healthy snack. However, when foods within the same category (i.e., 2 vegetables, 2 fruits, or 2 grains) were asked to compete against each other, character branding strongly influenced children's food choice. Findings from the second experiment suggest that children are more willing to try more pieces of a healthy food if a favored character, in comparison with an unknown character, is promoting that food.
Retrieval practice with short-answer, multiple-choice, and hybrid tests.
Smith, Megan A; Karpicke, Jeffrey D
2014-01-01
Retrieval practice improves meaningful learning, and the most frequent way of implementing retrieval practice in classrooms is to have students answer questions. In four experiments (N=372) we investigated the effects of different question formats on learning. Students read educational texts and practised retrieval by answering short-answer, multiple-choice, or hybrid questions. In hybrid conditions students first attempted to recall answers in short-answer format, then identified answers in multiple-choice format. We measured learning 1 week later using a final assessment with two types of questions: those that could be answered by recalling information verbatim from the texts and those that required inferences. Practising retrieval in all format conditions enhanced retention, relative to a study-only control condition, on both verbatim and inference questions. However, there were little or no advantages of answering short-answer or hybrid format questions over multiple-choice questions in three experiments. In Experiment 4, when retrieval success was improved under initial short-answer conditions, there was an advantage of answering short-answer or hybrid questions over multiple-choice questions. The results challenge the simple conclusion that short-answer questions always produce the best learning, due to increased retrieval effort or difficulty, and demonstrate the importance of retrieval success for retrieval-based learning activities.
Enwereji, Ezinne E; Enwereji, Kelechi O
2010-04-01
Poor interpersonal relationships with women especially those living positively with HIV/AIDS can make them take risks that would expose their new born and others to infection during childbirth. The factors that influence childbirth choices of people living positively with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) deserve attention. Sometimes, women, especially PLWHA, for several reasons, resort to the use of other health care services instead of the general hospitals equipped for ante-natal care (ANC). This study aims to identify factors and conditions that determine childbirth choices of PLWHA in the Abia State of Nigeria. A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out using a total sample of 96 PLWHA who attend meetings with the network of PLWHA and also a purposive convenience sample of 45 health workers. Data collection instruments were questionnaire, focus group discussions and interview guides. Data was analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively using simple percentages. There was a low patronage for hospital services. A total of 79 (82%) PLWHA did not use hospital services due to the lack of confidentiality. In total, 61 (64%) PLWHA had their childbirth with Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) at home. Embarrassment, rejection, interpersonal conflicts with health workers, non-confidentiality, cultural stigma and stigmatization were among the factors that encouraged childbirth choices. On the whole, 82 (85%) of the PLWHA discontinued ANC services because of stigmatization. Poor interpersonal relationships between health workers and PLWHA facilitated PLWHA childbirth choices more than other factors. PLWHA and health workers termed management of belligerent tendencies against each other as their greatest concern. Therefore, concerted effort is needed to improve health workers/PLWHA relationship in hospitals. This would minimize factors and/or conditions that encourage HIV infection. Exposing PLWHA to factors that influence childbirth at home demonstrates high risks of mother
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ezinne E. Enwereji
2010-04-01
Full Text Available Objectives: Poor interpersonal relationships with women especially those living positively with HIV/AIDS can make them take risks that would expose their new born and others to infection during childbirth. The factors that influence childbirth choices of people living positively with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA deserve attention. Sometimes, women, especially PLWHA, for several reasons, resort to the use of other health care services instead of the general hospitals equipped for ante-natal care (ANC. This study aims to identify factors and conditions that determine childbirth choices of PLWHA in the Abia State of Nigeria.Methods:A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out using a total sample of 96 PLWHA who attend meetings with the network of PLWHA and also a purposive convenience sample of 45 health workers. Data collection instruments were questionnaire, focus group discussions and interview guides. Data was analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively using simple percentages.Results: There was a low patronage for hospital services. A total of 79 (82% PLWHA did not use hospital services due to the lack of confidentiality. In total, 61 (64% PLWHA had their childbirth with Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs at home. Embarrassment, rejection, interpersonal conflicts with health workers, non-confidentiality, cultural stigma and stigmatization were among the factors that encouraged childbirth choices. On the whole, 82 (85% of the PLWHA discontinued ANC services because of stigmatization.Conclusion: Poor interpersonal relationships between health workers and PLWHA facilitated PLWHA childbirth choices more than other factors. PLWHA and health workers termed management of belligerent tendencies against each other as their greatest concern. Therefore, concerted effort is needed to improve health workers/PLWHA relationship in hospitals. This would minimize factors and/or conditions that encourage HIV infection. Exposing PLWHA to factors that influence
Key policy choices in groundwater quality management
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Batie, S.S.; Diebel, P.L.
1990-01-01
The fundamental policy choice of who has the right to do what to whom is a pivotal issue of governance. Over the last few decades, the answer to that question has become more restrictive to those who own and use natural resources as inputs into production processes. Increasingly, the beneficiaries of new policy initiatives are those who desire higher protection of groundwater quality. With respect to groundwater management, policy design increasingly reflects such diverse interests as agriculturists, industrialists, homeowners, local government officials and state officials. Policy design is becoming complex, in part because of this diversity and in part because scientific uncertainty hampers informed policy design. No umbrella federal legislation exists for managing groundwater resources. EPA's role has been mainly an advisory one on groundwater issues. The difficulties and responsibilities of protecting groundwater thus remain with the states. For the near future, it is the states that will address key policy choices with respect to groundwater quality management issues
Pramipexole-induced disruption of behavioral processes fundamental to intertemporal choice.
Johnson, Patrick S; Stein, Jeffrey S; Smits, Rochelle R; Madden, Gregory J
2013-05-01
Evaluating the effects of presession drug administration on intertemporal choice in nonhumans is a useful approach for identifying compounds that promote impulsive behavior in clinical populations, such as those prescribed the dopamine agonist pramipexole (PPX). Based on the results of previous studies, it is unclear whether PPX increases rats' impulsive choice or attenuates aspects of stimulus control. The present study was designed to experimentally isolate behavioral processes fundamental to intertemporal choice and challenge them pharmacologically with PPX administration. In Experiment 1, the hypothesis that PPX increases impulsive choice as a result of enhanced sensitivity to reinforcer delays was tested and disconfirmed. That is, acute PPX diminished delay sensitivity in a manner consistent with disruption of stimulus control whereas repeated PPX had no effect on delay sensitivity. Experiments 2 and 3 elaborated upon this finding by examining the effects of repeated PPX on rats' discrimination of response-reinforcer contingencies and reinforcer amounts, respectively. Accuracy of both discriminations was reduced by PPX. Collectively these results provide no support for past studies that have suggested PPX increases impulsive choice. Instead, PPX impairs stimulus control over choice behavior. The behavioral approach adopted herein could be profitably integrated with genetic and other biobehavioral models to advance our understanding of impulsive behavior associated with drug administration. © Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.
Determinants of Recent Immigrants' Location Choices
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Damm, Anna Piil
This paper exploits a Danish spatial dispersal policy on refugees which can be regarded a natural experiment to investigate the influence of regional factors on recent immigrants' locational choices. The main push factors are lack of co-ethnics and presence of immigrants. Additional push factors...
Consumers' practical understanding of healthy food choices: a fake food experiment.
Mötteli, Sonja; Keller, Carmen; Siegrist, Michael; Barbey, Jana; Bucher, Tamara
2016-08-01
Little is known about laypeople's practical understanding of a healthy diet, although this is important to successfully promote healthy eating. The present study is the first to experimentally examine how consumers define healthy and balanced food choices for an entire day compared with normal choices and compared with dietary guidelines. We used an extensive fake food buffet (FFB) with 179 foods commonly consumed in the Swiss diet. The FFB is a validated method to investigate food choice behaviour in a well-controlled laboratory setting. People from the general population in Switzerland (n 187; 51·9 % females), aged between 18 and 65 years, were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. In the control group, the participants were instructed to serve themselves foods they would eat on a normal day, whereas in the 'healthy' group they were instructed to choose foods representing a healthy diet. Participants chose significantly more healthy foods, with 4·5 g more dietary fibre, 2 % more protein and 2 % less SFA in the 'healthy' group compared with the control group. However, in both experimental conditions, participants served themselves foods containing twice as much sugar and salt than recommended by dietary guidelines. The results suggest that laypeople lack knowledge about the recommended portion sizes and the amounts of critical nutrients in processed food, which has important implications for communicating dietary guidelines. Furthermore, the energy of the food served was substantially correlated with the energy needs of the participants, demonstrating the potential of the fake food buffet method.
Valuing Attributes of Home Palliative Care With Service Users: A Pilot Discrete Choice Experiment.
Gomes, Barbara; de Brito, Maja; Sarmento, Vera P; Yi, Deokhee; Soares, Duarte; Fernandes, Jacinta; Fonseca, Bruno; Gonçalves, Edna; Ferreira, Pedro L; Higginson, Irene J
2017-12-01
Discrete choice experiment (DCE) is a quantitative method that helps determine which service attributes are most valued by people and consequently improve their well-being. The objective of this study was to test a new DCE on home palliative care (HPC). Cross-sectional survey using the DCE method with adult patients and their family caregivers, users of three HPC services in Portugal. Service attributes were based on a Cochrane review, a meta-ethnography, and the few existing DCEs on HPC: 1) team's availability, 2) support for family caregivers, 3) homecare support, 4) information and planning, and 5) waiting time. The experimental design consisted in three blocks of eight choice sets where participants chose between two service alternatives that combined different levels of each attribute. We piloted the DCE using cognitive interviewing. Interviews were analyzed for difficulties using Tourangeau's model of information processing. The DCE was conducted with 21 participants of 37 eligible (10 patients with median Palliative Performance Scale score = 45, 11 caregivers). Most participants found the DCE easy (median 2 from 1 to 5), although two patients did not finish the exercise. Key difficulties related to comprehension (e.g., waiting time sometimes understood as response time for visit instead of time from referral to care start) and judgment (e.g., indecision due to similar service alternatives). The DCE method is feasible and acceptable but not all patients are able to participate. In the main study phase, we will give more attention to the explanation of the waiting time attribute. Copyright © 2017 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Hahm, Y.; Yoon, H.
2016-12-01
Retail location is one of the most critical factors explaining the success of store operations. Store owners prefer to choose locations with high visibility and convenient transportation, which might be likely reasons for higher pedestrian volume, hence larger chance to capture impulse shoppers, resulting in more profits. While researches have focused on discerning relationship between pedestrian route choice and physical environments via indirect measures such as survey questionnaire and interviews, recent technologies such as Global Positioning System (GPS) enables collecting direct and precise waking route data. In this study, we investigate the physical environments in which pedestrians prefer to be in commercial district, and further analyze if such locations encompass stores with higher store revenues. The primary method is GPS experiment and travel diary for over hundred visitors of the study site, Hongik University commercial areas in Seoul, South Korea, and statistical analysis, Structural Equation Model (SEM). With SEM, we could assess endogenous latent variables indicating built environments, such as Density, Diversity, Destination Accessibility, Design, and Retail Attraction, and exogenous latent variable, the pedestrian walking choice, based on the observation of pedestrian volume and walking speed. Observed variables include the number of stores, building uses, kind of retail, and pedestrian volume, and walking speed. This research will shed light on planning commercial districts, emphasizing the role of pedestrian walking in the success of retail business, and providing a clue on how to encourage pedestrian visitation by improving physical environment. This work is supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (No. 2015R1C1A2A01055615)
Effects of Brand Awareness on Choice for a Common, Repeat-Purchase Product.
Hoyer, Wayne D; Brown, Steven P
1990-01-01
Results of a controlled experiment on the role of brand awareness in the consumer choice process showed that brand awareness was a dominant choice heuristic among awareness-group subjects. Subjects with no brand awareness tended to sample more brands and selected the high-quality brand on the final choice significantly more often than those with brand awareness. Thus, when quality differences exist among competing brands, consumers may "pay a price" for employing simple choice heuristics such...
Charbonnier, Lisette; van der Laan, Laura N; Viergever, Max A; Smeets, Paul A M
2015-01-01
We are continuously exposed to food and during the day we make many food choices. These choices play an important role in the regulation of food intake and thereby in weight management. Therefore, it is important to obtain more insight into the mechanisms that underlie these choices. While several food choice functional MRI (fMRI) studies have been conducted, the effect of energy content on neural responses during food choice has, to our knowledge, not been investigated before. Our objective was to examine brain responses during food choices between equally liked high- and low-calorie foods in the absence of hunger. During a 10-min fMRI scan 19 normal weight volunteers performed a forced-choice task. Food pairs were matched on individual liking but differed in perceived and actual caloric content (high-low). Food choice compared with non-food choice elicited stronger unilateral activation in the left insula, superior temporal sulcus, posterior cingulate gyrus and (pre)cuneus. This suggests that the food stimuli were more salient despite subject's low motivation to eat. The right superior temporal sulcus (STS) was the only region that exhibited greater activation for high versus low calorie food choices between foods matched on liking. Together with previous studies, this suggests that STS activation during food evaluation and choice may reflect the food's biological relevance independent of food preference. This novel finding warrants further research into the effects of hunger state and weight status on STS, which may provide a marker of biological relevance.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Lisette Charbonnier
Full Text Available We are continuously exposed to food and during the day we make many food choices. These choices play an important role in the regulation of food intake and thereby in weight management. Therefore, it is important to obtain more insight into the mechanisms that underlie these choices. While several food choice functional MRI (fMRI studies have been conducted, the effect of energy content on neural responses during food choice has, to our knowledge, not been investigated before. Our objective was to examine brain responses during food choices between equally liked high- and low-calorie foods in the absence of hunger. During a 10-min fMRI scan 19 normal weight volunteers performed a forced-choice task. Food pairs were matched on individual liking but differed in perceived and actual caloric content (high-low. Food choice compared with non-food choice elicited stronger unilateral activation in the left insula, superior temporal sulcus, posterior cingulate gyrus and (precuneus. This suggests that the food stimuli were more salient despite subject's low motivation to eat. The right superior temporal sulcus (STS was the only region that exhibited greater activation for high versus low calorie food choices between foods matched on liking. Together with previous studies, this suggests that STS activation during food evaluation and choice may reflect the food's biological relevance independent of food preference. This novel finding warrants further research into the effects of hunger state and weight status on STS, which may provide a marker of biological relevance.
Mentzakis, Emmanouil; Paolucci, Francesco; Rubicko, Georg
2014-06-01
The impact of mental conditions is expected to be among the highest ranked causes of illness in high income countries by 2020. With changing health needs, policy makers have to make choices in an environment with increasingly constrained resources and competing demands. Discrete choice experiments have been identified as a useful approach to inform and support decision-making in health care systems and, in particular, its rationing. Policymakers, researchers and health practitioners from Austria participated in an experiment designed to elicit preferences for efficiency and equity in a generic priority setting framework. Using aggregate criteria an empirical measure of the efficiency/equity trade-off is calculated and a selection of health care interventions, including mental health, are ranked in composite league tables (CLTs). With the exception of severity of the condition, all equity parameters decrease attractiveness of an intervention, whereas the opposite holds for all three efficiency criteria. The efficiency/equity ratio (i.e. decision-makers' preference for efficiency over equity) is 3.5 and 5 for interventions targeted at younger and middle age populations, respectively, while for older populations this ratio is negative implying a rejection of all equity criteria. Irrespective of such differences interventions targeting mental health rank highly on all CLTs. Based on system-wide generic decision making criteria, mental health is shown to be a top priority for Austria. Preference-based approaches might offer complementary information to policymakers in priority setting decisions and a useful tool to support rationale rather than ad hoc decision-making.
Nudging healthy food choices : a field experiment at the train station
Kroese, Floor M; Marchiori, David R; de Ridder, Denise T D
2016-01-01
BACKGROUND: Recognizing the mindless nature of many food decisions, it has been suggested that attempts to increase healthy eating should not focus on convincing people what is 'right' but rather aim to adjust the environment such that people are automatically directed toward healthy choices. This
Hunger enhances consistent economic choices in non-human primates.
Yamada, Hiroshi
2017-05-24
Hunger and thirst are fundamental biological processes that drive consumption behavior in humans and non-human animals. While the existing literature in neuroscience suggests that these satiety states change how consumable rewards are represented in the brain, it remains unclear as to how they change animal choice behavior and the underlying economic preferences. Here, I used combined techniques from experimental economics, psychology, and neuroscience to measure food preferences of marmoset monkeys (Callithrix jacchus), a recently developed primate model for neuroscience. Hunger states of animals were manipulated by scheduling feeding intervals, resulting in three different conditions: sated, non-sated, and hungry. During these hunger states, animals performed pairwise choices of food items, which included all possible pairwise combinations of five different food items except for same-food pairs. Results showed that hunger enhanced economic rationality, evident as a decrease of transitivity violations (item A was preferred to item B, and B to C, but C was preferred to A). Further analysis demonstrated that hungry monkeys chose more-preferred items over less-preferred items in a more deterministic manner, while the individual food preferences appeared to remain stable across hunger states. These results suggest that hunger enhances consistent choice behavior and shifts animals towards efficient outcome maximization.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Heeter, J.; Bird, L.
2012-11-01
Currently, 29 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have instituted a renewable portfolio standard (RPS). An RPS sets a minimum threshold for how much renewable energy must be generated in a given year. Each state policy is unique, varying in percentage targets, timetables, and eligible resources. This paper examines state experience with implementing renewable portfolio standards that include energy efficiency, thermal resources, and non-renewable energy and explores compliance experience, costs, and how states evaluate, measure, and verify energy efficiency and convert thermal energy. It aims to gain insights from the experience of states for possible federal clean energy policy as well as to share experience and lessons for state RPS implementation.
Breustedt, Gunnar; Muller-Scheessel, Jorg; Meyer-Schatz, Henrika Marie
2007-01-01
We examine the factors affecting the willingness of German farmers to adopt genetically modified (GM) oilseed rape after the pending commercial release of GM varieties. The analysis is based mainly on a web-based Discrete Choice Experiment with 217 oilseed rape growers in Germany. The determinants of adoption were estimated with the use of a multinomial probit model. Results indicate a significant impact of economic determinants on the adoption willingness: the difference in gross margins bet...
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Evelien Bergrath
2014-04-01
Full Text Available In 2006, the Netherlands commenced market based reforms in its health care system. The reforms included selective contracting of health care providers by health insurers. This paper focuses on how health insurers may increase their market share on the health insurance market through selective contracting of health care providers. Selective contracting is studied by eliciting the preferences of health care consumers for attributes of health care services that an insurer could negotiate on behalf of its clients with health care providers. Selective contracting may provide incentives for health care providers to deliver the quality that consumers need and demand. Selective contracting also enables health insurers to steer individual patients towards selected health care providers. We used a stated preference technique known as a discrete choice experiment to collect and analyze the data. Results indicate that consumers care about both costs and quality of care, with healthy consumers placing greater emphasis on costs and consumers with poorer health placing greater emphasis on quality of care. It is possible for an insurer to satisfy both of these criteria by selective contracting health care providers who consequently purchase health care that is both efficient and of good quality.
Mayer, Martin; Kenter, Robert; Morris, John C
2015-01-01
States' policy decisions regarding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 have often been explained as predominantly, if not solely, partisan. Might rival explanations also apply? Using a cross-sectional 50-state regression model, we studied standard political variables coupled with public-health indicators. This work differs from existing research by employing a dependent variable of five additive measures of ACA support, examining the impact of both political and socioeconomic indicators on state policy decisions. Expanding on recent empirical studies with our more nuanced additive index of support measures, we found that same-party control of a state's executive and legislative branches was indeed by far the single best predictor of policy decisions. Public-health indicators, overwhelmed by partisan effect, did not sufficiently explain state policy choice. This result does not allay the concerns that health policy has become synonymous with health politics and that health politics now has little to do with health itself.
Children's Choice Strategies: The Effects of Age and Task Demands
Bereby-Meyer, Yoella; Assor, Avi; Katz, Idit
2004-01-01
Two experiments examined the effect of age and cognitive demands on children's choice strategies. Children aged 8-9 and 12-13 years were asked to choose among either two or four products that differed in several attributes of varying importance to them. Choice tasks were designed to differentiate between the lexicographic and the equal-weighting…
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Strazzera, Elisabetta; Mura, Marina; Contu, Davide
2012-01-01
A choice experiment exercise is combined with psychometric scales in order: (1) to identify factors that explain support/opposition toward a wind energy development project; and (2) to assess (monetary) trade-offs between attributes of the project. A Latent Class estimator is fitted to the data, and different utility parameters are estimated, conditional on class allocation. It is found that the probability of class membership depends on specific psychometric variables. Visual impacts on valued sites are an important factor of opposition toward a project, and this effect is magnified when identity values are attached to the specific site, so much that no trade-off would be acceptable for a class of individuals characterized by strong place attachment. Conversely, other classes of individuals are willing to accept compensations, in form of private and/or public benefits. The distribution of benefits in the territory, and preservation of the option value related to the possible development of an archeological site, are important for a class of individuals concerned with the sustainability of the local economy. - Highlights: ► A Choice Experiment approach is used to assess acceptability of a wind farm project. ► Psychometric variables are used to model heterogeneity in a Latent Class model. ► No trade-off would be acceptable for a class of individuals. ► Another class of individuals is interested in private benefits. ► Other classes are interested in public benefits and sustainability of the development.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Jacques, V.
2007-11-01
This manuscript is divided in two independent parts. In the first part, we study the wave-particle duality for a single photon emitted by the triggered photoluminescence of a single NV color center in a diamond nano-crystal. We first present the realization of a single-photon interference experiment using a Fresnel's bi-prism, in a scheme equivalent to the standard Young's double-slit textbook experiment. We then discuss the complementarity between interference and which-path information in this two-path interferometer. We finally describe the experimental realization of Wheeler's delayed-choice Gedanken experiment, which is a fascinating and subtle illustration of wave-particle duality. The second part of the manuscript is devoted to the efficiency improvement of single-photon sources. We first describe the implementation of a new single-photon source based on the photoluminescence of a single nickel-related defect center in diamond. The photophysical properties of such defect make this single-photon source well adapted to open-air quantum cryptography. We finally demonstrate an original method that leads to an improvement of single-molecule photo stability at room temperature. (author)
Haws, Kelly L; Liu, Peggy J
2016-08-01
Given the prevalence and rising rates of obesity in many countries, including the United States, much food decision-making research ultimately aims at understanding how consumers can make healthier choices. The two predominant choice paradigms used in food decision-making research ask consumers to choose (a) between a "vice" (or unhealthy food) and a "virtue" (or healthy food) or (b) among varying portion sizes of "vice." We propose a new food choice paradigm that encourages consumers to jointly consider both food type(s) choice and food portion size at each decision point. The purpose of this paradigm is two-fold. First, it aims to allow examination of more comprehensive eating behavior (e.g., to examine the overall composition of a plate of food rather than choice of a single food). Second, it aims to shift consumers towards including large proportions of virtues and smaller proportions of vice in their overall consumption portfolios. For this paradigm, we draw upon a recently introduced food product innovation called "vice-virtue bundles" (Liu et al., 2015) that illustrates the basis of this new food choice paradigm, in which food type(s) and portion decisions are made simultaneously. Accordingly, we first discuss relevant findings on vice-virtue bundles as well as the differences between simultaneous and sequential choice of multiple products. Second, we examine the benefits for managing and controlling one's consumption that are provided by vice-virtue bundles and this joint food choice paradigm more generally. Third and finally, we point out opportunities for future research by discussing (a) multiple factors that influence food choices, (b) decision processes affected by food choice paradigms, and (c) issues of generalizability related to the presence of vice-virtue bundles. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Recall and Consumer Consideration Sets: Influencing Choice without Altering Brand Evaluations.
Nedungadi, Prakash
1990-01-01
This article focuses on memory-based choice situations where changes in a brand's accessibility may affect the probability that it is retrieved and considered for choice. In such instances, factors other than evaluation may affect which brands are brought to mind at purchase. Two experiments are described that manipulate the determinants of brand accessibility and measure consequent effects on retrieval, consideration, choice, and evaluation. Results provide evidence for the influence of memo...
Health promotion messages: the role of social presence for food choices.
Bittner, Jenny V; Kulesz, Micaela M
2015-04-01
We investigated whether social presence cues encourage consumers to self-regulate and select healthier food products. In the first experiment, workers completed food choices in an e-commerce environment. After the activation of health-related goals, they saw a social presence cue and were asked to choose between healthy and unhealthy food options. The analyses revealed main effects of social presence and health goal activation on food choices. These effects were additive, such that the combination of social presence and health goals induced significantly healthier choices compared with the control group. The second experiment further examined social presence cues that were presented on a menu. The results showed significant effects on food choices and on the perceived self-regulatory success in dieting. These findings indicate that social presence cues could be employed to increase healthful eating and, furthermore, that it may be useful to co-activate multiple cues in health promotion messages. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Speakers' choice of frame in binary choice
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Marc van Buiten
2009-02-01
Full Text Available A distinction is proposed between extit{recommending for} preferred choice options and extit{recommending against} non-preferred choice options. In binary choice, both recommendation modes are logically, though not psychologically, equivalent. We report empirical evidence showing that speakers recommending for preferred options predominantly select positive frames, which are less common when speakers recommend against non-preferred options. In addition, option attractiveness is shown to affect speakers' choice of frame, and adoption of recommendation mode. The results are interpreted in terms of three compatibility effects, (i extit{recommendation mode---valence framing compatibility}: speakers' preference for positive framing is enhanced under extit{recommending for} and diminished under extit{recommending against} instructions, (ii extit{option attractiveness---valence framing compatibility}: speakers' preference for positive framing is more pronounced for attractive than for unattractive options, and (iii extit{recommendation mode---option attractiveness compatibility}: speakers are more likely to adopt a extit{recommending for} approach for attractive than for unattractive binary choice pairs.
Choice Shift in Opinion Network Dynamics
Gabbay, Michael
Choice shift is a phenomenon associated with small group dynamics whereby group discussion causes group members to shift their opinions in a more extreme direction so that the mean post-discussion opinion exceeds the mean pre-discussion opinion. Also known as group polarization, choice shift is a robust experimental phenomenon and has been well-studied within social psychology. In opinion network models, shifts toward extremism are typically produced by the presence of stubborn agents at the extremes of the opinion axis, whose opinions are much more resistant to change than moderate agents. However, we present a model in which choice shift can arise without the assumption of stubborn agents; the model evolves member opinions and uncertainties using coupled nonlinear differential equations. In addition, we briefly describe the results of a recent experiment conducted involving online group discussion concerning the outcome of National Football League games are described. The model predictions concerning the effects of network structure, disagreement level, and team choice (favorite or underdog) are in accord with the experimental results. This research was funded by the Office of Naval Research and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.
Taylor, William J
2016-03-01
Conjoint analysis of choice or preference data has been used in marketing for over 40 years but has appeared in healthcare settings much more recently. It may be a useful technique for applications within the rheumatology field. Conjoint analysis in rheumatology contexts has mainly used the approaches implemented in 1000Minds Ltd, Dunedin, New Zealand, Sawtooth Software, Orem UT, USA. Examples include classification criteria, composite response criteria, service prioritization tools and utilities assessment. Limitations imposed by very many attributes can be managed using new techniques. Conjoint analysis studies of classification and response criteria suggest that the assumption of equal weighting of attributes cannot be met, which challenges traditional approaches to composite criteria construction. Weights elicited through choice experiments with experts can derive more accurate classification criteria, than unweighted criteria. Studies that find significant variation in attribute weights for composite response criteria for gout make construction of such criteria problematic. Better understanding of various multiattribute phenomena is likely to increase with increased use of conjoint analysis, especially when the attributes concern individual perceptions or opinions. In addition to classification criteria, some applications for conjoint analysis that are emerging in rheumatology include prioritization tools, remission criteria, and utilities for life areas.
Choice vs. voice? PPI policies and the re-positioning of the state in England and Wales.
Hughes, David; Mullen, Caroline; Vincent-Jones, Peter
2009-09-01
CONTEXT AND THESIS: Changing patient and public involvement (PPI) policies in England and Wales are analysed against the background of wider National Health Service (NHS) reforms and regulatory frameworks. We argue that the growing divergence of health policies is accompanied by a re-positioning of the state vis-à-vis PPI, characterized by different mixes of centralized and decentralized regulatory instruments. Analysis of legislation and official documents, and interviews with policy makers. In England, continued hierarchical control is combined with the delegation of responsibilities for the oversight and organization of PPI to external institutions such as the Care Quality Commission and local involvement networks, in support of the government's policy agenda of increasing marketization. In Wales, which has rejected market reforms and economic regulation, decentralization is occurring through the use of mixed regulatory approaches and networks suited to the small-country governance model, and seeks to benefit from the close proximity of central and local actors by creating new forms of engagement while maintaining central steering of service planning. Whereas English PPI policies have emerged in tandem with a pluralistic supply-side market and combine new institutional arrangements for patient 'choice' with other forms of involvement, the Welsh policies focus on 'voice' within a largely publicly-delivered service. While the English reforms draw on theories of economic regulation and the experience of independent regulation in the utilities sector, the Welsh model of local service integration has been more influenced by reforms in local government. Such transfers of governance instruments from other public service sectors to the NHS may be problematic.
Airport Choice in Sao Paulo Metropolitan Area: An Application of the Conditional Logit Model
Moreno, Marcelo Baena; Muller, Carlos
2003-01-01
Using the conditional LOGIT model, this paper addresses the airport choice in the Sao Paulo Metropolitan Area. In this region, Guarulhos International Airport (GRU) and Congonhas Airport (CGH) compete for passengers flying to several domestic destinations. The airport choice is believed to be a result of the tradeoff passengers perform considering airport access characteristics, airline level of service characteristics and passenger experience with the analyzed airports. It was found that access time to the airports better explain the airport choice than access distance, whereas direct flight frequencies gives better explanation to the airport choice than the indirect (connections and stops) and total (direct plus indirect) flight frequencies. Out of 15 tested variables, passenger experience with the analyzed airports was the variable that best explained the airport choice in the region. Model specifications considering 1, 2 or 3 variables were tested. The model specification most adjusted to the observed data considered access time, direct flight frequencies in the travel period (morning or afternoon peak) and passenger experience with the analyzed airports. The influence of these variables was therefore analyzed across market segments according to departure airport and flight duration criteria. The choice of GRU (located neighboring Sao Paulo city) is not well explained by the rationality of access time economy and the increase of the supply of direct flight frequencies, while the choice of CGH (located inside Sao Paulo city) is. Access time was found to be more important to passengers flying shorter distances while direct flight frequencies in the travel period were more significant to those flying longer distances. Keywords: Airport choice, Multiple airport region, Conditional LOGIT model, Access time, Flight frequencies, Passenger experience with the analyzed airports, Transportation planning
Does attention to health labels predict a healthy food choice? An eye-tracking study
Fenko, Anna; Nicolaas, Iris; Galetzka, Mirjam
2018-01-01
Visual attention to health labels can indicate a subsequent healthy food choice. This study looked into the relative effects of Choices logos and traffic light labels on consumers’ visual attention and food choice. A field experiment using mobile eye-tracking was conducted in a Dutch university
The choice of forest site for recreation
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Agimass, Fitalew; Lundhede, Thomas; Panduro, Toke Emil
2018-01-01
logit as well as a random parameter logit model. The variables that are found to affect the choice of forest site to a visit for recreation include: forest area, tree species composition, forest density, availability of historical sites, terrain difference, state ownership, and distance. Regarding......In this paper, we investigate the factors that can influence the site choice of forest recreation. Relevant attributes are identified by using spatial data analysis from a questionnaire asking people to indicate their most recent forest visits by pinpointing on a map. The main objectives...
Communicating food safety, authenticity and consumer choice. Field experiences.
Syntesa, Heiner Lehr
2013-04-01
The paper reviews patented and non-patented technologies, methods and solutions in the area of food traceability. It pays special attention to the communication of food safety, authenticity and consumer choice. Twenty eight recent patents are reviewed in the areas of (secure) identification, product freshness indicators, meat traceability, (secure) transport of information along the supply chain, country/region/place of origin, automated authentication, supply chain management systems, consumer interaction systems. In addition, solutions and pilot projects are described in the areas of Halal traceability, traceability of bird's nests, cold chain management, general food traceability and other areas.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
A. Sandoghi
2016-03-01
Full Text Available Introduction: Continuing growth in human population and consumptionmeans that the global demand for food will increase for at least another 40 years and that the world needs 70-100% more food by 2050. Environmental issues such as climate change, depletion of naturalresources and biodiversity loss increasingly threaten the welfare ofhuman civilization. Confronting these threats requires, among otherthings, behavioral changes in citizens, governments and companies.Farmers and other producers are responding to consumer concerns about pesticides by creating new marketing opportunities for products grown with environmentally sound practices. Environmental economists are increasingly interested in better understanding of how people cognitively organize their beliefs and attitudes towards environmental change in order to identify key motives and barriers that stimulate or prevent action.The purpose of the presentinvestigation is to evaluate the consumers’ preferences and factors affecting their choice for conventional, healthy and organic cucumbers in Isfahan, Iran. Materials and Methods: Data were collected on a sample of 230consumers in 2013 by using the proportionate stratification samplingmethod through face-to-face interviews based on a comprehensive structured questionnaire. Before the survey, the reliability and validity of the questionnaire were initially evaluated in a pre-test study, respectively, by using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO criteria. Individual preferences were uncovered in choice experiment method (CEM by a contingent ranking experiment. In a contingent ranking experiment, respondents are required to rank a set of alternative options, characterized by a number of attributes, which are offered at different levels across the options.Data were analyzed by multinomial logit models. The approach consists of modeling utility, that isto say the net benefit a consumer obtains from selecting a
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Margaret E Kruk
Full Text Available Option B+, an approach that involves provision of antiretroviral therapy (ART to all HIV-infected pregnant women for life, is the preferred strategy for prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV. Lifelong retention in care is essential to its success. We conducted a discrete choice experiment in Ethiopia and Mozambique to identify health system characteristics preferred by HIV-infected women to promote continuity of care.Women living with HIV and receiving care at hospitals in Oromia Region, Ethiopia and Zambézia Province, Mozambique were shown nine choice cards and asked to select one of two hypothetical health facilities, each with six varying characteristics related to the delivery of HIV services for long term treatment. Mixed logit models were used to estimate the influence of six health service attributes on choice of clinics.2,033 women participated in the study (response rate 97.8% in Ethiopia and 94.7% in Mozambique. Among the various attributes of structure and content of lifelong ART services, the most important attributes identified in both countries were respectful provider attitude and ability to obtain non-HIV health services during HIV-related visits. Availability of counseling support services was also a driver of choice. Facility type, i.e., hospital versus health center, was substantially less important.Efforts to enhance retention in HIV care and treatment for pregnant women should focus on promoting respectful care by providers and integrating access to non-HIV health services in the same visit, as well as continuing to strengthen counseling.
The influence of past experience on wasp choice related to foraging behavior.
Sabrina, Moreyra; D'Adamo, Paola; Lozada, Mariana
2014-12-01
Memory has been little studied in social wasps. Vespula germanica (Fab.) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) frequently revisits nondepleted food sources, making several trips between the resource and the nest. In this study, we analyzed this relocating behavior in order to evaluate whether this species is capable of remembering an established association after 1 h. To this end, we trained wasps to feed from a certain array. Then it was removed, setting it up again 1 h later, but this time 2 baited feeders were put in place, one at the original feeding site and the other opposite the first. We recorded the proportion of returning foragers, and their choice of feeder, after either 1 or 4 feeding trials. After 1 h, 78% of wasps trained with 4 feeding trials and 65% trained with 1, returned to the experimental area. Furthermore, during the testing phase, wasps trained with 4 feeding trials collected food from the previously learned feeder significantly more frequently than from the nonlearned one (P germanica is capable of remembering an association 1 h after the last associative event, demonstrating that 1 h does not impair memory retention if 4 feeding experiences have occurred. © 2013 Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Tourist destination choice: A bibliometric study
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Claudio Sunao Saito
2018-01-01
Full Text Available This bibliometric study aims to understand the main subjects, approaches, and theoretical references related to travel destination choice. The Scopus database, statistical software, and citation analysis defined the relevance and prestige of the articles, authors, models, and theoretical foundations, based on the number of citations in later articles. The results demonstrate that there are a diversity of perspectives and approaches related to the topic and the articles can be grouped into studies related to decision models or destination choice, motivating factors for tourism, personal characteristics or factors, destination characteristics and attractiveness, scope of the intended trip (holiday, size, distance, duration of the trip, etc., travel experiences (humor, feelings during the trip, post-purchase evaluations, etc., influence of the destination’s image, and influence of information/communication on the travel destination choice. The results also indicate a difference regarding the origin of the articles (countries/institution, authors, and theoretical references used in research related to the topic.
Residency choices by graduating medical students: why not pathology?
Hung, Tawny; Jarvis-Selinger, Sandra; Ford, Jason C
2011-06-01
Pathology is an unpopular residency choice for medical students worldwide. In some countries, this has contributed to a crisis in pathologist human resources that has affected the quality of clinical laboratories. Several previous studies have used information from junior medical students and from residents to suggest ways of improving pathology recruitment. There are, however, no published studies of pathology residency choice that focus on the senior medical students who must be recruited. This study uses focus groups of senior medical students to explore both general and pathology-specific influences on residency choice. Several general influences are identified, including students' expectations for their future clinical practices, their own clinical rotation experiences, influences from other people including mentors, and their choice to reject certain fields. Several specific antipathology influences are also revealed, including negative stereotypes about pathologists, a perceived incompatibility of personality between most medical students (extroverted) and pathologists (introverted), and perceptions of pathologists as being in some ways nonmedical. The most important antipathology influence was that, from the students' perspective, pathology was utterly invisible in clinical practice. Most students did not consider and then reject a pathology residency: instead, pathology was completely ignored. Given the importance of clerkship electives in influencing medical student career choice, promoting clerkship experiences in pathology may improve recruitment. However, departments of pathology must first make pathology visible to students and teach them how pathologists contribute to clinical care. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
The Nature of Belief-Directed Exploratory Choice in Human Decision-Making
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W. Bradley Knox
2012-01-01
Full Text Available In non-stationary environments, there is a conflict between exploiting currently favored options and gaining information by exploring lesser-known options that in the past have proven less rewarding. Optimal decision making in such tasks requires considering future states of the environment (i.e., planning and properly updating beliefs about the state of environment after observing outcomes associated with choices. Optimal belief-updating is reflective in that beliefs can change without directly observing environmental change. For example, after ten seconds elapse, one might correctly believe that a traffic light last observed to be red is now more likely to be green. To understand human decision-making when rewards associated with choice options change over time, we develop a variant of the classic bandit task that is both rich enough to encompass relevant phenomena and sufficiently tractable to allow for ideal actor analysis of sequential choice behavior. We evaluate whether people update beliefs about the state of environment in a reflexive (i.e., only in response to observed changes in reward structure or reflective manner. In contrast to purely "random" accounts of exploratory behavior, model-based analyses of the subjects’ choices and latencies indicate that people are reflective belief-updaters. However, unlike the Ideal Actor model, our analyses indicate that people's choice behavior does not reflect consideration of future environmental states. Thus, although people update beliefs in a reflective manner consistent with the ideal actor, they do not engage in optimal long-term planning, but instead myopically choose the option on every trial that is believed to have the highest immediate payoff.
The Nature of Belief-Directed Exploratory Choice in Human Decision-Making
Knox, W. Bradley; Otto, A. Ross; Stone, Peter; Love, Bradley C.
2011-01-01
In non-stationary environments, there is a conflict between exploiting currently favored options and gaining information by exploring lesser-known options that in the past have proven less rewarding. Optimal decision-making in such tasks requires considering future states of the environment (i.e., planning) and properly updating beliefs about the state of the environment after observing outcomes associated with choices. Optimal belief-updating is reflective in that beliefs can change without directly observing environmental change. For example, after 10 s elapse, one might correctly believe that a traffic light last observed to be red is now more likely to be green. To understand human decision-making when rewards associated with choice options change over time, we develop a variant of the classic “bandit” task that is both rich enough to encompass relevant phenomena and sufficiently tractable to allow for ideal actor analysis of sequential choice behavior. We evaluate whether people update beliefs about the state of environment in a reflexive (i.e., only in response to observed changes in reward structure) or reflective manner. In contrast to purely “random” accounts of exploratory behavior, model-based analyses of the subjects’ choices and latencies indicate that people are reflective belief updaters. However, unlike the Ideal Actor model, our analyses indicate that people’s choice behavior does not reflect consideration of future environmental states. Thus, although people update beliefs in a reflective manner consistent with the Ideal Actor, they do not engage in optimal long-term planning, but instead myopically choose the option on every trial that is believed to have the highest immediate payoff. PMID:22319503
The application of defaults to optimize parents' health-based choices for children.
Loeb, Katharine L; Radnitz, Cynthia; Keller, Kathleen; Schwartz, Marlene B; Marcus, Sue; Pierson, Richard N; Shannon, Michael; DeLaurentis, Danielle
2017-06-01
Optimal defaults is a compelling model from behavioral economics and the psychology of human decision-making, designed to shape or "nudge" choices in a positive direction without fundamentally restricting options. The current study aimed to test the effectiveness of optimal (less obesogenic) defaults and parent empowerment priming on health-based decisions with parent-child (ages 3-8) dyads in a community-based setting. Two proof-of-concept experiments (one on breakfast food selections and one on activity choice) were conducted comparing the main and interactive effects of optimal versus suboptimal defaults, and parent empowerment priming versus neutral priming, on parents' health-related choices for their children. We hypothesized that in each experiment, making the default option more optimal will lead to more frequent health-oriented choices, and that priming parents to be the ultimate decision-makers on behalf of their child's health will potentiate this effect. Results show that in both studies, default condition, but not priming condition or the interaction between default and priming, significantly predicted choice (healthier vs. less healthy option). There was also a significant main effect for default condition (and no effect for priming condition or the interaction term) on the quantity of healthier food children consumed in the breakfast experiment. These pilot studies demonstrate that optimal defaults can be practicably implemented to improve parents' food and activity choices for young children. Results can inform policies and practices pertaining to obesogenic environmental factors in school, restaurant, and home environments. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Cunningham, Charles E; Zipursky, Robert B; Christensen, Bruce K; Bieling, Peter J; Madsen, Victoria; Rimas, Heather; Mielko, Stephanie; Wilson, Fiona; Furimsky, Ivana; Jeffs, Lisa; Munn, Catharine
2017-01-01
We modeled design factors influencing the intent to use a university mental health service. Between November 2012 and October 2014, 909 undergraduates participated. Using a discrete choice experiment, participants chose between hypothetical campus mental health services. Latent class analysis identified three segments. A Psychological/Psychiatric Service segment (45.5%) was most likely to contact campus health services delivered by psychologists or psychiatrists. An Alternative Service segment (39.3%) preferred to talk to peer-counselors who had experienced mental health problems. A Hesitant segment (15.2%) reported greater distress but seemed less intent on seeking help. They preferred services delivered by psychologists or psychiatrists. Simulations predicted that, rather than waiting for standard counseling, the Alternative Service segment would prefer immediate access to E-Mental health. The Usual Care and Hesitant segments would wait 6 months for standard counseling. E-Mental Health options could engage students who may not wait for standard services.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Heeter, Jenny; Bird, Lori
2013-01-01
As of October 2012, 29 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have instituted a renewable portfolio standard (RPS). Each state policy is unique, varying in percentage targets, timetables, and eligible resources. Increasingly, new RPS polices have included alternative resources. Alternative resources have included energy efficiency, thermal resources, and, to a lesser extent, non-renewables. This paper examines state experience with implementing renewable portfolio standards that include energy efficiency, thermal resources, and non-renewable energy and explores compliance experience, costs, and how states evaluate, measure, and verify energy efficiency and convert thermal energy. It aims to gain insights from the experience of states for possible federal clean energy policy as well as to share experience and lessons for state RPS implementation. - Highlights: • Increasingly, new RPS policies have included alternative resources. • Nearly all states provide a separate tier or cap on the quantity of eligible alternative resources. • Where allowed, non-renewables and energy efficiency are being heavily utilized
What do UK medical students value most in their careers? A discrete choice experiment.
Cleland, Jennifer A; Johnston, Peter; Watson, Verity; Krucien, Nicolas; Skåtun, Diane
2017-08-01
Many individual- and job-related factors are known to influence medical careers decision making. Previous research has extensively studied medical trainees' (residents') and students' views of the factors that are important. However, how trainees and students trade off these factors at times of important careers-related decision making is under-researched. Information about trade-offs is crucial to the development of effective policies to enhance the recruitment and retention of junior doctors. Our aim was to investigate the strength of UK medical students' preferences for the characteristics of training posts in terms of monetary value. We distributed a paper questionnaire that included a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to final-year medical students in six diverse medical schools across the UK. The main outcome measure was the monetary value of training post characteristics, based on willingness to forgo and willingness to accept extra income for a change in each job characteristic calculated from regression coefficients. A total of 810 medical students answered the questionnaire. The presence of good working conditions was by far the most influential characteristic of a training position. Medical students consider that, as newly graduated doctors, they will require compensation of an additional 43.68% above average earnings to move from a post with excellent working conditions to one with poor working conditions. Female students value excellent working conditions more highly than male students, whereas older medical students value them less highly than younger students. Students on the point of completing medical school and starting postgraduate training value good working conditions significantly more than they value desirable geographical location, unit reputation, familiarity with the unit or opportunities for partners or spouses. This intelligence can be used to address the crisis in workforce staffing that has developed in the UK and opens up fruitful
Appearance matters: neural correlates of food choice and packaging aesthetics.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Laura N Van der Laan
Full Text Available Neuro-imaging holds great potential for predicting choice behavior from brain responses. In this study we used both traditional mass-univariate and state-of-the-art multivariate pattern analysis to establish which brain regions respond to preferred packages and to what extent neural activation patterns can predict realistic low-involvement consumer choices. More specifically, this was assessed in the context of package-induced binary food choices. Mass-univariate analyses showed that several regions, among which the bilateral striatum, were more strongly activated in response to preferred food packages. Food choices could be predicted with an accuracy of up to 61.2% by activation patterns in brain regions previously found to be involved in healthy food choices (superior frontal gyrus and visual processing (middle occipital gyrus. In conclusion, this study shows that mass-univariate analysis can detect small package-induced differences in product preference and that MVPA can successfully predict realistic low-involvement consumer choices from functional MRI data.
Whitty, Jennifer A; Oliveira Gonçalves, Ana Sofia
2018-06-01
The aim of this study was to compare the acceptability, validity and concordance of discrete choice experiment (DCE) and best-worst scaling (BWS) stated preference approaches in health. A systematic search of EMBASE, Medline, AMED, PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane Library and EconLit databases was undertaken in October to December 2016 without date restriction. Studies were included if they were published in English, presented empirical data related to the administration or findings of traditional format DCE and object-, profile- or multiprofile-case BWS, and were related to health. Study quality was assessed using the PREFS checklist. Fourteen articles describing 12 studies were included, comparing DCE with profile-case BWS (9 studies), DCE and multiprofile-case BWS (1 study), and profile- and multiprofile-case BWS (2 studies). Although limited and inconsistent, the balance of evidence suggests that preferences derived from DCE and profile-case BWS may not be concordant, regardless of the decision context. Preferences estimated from DCE and multiprofile-case BWS may be concordant (single study). Profile- and multiprofile-case BWS appear more statistically efficient than DCE, but no evidence is available to suggest they have a greater response efficiency. Little evidence suggests superior validity for one format over another. Participant acceptability may favour DCE, which had a lower self-reported task difficulty and was preferred over profile-case BWS in a priority setting but not necessarily in other decision contexts. DCE and profile-case BWS may be of equal validity but give different preference estimates regardless of the health context; thus, they may be measuring different constructs. Therefore, choice between methods is likely to be based on normative considerations related to coherence with theoretical frameworks and on pragmatic considerations related to ease of data collection.
To marry or not to marry: a choice.
Nadelson, C C; Notman, M T
1981-10-01
The authors discuss the reasons for decisions to remain single or to marry, particularly for women today. They consider aspects of the life experience of single women and provide a developmental context for women's choices. The authors discuss the impact of marriage on women's lives and point out that marriage increases stress for women. The changing role of women in society and increased reproductive control have given women greater choice about the direction of their lives, including more freedom to make deliberate decisions about marriage.
Carter, Michael J; Ste-Marie, Diane M
2017-12-01
Lewthwaite et al. (2015) reported that the learning benefits of exercising choice (i.e., their self-controlled condition) are not restricted to task-relevant features (e.g., feedback). They found that choosing one's golf ball color (Exp. 1) or choosing which of two tasks to perform at a later time plus which of two artworks to hang (Exp. 2) resulted in better retention than did being denied these same choices (i.e., yoked condition). The researchers concluded that the learning benefits derived from choice, whether irrelevant or relevant to the to-be-learned task, are predominantly motivational because choice is intrinsically rewarding and satisfies basic psychological needs. However, the absence of a group that made task-relevant choices and the lack of psychological measures significantly weakened their conclusions. Here, we investigated how task-relevant and task-irrelevant choices affect motor-skill learning. Participants practiced a spatiotemporal motor task in either a task-relevant group (choice over feedback schedule), a task-irrelevant group (choice over the color of an arm-wrap plus game selection), or a no-choice group. The results showed significantly greater learning in the task-relevant group than in both the task-irrelevant and no-choice groups, who did not differ significantly. Critically, these learning differences were not attributed to differences in perceptions of competence or autonomy, but instead to superior error-estimation abilities. These results challenge the perspective that motivational influences are the root cause of self-controlled learning advantages. Instead, the findings add to the growing evidence highlighting that the informational value gained from task-relevant choices makes a greater relative contribution to these advantages than motivational influences do.
Marzilli Ericson, Keith M.; White, John Myles; Laibson, David; Cohen, Jonathan D.
2015-01-01
Heuristic models have been proposed for many domains of choice. We compare heuristic models of intertemporal choice, which can account for many of the known intertemporal choice anomalies, to discounting models. We conduct an out-of-sample, cross-validated comparison of intertemporal choice models. Heuristic models outperform traditional utility discounting models, including models of exponential and hyperbolic discounting. The best performing models predict choices by using a weighted average of absolute differences and relative (percentage) differences of the attributes of the goods in a choice set. We conclude that heuristic models explain time-money tradeoff choices in experiments better than utility discounting models. PMID:25911124
Willingness to pay for renewable energy investment in Korea: A choice experiment study
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ku, Se-Ju; Yoo, Seung-Hoon
2010-01-01
Renewable energy sources are considered as alternatives for coping with the high price of oil and global warming. The Korean government has set a target that 11% of the total primary energy supply should be obtained through renewable energy sources until 2030. In order to develop proper policies for renewable energy investment, it is necessary to analyze the benefits of renewable energy investment based on households' willingness to pay. This study attempts to apply a choice experiment (CE) for assessing renewable energy investment in Korea. Moreover, we employ a multinomial probit (MNP) model to relax the assumption that all respondents have the same preferences for the attributes being valued, which is usually required in empirical CE studies. An MNP model allows the most flexible pattern of error correlation structure. The results reveal that the Korean public puts a value on the protection of wildlife, reduction of pollution, and increased employment opportunities. On the other hand, respondents do not derive significant values from the improvement of landscapes. This study is expected to provide policy-makers with useful information for evaluating and planning policies related to renewable energy investment. (author)
Measuring the environmental costs of tidal power plant construction: A choice experiment study
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Lee, Joo-Suk; Yoo, Seung-Hoon
2009-01-01
Korea is considering the construction of a tidal power plant (TPP) at Garolim Bay. However, as the construction of the Garolim TPP (GTPP) is expected to entail some environmental damage, it has become an increasingly important topic for public debate. Using a choice experiment (CE) approach, this study attempts to measure the economic cost that results from the environmental damage caused by the construction of GTPP. The CE is used to measure the environmental costs of individual attributes, including the reduction in the area of the tidal flat, the degradation of seawater quality, and the destruction of marine life. The results indicate that the annual willingness to pay (WTP) per household for mitigating the environmental damage that results from the worst-possible situation in relation to the present situation is about 96,042 Korean won (USD 101.1) in the seven biggest cities (off-site regions) and 18,584 Korean won (USD 19.6) in Seosan and Taean (on-site regions). This study is expected to provide policy-makers with quantitative information that will be useful to decide whether or not GTPP should be constructed.
Commitment-based action: Rational choice theory and contrapreferential choice
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Radovanović Bojana
2014-01-01
Full Text Available This paper focuses on Sen’s concept of contrapreferential choice. Sen has developed this concept in order to overcome weaknesses of the rational choice theory. According to rational choice theory a decision-maker can be always seen as someone who maximises utility, and each choice he makes as the one that brings to him the highest level of personal wellbeing. Sen argues that in some situations we chose alternatives that bring us lower level of wellbeing than we could achieve if we had chosen some other alternative available to us. This happens when we base our decisions on moral principles, when we act out of duty. Sen calls such action a commitment-based action. When we act out of commitment we actually neglect our preferences and thus we make a contrapreferential choice, as Sen argues. This paper shows that, contrary to Sen, a commitment-based action can be explained within the framework of rational choice theory. However, when each choice we make can be explained within the framework of rational choice theory, when in everything we do maximisation principle can be loaded, then the variety of our motives and traits is lost, and the explanatory power of the rational choice theory is questionable. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 47009: Evropske integracije i društveno-ekonomske promene privrede Srbije na putu ka EU i br. 179015: Izazovi i perspektive strukturnih promena u Srbiji: Strateški pravci ekonomskog razvoja i usklađivanje sa zahtevima EU
Special Ed. and Choice Ties Grow
Shah, Nirvi
2012-01-01
Creating private school vouchers for special education students--programs that are largely unchallenged in court, unlike other publicly financed tuition vouchers--can be the perfect way to clear a path for other students to get school options, according to school choice proponents. At least seven states--Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Ohio,…
Socio-economic applications of finite state mean field games
Gomes, Diogo A.
2014-10-06
In this paper, we present different applications of finite state mean field games to socio-economic sciences. Examples include paradigm shifts in the scientific community or consumer choice behaviour in the free market. The corresponding finite state mean field game models are hyperbolic systems of partial differential equations, for which we present and validate different numerical methods. We illustrate the behaviour of solutions with various numerical experiments,which show interesting phenomena such as shock formation. Hence, we conclude with an investigation of the shock structure in the case of two-state problems.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Dhanan Sarwo Utomo
2012-01-01
Full Text Available This study is motivated by the reality that school choice programs that is currently implemented in Bandung that, always resulting student deficit (lack of student in some schools. In this study, a mechanism that can describe how the enrollment pattern in a school choice program emerge as a result of individual preferences of the prospective students, is constructed. Using computer simulation, virtual experiments are conducted. In these experiments, the enrollment patterns and the number of student deficit that were resulted by various school choice program configurations are analyzed. Based on the experiment results, modification of the current program that can minimize the number of student deficit can be purposed.Keywords: agent-based simulation, school choice, computer simulation
Marshall, Dominic C; Salciccioli, Justin D; Walton, Sarah-Jane; Pitkin, Joan; Shalhoub, Joseph; Malietzis, George
2015-01-01
Student experiences during surgical rotations may dictate interest in future surgical careers. The objective of this study was to systematically examine the effect of surgical experience (SE) on student attitudes toward surgical careers and also to identify variables influencing the educational value of SE. A systematic review of the available literature was conducted by 2 independent researchers searching Medline, EMBASE, Google Scholar, and Cochrane databases, in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses recommendations. Studies assessing SE during the students' surgical rotations were identified. The quality of the included studies was assessed using a validated quality index. Factors affecting student surgical rotation experience and perceptions of surgical careers were recorded. Overall, 204 studies were identified; 20 unique studies met the inclusion criteria with a median cohort size of 169 (interquartile range: 107-262) respondents. Most were cross-sectional surveys (n = 16/20) and administered to clinical students (n = 16/20). All studies investigating the effect of SE on career choices (n = 8) found that positive experiences during the surgical placement were associated with an increased interest in surgical careers. The operating theater experience was identified as a defining feature of overall SE. Involvement in operative procedures, a welcoming environment, and avoidance of syncopal events positively influenced the SE, particularly in those who actively sought educational opportunities. Study limitations included single-center and single-year cohort designs (70%) with the use of nonvalidated research tools (95%). A systematic review of the literature highlights a number of factors associated with a positive surgical rotation, which may lead to more students deciding to pursue a career in surgery. Understanding the factors that contribute to these decisions through multicenter studies using validated research
Preferences, constraints, and the process of sex segregation in college majors: A choice analysis.
Ochsenfeld, Fabian
2016-03-01
The persistence of horizontal sex segregation in higher education continues to puzzle social scientists. To help resolve this puzzle, we analyze a sample of college entrants in Germany with a discrete choice design that allows for social learning from the experiences of others. We make at least two contributions to the state of research. First, we test whether essentialist gender stereotypes affect major selection mostly through internalization or rather as external constraints that high school graduates adapt their behavior to. Empirically, we find that internalized vocational interests better explain gendered major choices than conformance with friends' and parents' expectations does. Second, we scrutinize whether segregation results from women's anticipation of gendered family roles or from their anticipation of sex-based discrimination, but we find no evidence for either of these hypotheses. As in most previous studies, differences in mathematics achievement fail to explain gendered patterns of selection into college majors. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.