Repeated follow-up as a method for reducing non-trading behaviour in discrete choice experiments

Area of Science:

• Health Economics
• Behavioral Economics
• Decision Science

Background:

• Discrete choice experiments (DCEs) are increasingly used to elicit preferences.
• A challenge in DCEs is identifying individuals with truly dominant preferences versus those not presented with suitable trade-offs.
• Understanding preference elicitation is crucial for accurate economic modeling.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether individuals exhibit dominant preferences or will trade when presented with systematically varied trade-offs.
• To assess if non-trading behavior in preference elicitation can be reduced by optimizing choice set design.
• To examine time preferences over future health states.

Main Methods:

• A web-based questionnaire administered to 203 university students.
• An initial discrete choice question followed by adaptive, systematically varied follow-up questions.
• Focus on eliciting time preferences concerning future health states.

Main Results:

• Very little evidence of dominant preferences was found among the respondents.
• Only one participant out of 203 consistently refused to trade duration and timing after repeated follow-up questions.
• The findings suggest that non-trading behavior is not inherent but may be contingent on question design.

Conclusions:

• Non-trading behavior in preference elicitation may be largely eliminated by presenting the 'right' trade-offs.
• The study challenges the notion of widespread dominant preferences, highlighting the role of experimental design.
• Adaptive questioning techniques can significantly improve preference elicitation accuracy.