Andersson, Henrik and Svensson, Mikael (2014) Scale Sensitivity and Question Order in the Contingent Valuation Method. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 57 (11). pp. 1746-1761.

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Abstract

This study examines the effect on respondents' willingness to pay to reduce mortality risk by the order of the questions in a stated preference study. Using answers from an experiment conducted on a Swedish sample where respondents’ cognitive ability was measured and where they participate in a contingent valuation survey it is found that scale sensitivity is the strongest when respondents are asked about a smaller risk reduction first (“Bottom-up” approach). This contradicts some previous evidence in the literature. It is also found that the respondents’ cognitive ability is more important for showing scale sensitivity when respondents are asked about a larger risk reduction first (“Top-down” approach), also reinforcing the result that a “Bottom-up” approach is more consistent with answers in line with theoretical predictions for a larger part of respondents.