Yea-Saying in Contingent Valuation Surveys

Abstract

A number of recent papers have provided estimates of willingness to pay derived in contingent valuation surveys exceeding those revealed in experimental or real-life markets. One possible explanation for the overestimation of values is the presence of yea-saying. With the objective of reducing the occurrence of yea-saying, a new elicitation format, referred to as the dissonance-minimizing (D M) format, is proposed. An empirical comparison of the DM format with the conventional dichotomous-choice (DC) format and the ambivalence-reducing polychotomous choice (PC) format suggested by Ready, Whitehead, and Blomquist (1995) is made. Results are encouraging for the DM.