Learning, fatigue and preference formation in discrete choice experiments

Citation

Campbell D, Boeri M, Doherty E & Hutchinson WG (2015) Learning, fatigue and preference formation in discrete choice experiments. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 119, pp. 345-363. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2015.08.018

Abstract
While the repeated nature of discrete choice experiments is advantageous from a sampling efficiency perspective, patterns of choice may differ across the tasks, due, in part, to learning and fatigue. Using probabilistic decision process models, we find in a field study that learning and fatigue behavior may only be exhibited by a small subset of respondents. Most respondents in our sample show preference and variance stability consistent with rational pre-existent and well formed preferences. Nearly all of the remainder exhibit both learning and fatigue effects. An important aspect of our approach is that it enables learning and fatigue effects to be explored, even though they were not envisaged during survey design or data collection.

Keywords
Discrete choice experiments; Learning and fatigue behavior; Preference formation; Probabilistic decision process model; Preference and variance consistency

Journal
Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization: Volume 119