Self-image and valuation of moral goods: Stated versus actual willingness to pay

• Hypothetical bias in stated-preference methods appears sometimes to be very large, and other times non-existent. This is here largely explained by a model where people derive utility from a positive self-image associated with morally commendable behavior. The results of a choice experiment are consistent with the predictions of this model: the hypothetical marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) for a moral good (contributions to a WWF project) is significantly higher than the corresponding real-money MWTP, whereas no hypothetical bias is seen for an amoral good (a restaurant voucher). Moreover, the evidence suggests that also the real-money MWTP for the moral good is biased upwards, in the sense that it appears to be higher within than outside the experimental context. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Stated-preference methods

Choice experiment

Hypothetical bias

Self-image

Non-market valuation

public-goods

contingent valuation

social preferences

prosocial

behavior

identity salience

impure altruism

cheap talk

warm-glow

motivation

model

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)