A general treatment of 'don't know' responses from choice experiments

作者：Balcombe Kelvin; Fraser Iain^*

来源：European Review of Agricultural Economics, 2011, 38(2): 171-191.

DOI：10.1093/erae/jbr010

• choice experiment
• respondent uncertainty
• Bayesian methods

In this paper, a modelling approach is developed for the treatment of 'don't know'(DK) responses, within choice experiments (CEs). A DK option is motivated by the need to allow respondents the opportunity to express uncertainty. Our model explains a DK using an entropy measure of the similarity between options given to respondents within the CE. We illustrate our model by applying it to a CE examining consumer preferences for nutrient contents in food. We find that similarity between options in a given choice set does explain the tendency for respondents to report DK.

• 出版日期2011-6