Restricted versus unrestricted choice in labelled choice experiments: exploring the tradeoffs of expanding choice dimensions

The main objective of the study outlined in this paper was to examine how the inclusion ofan additional labelled alternative, to provide respondents with more choice in a statedpreference survey, impacted on choice complexity. The valuation context was to elicitpreferences for improvements in the future condition of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Asplit sample experiment was implemented where one survey included four labelledalternatives: a status quo option and three specific policy management options (restrictedchoice). The other survey provided respondents with an unrestricted choice set by includinga fifth alternative choice, labelled as “a combination of management options”. While theadditional option improved opportunities to find an attractive choice profile, adding an extraalternative increased the complexity of the survey. The tradeoff between choice flexibilityand complexity is examined in terms of changes in respondents’ choice behaviour and theperformance of the different models. The results provide some evidence that adding acombination policy alternative did change the ways that respondents viewed tradeoffs, butthat choice behaviour and subsequent value estimates were consistent across the two surveyformats.