Empirical and methodological challenges in choice experiments

Choice experiments (CEs) are a powerful tool to predict future market demand or to assess the impact of public and private interventions to steer choice behavior ex ante and at a low cost. This is illustrated by the growing body of literature relying on CEs. However, there are several challenges to improve preference assessments based on CEs such as the presence of hypothetical biases, the use of heuristics and the improvement of experimental and survey design. Thus there is still room for empirical and methodological advances. A first objective is therefore the analysis and empirical testing of the validity of fully compensatory models based on stable preferences. A second objective focuses on a systematic examination of the differences between what respondents say they will do and what they will actually do in real life as well as how these differences can be influenced. A third objective is to improve the comparability of the many ad hoc case studies that typically generate context-dependent results. Structuring the research tackling these challenges across disciplines and research groups as well as stimulating the exchange of knowledge and good practices constitute the most important goals of this SRN.