CCM asks the respondent to state a preference between one
group of environmental services or characteristics,
at a given price or cost to the individual, and another group of environmental characteristics at a different price or
cost.
Focuses on tradeoffs among scenarios with
different characteristics, contingent choice is especially suited to policy decisions where a set of
possible actions might result in different impacts on natural resources or environmental services.
Useful in valuation of improvements to
ecosystems, given that several service flows are often simultaneously affected.
May also be used to
simply rank options, without focusing on dollar values.
Formats for
applying contingent choice methods:
Contingent Ranking—Contingent ranking surveys ask individuals to compare and
rank alternate program
outcomes with various characteristics, including costs.
Discrete Choice—In the discrete choice approach, respondents are
simultaneously shown two or more
different alternatives and their characteristics, and asked to identify the
most preferred
alternative in the choice.
Paired Rating—variation on the discrete choice format, where respondents
are asked to
compare 2 alternate situations and are asked to rate them in terms of
strength of preference.
Choices that respondents make are
statistically analyzed using discrete
choice statistical techniques, to determine the
relative values for the different characteristics or attributes. If one of the characteristics is a monetary price, then it is possible
to compute the respondentÕs willingness to pay for the other characteristics.