Estimating Producers’ Preferences for Sod Attributes: A Combined Approach of Discrete Choice Experiments and Eye-tracking Technology

Abstract

This study combines a discrete choice experiment and eye-tracking technology to investigate producers’ preferences for sod attributes including winterkill reduction, shade tolerance, drought tolerance, salinity tolerance, and maintenance cost reduction. Our study results show that sod producers valued drought tolerance the most, followed by shade tolerance, winterkill reduction, salinity tolerance, and lastly, a 10% maintenance cost reduction. Choice survey data revealed the existence of attribute non-attendance, i.e., respondents skipped some attributes, but statistical tests detected no clear evidence about the role of individuals’ attention changes on their willingness-to-accept estimates. Estimates using a scale heterogeneity multinomial logit model indicate an overall learning effect as respondents made choices in the survey. Producers’ willingness-to-accept were generally higher than consumers’ willingness-to-pay for the improved sod variety attributes, except for the drought tolerance attribute. However, the rankings for these attributes were the same between consumers and producers.