Contingent value measurement: On the nature and meaning of willingness to pay

Treating willingness to pay (WTP) for public goods as a behavioral intention, the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1985, 1987) was used to explore the meaning of contingent valuation measures. College students ( N = 150) completed a questionnaire that assessed a variety of attitudinal variables with respect to (a) participating in five leisure activities and (b) paying a user fee for engaging in those activities. In addition, WTP for each activity was also assessed. Within‐subjects correlations showed that WTP could be predicted from attitudes toward paying, but of the attitudinal measures toward engaging in the activity, only perceived affect associated with the activity was predictive of WTP. In multiple regressions, the decision in principle to pay or not to pay a user fee was influenced only by the affect perceived to be associated with engaging in a leisure activity and by ethical or moral considerations related to paying a user fee. Other factors related to paying a user fee, especially perceived normative expectations (subjective norms) and available resources (perceived behavioral control), added to moral considerations in determining how much money one would be willing to pay. These findings show that in the absence of relevant knowledge or information about the economic value of public goods, judgments in principle about WTP tend to rely on cognitive heuristics, or intuitive rules of thumb, and that more substantive considerations come into play when evaluating the amount of money to be paid.