Stated preference and choice models applied to recreation research : a review

Abstract This article discusses the use and usefulness of stated preference and choice models in recreation/leisure research. Stated preference and choice models require one to design decision experiments to study recreational and leisure decisions made in hypothetical or simulated markets. Historically, such experiments were uncommon in recreation and leisure research; therefore we pay particular attention to comparisons of the stated preference modeling approaches with modeling approaches based on observations of choices made in real markets, such as the analysis of discrete choices using conditional and nested multinomial logit models. The conceptual and theoretical bases of stated preference and choice models are discussed; and procedures for developing such models, including different design strategies, are outlined. Potential uses of these models in recreation research are illustrated with reference to several recent empirical applications.