You are an analyst in a state Department of Parks and Recreation. The state is famous for Dizzy Vista Mountain, which has a fabulous view of an eagle's nesting area. You are asked to analyze a proposal by a state lawmaker to impose an annual tax of $10 per household to maintain the ecological health of the nesting area. The lawmaker based his proposal on the response to an email survey, in which he asked his constituents if they would be willing to pay $10 a year for this purpose; 85% said yes. Your department head asks you to check whether there was hypothetical bias in the lawmaker's survey. She suggests you survey visitors to Dizzy Vista Mountain. She gives you some free coupons for the parking lot at Dizzy Vista Mountain, each worth $5.
(a) Design four experiments, one each for real, hypothetical, consequential, and "cheap talk" scenarios. Discuss what you expect to learn from each experiment and how you can use your work to evaluate the WTP determined in the state lawmaker's survey.
(b) Comment on studying visitors to Dizzy Vista Mountain. Why is this a good group to study? Are there reasons that it might not be a good study sample?