On the Stability of Preferences and Attitudes: A Hybrid Model of Air Travel Preferences at Two Different Points in Time

Many methods have been developed to give transport policy makers better insight into why different choices are made. One such methodology that has been receiving increasing attention is the hybrid choice model, which seeks to allow for a better understanding of the relationship between choices and attitudes or character traits latent to the respondent. Recently there has been debate as to the appropriateness of using such models to conclude that a change in a given attitude will bring a change in choice given the focus on cross-sectional data. To address this, the authors propose a framework to examine the stability of choices and attitudes over time. Making use of a repeated stated preference experiment conducted at two points in time on an identical set of respondents the authors find that, in the context of air security procedures, preferences and latent attitudes are relatively stable over time despite the two different and extreme shocks at the times the survey was conducted. While this is comforting to transport policy makers in some respects, these results lead one to ask that if choices and preferences do not change in extreme situations how changeable are they truly in the context of a nudge agenda by many governments? Additionally, the authors find some evidence that for the most part while latent attitudes are invariant, the role they play in choices differs over waves suggesting potential cognitive dissonance.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ADB10 Standing Committee on Traveler Behavior and Values. Alternate title: Stability of Preferences and Attitudes: Hybrid Model of Air Travel Preferences at Two Different Points in Time.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Beck, Matthew J
  • Hess, Stephane
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 96th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2017-1-8 to 2017-1-12
• Date: 2017

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 16p
• Monograph Title: TRB 96th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air travel; Attitudes; Choice models; Passenger screening; Passenger security; Stated preferences; Surveys
• Geographic Terms: Sydney (Australia)
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Planning and Forecasting; Security and Emergencies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01629546
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 17-05934
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Mar 20 2017 9:23AM