Appropriateness of WTP Measurement Approaches: A Cross-cultural Perspective

The current dissertation makes a preliminary attempt to investigate the validity of alternative WTP gauging methods from the standpoint of consumer characteristics with a special focus on their national cultures. In within sample comparisons, indirect WTP elicitation approaches appear more effective in the Chinese sample compared to direct ones, while direct WTP elicitation approaches appear more effective in the Swiss sample compared to indirect ones. In cross sample comparisons, indirect approaches appear more effective in the Chinese sample than in the Swiss sample, whereas direct approaches appear more effective in the Swiss sample than in the Chinese sample. We attribute these results to the high-context (low-context) cultural characteristics of the Chinese (Swiss) consumers, as observed in the communication scales, which orient Chinese (Swiss) consumers towards indirect (direct) communications, provoking greater (less) other-face concern and patience in the WTP stating procedure.