Environmental attitudes, motivations, and contingent valuation of nonuse values: a case study involving endangered species

This paper explores relationships among environmental attitudes, nonuse val ues for endangered species, and underlying motivations for contingent valua tion (CV) responses. The approach combines techniques from the attitude-beh avior and economic valuation literature. Attitudes are measured with the Ne w Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale, and economic values are derived from a r eferendum; CV survey for peregrine falcons and shortnose sturgeons. Respond ents with stronger pro-environmental attitudes are found more likely to pro vide legitimate yes/no responses, while those with weaker attitudes are mor e likely to protest hypothetical CV scenarios. Analysis reveals environment al attitudes as a significant explanatory variable of yes/no responses: whe reby stronger pro-environmental attitudes result in higher probabilities of responding 'yes'. Pro-environmental attitudes are also shown to result in higher estimates of mean willingness to pay (WTP). Significant relationship s are found between environmental altitudes and nonuse motivations. Specifi cally, pro-environmental attitudes are associated with stronger reliance on ethical motives for species protection. These results are discussed as the y relate to testing predictions in the literature about potential bias in C V studies and to supporting National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recommendations for improving CV reliability. (C) 2000 Elsevier Sci ence B.V. All rights reserved.