In search of value literacy: Suggestions for the elicitation of environmental values

This paper recognises the many contributions to work on environmental value s while arguing that some reconsideration of elicitation practices is warra nted. It argues that speaking and thinking about certain environmental valu es, particularly ethical expressions, are ill-matched with the affectively neutral, direct question-answer formats standard to willingness-to-pay and survey methods. Several indirect, narrated, and affectively resonant elicit ation tasks were used to provide study participants with new opportunities to express their values. Coded results demonstrate that morally resonant, i mage-based, and narrative-style elicitation tasks help respondents articula te a broader range of noncost and nonutilitarian environmental values. Howe ver, it was found that elicitations of this kind are most useful when prese nted in a affectively subtle and noncontroversial form. Several suggestions for synthesising these methods with more structured forms (e.g., surveys, constructed preferences, etc.) are offered.