Development of an online discrete choice experiment to elicit preferences for tobacco treatment among college students

Abstract

Objective

To develop an online discrete choice experiment (DCE) to elicit preferences for the format and content of tobacco treatment and determine the feasibility of the survey in face-to-face online interviews among college students.

Participants

A convenience sample of 28 college students.

Methods

A pilot online DCE survey with sixteen choice sets was developed. The feasibility was assessed by: 1) ease of reading the survey descriptions, 2) ease of completing the DCE survey, and 3) appropriateness of the number of choice sets. Think-aloud data were analyzed to understand decision-making processes.

Results

All participants completed the DCE survey and reported that it was very easy to read and complete and that the number of sixteen choice sets was appropriate. Such results support the feasibility of our online DCE survey. Five decision-making strategies were identified.

Conclusions

An online DCE survey administered during online interviews may replace in-person interviews for college students.

Keywords:

• Discrete choice experiment
• think-aloud
• tobacco treatment

Acknowledgment

The authors thank the undergraduate students, Jillian Estrope and Rita Shakory, for assistant with data collection.

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of United States and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of Wayne State University.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University Research Opportunity Program.