Abstract:

An online survey employing a discrete choice experiment was deployed in 2022 to gather information about households’ previous use of coastal resources in the Nature Coast of Florida and preferences towards reducing alterations in the quality/quantity of ecosystem services under various scenarios. Qualtrics, a provider of data collection and sample recruitment services for academic research, was used to recruit households to partake in our survey. Qualtrics offered an online survey software for creating and distributing surveys, collecting data, and analyzing responses. The household sample was comprised of residents within the state of Florida and within the southeastern United States and, furthermore, included both individuals who have visited and not visited the area. Outputs from this survey included the following: household trip frequency to the Nature Coast, previously engaged coastal activities, familiarity with fisheries/seagrass ecosystems, willingness to pay (WTP) to reduce alterations in ecosystem services provided by the Nature Coast, and demographic characteristics such as age, gender, education level, and household income. The results of a similar survey focused on saltwater anglers is available in GRIIDC dataset H4.x953.000:0007 (https://doi.org/10.7266/122QP80B).

Suggested Citation:

Savchenko, Olesya and Kelly Grogan. 2024. Household survey response data to assess use and non-use value of coastal resources in the Nature Coast, Florida, obtained in 2022. Distributed by: GRIIDC, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/QH7SEZS0

Purpose:

Estimate willingness to pay for changes in ecosystem services provided by the Nature Coast.

Data Parameters and Units:

Willingness to pay estimates (average dollar amount, significant level, and confidence intervals) for changes in population of fish species (snook, red drum, spotted sea trout) and % coverage of seagrass; aggregated demographics of respondents (% population or mean and standard deviation, age, gender, education level household income, activities within the Nature Coast, length of trip, and trip expenses).

Methods:

Survey data was collected using a Qualtrics panel. The survey design included a choice experiment with hypothetical environmental programs characterized by five distinct attributes: populations of snook, red drum, and spotted seatrout; percentage of seagrass coverage; and the annual cost to the household. Survey data was analyzed using a random parameters logit model and mean WTP for each attribute were calculated using the estimated parameters from the model.

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