Alternate methods of conjoint analysis for estimating housing preference functions: Effects of presentation style

This paper reports the results of analysis conducted to test whether a verbal description of attribute profiles and a multimedia (virtual reality) representation in conjoint experiments generate differences in estimated utilities. Using possible extensions of a base housing design as an example, no evidence was found of significance differences in the overall internal and external validity of these alternate approaches in the present study. However, results suggest that the reliability of the measurement was better for the virtual reality experiment. In contrast, the face validity of the price attribute was better for the verbal- description-only style of presentation.