Willingness to pay, values, and attitudes: Exploring preferences for river restoration measures in Finland

In Finland, where only few major river systems run free without hydropower production or other artificial constructions, the demand for river restoration efforts is increasing. In a choice experiment for river restoration measures using a latent class model, we identified five distinct preference classes. Classes ranged from cost-conscious supporters of nationwide restoration to respondents favoring measures regardless of costs, as well as those emphasizing new trout and salmon waters or preferring the status quo. The main differences across classes concerned sensitivity to costs, the relative importance of restoring free-flowing river sections versus creating new fish waters, and whether restoration should be geographically restricted. To gain insight into the underlying values and attitudes guiding respondents' choices, we employed constructs of cognitive hierarchy model. Our analysis revealed that individuals favoring new restoration measures without concern for costs exhibited the strongest values and attitudes associated with environmental protection. Conversely, the class preferring the status quo displayed the weakest values and attitudes related to environmental protection. We provide insights into respondents who do not respond to the cost attribute as expected and for whom it is not meaningful to calculate willingness-to-pay estimates.