Pure Altruism, Consumer Behavior and Choice Modeling *

An important assumption underlying non-market valuation is that it is not the environment but the human preference that is valued. This paper attempts to test whether individual consumer behavior is influenced by a purely altruistic motive, examining the attitude of hikers towards the hypothetical removal of the Muju ski resort from the Mount Togyu National Park in South Korea. Data were collected from samples of hikers and skiers who visited the national park. The respondents were forced to consider trade-offs between the recovery of the lost environmental assets in the Muju ski resort area, skiers' additional travel time, and willingness-to-pay amounts for the hypothetical environmental improvement. It was found that hikers did not take into account skiers' disutility represented by additional travel time. Copyright 2006 East Asian Economic Association and Blackwell Publishing Ltd..