Predictors of Social Equity and Price Acceptability Judgments of User Fees

Abstract

This study investigated decision-making process and outcome variables that predict perceived social equity judgments and price acceptability of user fees for visitors to a national forest. Data were collected in onsite interviews of 228 visitors to a USDA Forest Service campground. Hypothetical conditions involving combinations of six procedural and distributive justice factors related to fee policies were created through 12 written scenarios. Five of the six variables were significant predictors in each of the two analyses. The most prominent predictor of social equity was public input. For price acceptability, the most prominent predictor was fee level.

Key Words:

• Social equity
• price acceptability
• public input
• fee level