Advantages and shortcomings of eliciting people’s willingness to pay using mixed techniques: evidence from a study of Olyset bednets in three village settings in north-eastern Tanzania

Abstract

Introduction: Agencies aiming to subsidize insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) in poverty striken and at risk communities face a critical  question about desirable price to fix per ITN without crowding-out the market of commercialized nets. Willingness to pay (WTP) studies  help in establishing evidence on consumers’ preferences to various products marketed.

Objective: To describe the advantages and  shortcomings of a study that employed different techniques to elicit community WTP for Olyset bednets in three villages in north-east  Tanzania

Methodology: Questionnaires comprising closed-ended and open-ended questions were applied, targeting adult members of  households and bednet retailers. Also, focus group discussions (FGDs) with household members were held.

Results: Different elicitation  techniques suggested different prices per Olyset net depending on the way the questions were applied and characteristics of study  participants and conditions in which they were found. While it may seem a limitation to apply different techniques and coming up with  different answers regarding the suggested optimal price of a product, we learn that consumers often value same product differently due  to either their different: perceptions on it or information obtained from the market or their ability to pay. The stated WTP price per an  Olyset bednet partly depended on the existing price of polyester nets quoted in the retail outlets which ranged between shillings 2500  and 4,500 while that quoted/fixed for the Olyset net under study was shillings 3,500. Olyset nets were preferred to polyester ones due to  their long-lasting polyethylene fabric material, blue colour and insecticide treated in them. Paying by instalment for Olyset nets was more  preferred to paying a full price at once.

Conclusion: Olyset nets have potential to attract many people if marketed carefully with reasonable prices informed by research and made physically accessed, especially in the market already dominated by polyester nets.