The authors analyze data from an in‐store experiment in Colorado to estimate willingness to pay for “local” and “organic” labels in fresh apples, and investigate consumers' motivations. They found that the value of the “local” trumps that of “organic,” and motivations for valuing “local” correlate with social and public good consumer values. One methodological finding is that a simple scaling of the choice experiment offering, from 1 to 2 pounds of apples, induces a rather large change in the estimated premia. The authors explain this effect within the context of the bias induced by social desirability. [Econ Lit classification: Q120, Q130, Q180]. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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Noise, or unwanted sound, exposure has been shown to have a wide range of negative physical and psychological effects. Although situational context, sound characteristics, and individual expectation affect the experience of noise and its related outcomes, the personality trait of noise sensitivity also plays a critical role in assessing noise impacts. As the most widely used 21item Noise Sensitivity Scale measure of sensitivity is often too long to administer in time-sensitive field settings, the authors conducted five studies to create and validate a shortened, field friendly version of the original, longer measure of noise sensitivity. The resulting five-item measure of noise sensitivity was shown to be internally consistent, temporally stable, highly correlated with the original measure, and predictive of noise-related outcomes such as attitudes toward specific noise, acceptability ratings of noise events, and motivations for visiting quiet locations. The applied value of the scale and implications for facilitating future research are discussed.

Results from the investigations of order and range effects suggest a number of different principles that could be applied to future studies employing visual based methods. These principles are discussed along with future avenues of research that were uncovered through the course of the investigations of order and range effect biases.iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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