Modelling consumer choice behaviour in space tourism

This paper presents the results of stated-preference, discrete choice experiments designed to examine potential consumer reactions to various options emerging in the embryonic space tourism industry. The research investigated choice behaviour between four types of space tourism: high-altitude jet fighter flights, atmospheric zero-gravity flights, short-duration sub-orbital flights, and longer duration orbital trips into space. Each type of space tourism was represented in terms of an array of major features that potentially may have a major impact on the perceptions, attitudes, and choice behaviour of likely customers in this market. The choice experiments were embedded in an information-rich, online survey. Choice data from the experiments were analysed with the mixed logit model, which is a random coefficient model that allows for a continuous distribution of the preferences (effects) for each feature. The results identify a number of features for each type of flight option as well as a number of customer characteristics that appear to impact the choice of space tourism type.