Exploring Social Preferences for Health and Well-Being Across the Digital Divide: A Qualitative Investigation Based on Tasks Taken From an Online Discrete Choice Experiment

Objectives: Increasingly, discrete choice experiments (DCEs) are conducted online, with little consideration of the digitally excluded, who are unable to participate. Policy makers or others considering online research data need clarity about how views might differ across this "digital divide." We took tasks from an existing online DCE designed to elicit social preferences for health and well-being outcomes. We aimed to explore (1) how telephone interview participants answered a series of choice tasks taken from an online DCE and (2) whether and how decision making for these tasks differed between digitally excluded and nonexcluded participants.

Methods: We conducted semistructured telephone interviews with members of the public (n = 27), recruited via an existing social research panel. Data were analyzed thematically to identify key approaches to decision making.

Results: Twelve participants were classed as "digitally excluded," and 15 as "digitally nonexcluded." Responses were similar between the 2 samples for most choice tasks. We identified 3 approaches used to reach decisions: (1) simplifying, (2) creating explanatory narratives, and (3) personalizing. Although these approaches were common across both samples, understanding the exercise seemed more challenging for the digitally excluded sample.

Conclusions: This novel study provides some assurance that the participants' views over the choice tasks used are similar across the digital divide. The challenges we identified with understanding highlight the need to carefully examine the views held by the digitally excluded. If online data are to inform policy making, it is essential to explore the views of those who cannot participate in online DCEs.