Prference order in ACBC

Question

I have sequence order attribute (number  of TV channels included in the pay TV package) and expect preference order (the more channels the better), but I am not 100% sure whether the preference order is fine for all the respondents (I can imagine a client who finds it difficult to manage large number of channels and prefers medium number of TV channels to maximum number of TV channels). Is it a good idea to impose preference order (for Must-Have and Unacceptable questions) in such a case?
Besides I use component prices, which imply higher price for more channels with summed priced varying +/-30%.

Answer 1

Setting a preference order for the purpose of Must-Haves and Unacceptables does not necessarily impose preference order on the final utility estimates in ACBC.  It only guides the logic of how Unacceptables and Must-Have probing questions are asked.

When you impose preference order, the Must Have probe will ask the respondent such things as if they must have "at least 50 channels".  But the respondent doesn't need to pick this option if he/she doesn't feel it is true for him/her.

Also, for the Unacceptables probe, "less than 50 channels" would be offered as a possibility to choose as a rule that expresses the respondent's preference.  But, the respondent doesn't have to pick it.

So, individual-level respondents who feel that too many channels is actually a negative will be able to express themselves via their choice tasks (the BYO, the Screener section, and the ChoiceTournament).  

During utility estimation, just make sure to NOT impose utility constraints on the estimation for this attribute.