This study attempts to analyze Japan’s pricing policy alternatives for protected area management by assessing the general public’s preferences through best–worst scaling. Through best–worst scaling, researchers can quantitatively understand people’s preferences with fewer burdens. The conditional logit model showed that the mean response of the respondents placed a relatively high value on strategies for a “general entrance fee,” “fees for use,” and “licenses and permits.” All these ways of collecting fees are compulsory. However, an outcome of the latent class model revealed a segment of the population that deemed “voluntary fees” to be the most desirable form of making a contribution. Compared with evaluation via a Likert scale, employing the best–worst scaling method avoided response biases and provided deeper findings through choice probabilities.

本研究试图通过最差规模评估公众的偏好来分析日本保护区管理的定价政策选择。通过最差评估，研究人员可以以较少的负担定量地了解人们的偏好。有条件的logit模型显示，受访者的平均反应在“一般入场费”，“使用费”和“许可证和许可”的策略上具有相对较高的价值。所有这些收取费用的方式都是强制性的。但是，潜在阶级模型的结果表明，一部分人口认为“自愿收费”是最理想的捐款方式。与通过李克特量表进行的评估相比，