When valuing environmental goods with stated preferences, willingness to pay (WTP) might be influenced by a large number of factors. Recently, some researchers have focused their attention on individual emotions. In the behavioural and psychological literature there is evidence that emotions affect the individual decision-making process (Blanchette and Richards, 2010; Lerner et al., 2015), including the formation of preferences for public and environmental goods. Humans often do not make rational decisions, particularly in highly emotionally issues such as those concerning human-wildlife interactions (Hudenko, 2012). As suggested by Hanley et al. (2017), the issue of stated preference changes due to changing emotions is relevant, as it adds an element of context-dependence in field surveys. In the presence of context-dependence Cost-Benefit Analysis measurements might be biased and their interpretation difficult.

In our contribution we tested weather induced emotions had an influence on stated preferences and willingness to pay for wildlife conservation elicited with a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE). We used an image of an angry and scary wolf to induce fear in a first treatment, while assurance was induced by using a picture of a calm and assuring wolf in a second treatment. Results indicate that emotions had a significant effect on preferences and individual WTP for conserving the wolf, lynx and salamanders. These results confirm the behavioural literature for which emotions affect the higher levels of cognitive process and the related decision-making. The significant effect of induced emotions identified in this contribution is in line with Notaro et al., (2018), Araña & León (2009) and Araña & León (2008) and suggests that in some cases there is a legitimate concern about context-dependence of preferences. If Discrete Choice Experiments results are influenced by respondents' emotions, the estimation of environmental benefits might be biased. This is an important issue because reliable DCE results are required to be used in management and decision making, in order to make environmental decisions that satisfactorily represent public goals and preferences. Given that the literature on this topic is still scarce and some papers indicate opposite results (for example, Hanley et al. 2017), we encourage further research on this topic.