An hedonic approach applied to scanner data on cured ham purchases in Spain

A quantity-dependent hedonic model is used to study consumers’ actual purchases of cured ham, recorded through scanner in Spain, between April 2003 and March 2004. A Zero Inflated Negative Binomial (ZIB) model is applied because of the high proportion of zero purchase-values and the finding of overdispersion in the data. Ham characteristics are used as explanatory variables, such as breed, origin, EU Quality Certification squemes (PDO, PGI, STG), type of brand (producer’s and distributor’s), sale format (whole leg, vacuum packaged, on request), ripening period and price. Monthly dummies variables are also added to capture a possible seasonal effect. The results show that the distributor’s brand, the whole leg sale format, the origin Teruel and its certification through a PDO are the main attributes affecting cured ham purchases. The Quality Certification has a significant effect when added to a locally produced ham (PDO Teruel), while in general, it has a negative impact. Vacuum packages and ripening period, have a negative impact on the quantity purchased. The positive impact of the attributes on cured ham purchases are reinforced when attached with Iberian ham, especially in the case of a distributor’s brand and a whole leg sale format. In addition, the negative impact of the vacuum packages is mitigated when the breed of the ham is Iberian.