Consumption patterns of shrimp in Spain have been studied using the classical economic methodologies of hedonic models (Lancaster, 1966) and discrete choice experiments (McFadden, 1973). The hedonic model was used for assessing the attributes of shrimp products that significantly affect the differences in prices paid by consumers. Implicitly these are the attributes affecting the expected utility by consumers and therefore the perceived product value. Product data came from six national supermarket chains, whose prices and salient attributes were collected online on a weekly basis.
According to the results of the model, five attributes (size, production system, brand, species and geographical origin) determine more than 60% of the variation in sales prices. Within them, species and geographical origin are the ones that cause the greatest impact on prices, with the tiger prawn (Pennaeus monodon) and the origin of Madagascar, which have the highest sales prices, as well as the most minority market shares.
Taking this scenario as a reference, excluding the attributes corresponding to the least representative segments, a discrete choice experiment was carried out based on a fractional factorial design considering four factors to determine the probability of choosing different combinations of shrimp attributes.
The comparison of the two models raises interesting findings on the use of alternative extrinsic attributes and their implications on market shares and consumers choices.