Spanish Wine Consumer Behaviour: A Stated and Revealed Preferences Analysis

Overall wine consumption in Spain is decreasing while, at the same time, Designation of Origin (DO) wine consumption is increasing gradually. This study examines Spanish DO wine consumer behaviour through stated preferences (SP) and revealed preferences (RP) data. Part-worth utilities are calculated and results from both analyses are compared to look for similarities and differences between what respondents say on surveys and what they really do on real purchases. Consumer segmentation is undertaken based on purchase frequencies. In a second step, we try to pool the two data sources in order to get more meaningful and robust results. Results indicate similarities in the consumer choice process when comparing the two data sources, especially for the preference of the DO and wine aging attributes. The only difference detected is the price variable, where a concave price-utility function is obtained with the SP analysis and a negative linear price coefficient is obtained with the RP analysis. Likelihood ratio statistic indicates that equal parameters hypothesis is rejected, meaning that it is not possible to merge the two data sources. This is mainly due to the difference on consumers price perception which could be explained by the different purchase occasion selected in each case.