Consumers' acceptability and actual choice. An exploratory research on cured ham in Spain

Acceptability and actual choice of cured ham is investigated combining hedonic valuations and actual purchase information of a sample of Spanish consumers. Main methods of analysis include internal preference mapping, cluster (k-means and agglomerative hierarchical), and bivariate association measures (chi-square, two- and one-way ANOVA). Three market segments are identified with distinct acceptability patterns which in turn are found to be associated with rather consistent purchasing behaviours and specific socio-demographic traits.