Hedonic quality adjustment was first introduced in the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) in 2003 for PCs. Since then the use of hedonics has expanded in UK consumer price statistics to include a further five technology products; digital cameras, laptops, mobile phones, pay as you go phones, smartphones and tablet PCs. This article reviews the use of hedonic quality adjustment in consumer price indices in the UK and internationally. It also details the reasons for changing the method of quality adjustment for pay-as-you-go phones and digital cameras, from hedonic adjustment to class mean imputation, from March 2014 onwards.
Source agency: Office for National Statistics
Designation: National Statistics
Language: English
Alternative title: Review of hedonic quality adjustment