Usagerate analysis has yielded some interesting information. Years ago, a major brewery studied beer consumption. People were classified as nonconsumers, light consumers, medium consumers, or heavy consumers. The market study revealed that the number of people who consumed at least twentyfour 12ounce equivalents a day was large enough for the group to be considered a separate segment. People in the auto business also pay attention to usage rates.
Auto dealers are particularly interested in how often people trade in their cars.
Tire dealers are interested in how many miles people drive each year and how often they replace their tires. Car washes, muffler shops, and gas stations also want to know about the different usage categories of customers. Restaurants illustrate the value of the usagerate classification system as a way of identifying customers. As a restaurateur, your marketing mix would be very different if you were going after people who live in one particular neighborhood, who dine out three times a week, and who are loyal to one restaurant. A different marketing mix would be used if the target market you were trying to attract consisted of tourists or conventioneers who might be in that town only once in their lifetimes.