If you brew it, who will come? Market segments in the U.S. beer market

Abstract

This article uses data collected from a large number of representative United States beer drinkers to identify potential market segments through consumers' taste perceptions of various beer brands. We use several well-established marketing research methods to show that distinctive segments of the beer market underlie aggregate demand for craft beer. Using exploratory factor analysis, we find that consumers tend to group beers by two underlying factors of taste. We then use cluster analysis to provide a description of how market segments are influenced by brand familiarity. Overall, this article highlights consumer heterogeneity in the modern U.S. beer market and provides an example of how one might use primary data to analyze segmentation in a growing but highly competitive market. [EconLit citations: : C83, M3, Q1].