See Your Product's Real Place in the Consumer's Life

When does the consumer remember your product, what need drives the choice, when do they go to a competitor? Measure behavior patterns, consumption moments, and in-category preferences that sales data doesn't show.

Usage habits research (Usage & Attitudes / U&A) is a research type that measures when, where, with what motivation, and how frequently a product or category is used by consumers. Sorbunu accelerates U&A research with its self-serve infrastructure, making it easier for brands, startups, and research teams to uncover consumption moments, user segments, and in-category behavior patterns.

Try for Free

Sales Data Shows "How Much," Not "Why"

Sales figures tell you how many units moved. But they don't answer why the consumer chose that product, at what moment they used it, what need it fulfilled, or what alternative they switched from. Setting strategy without seeing the behavior behind performance means working with only half the picture.

Usage habits research reveals this invisible half. You measure consumption frequency, usage time and place, motivations, and in-category substitutions in the same study. This way you understand not just "how much was sold" but "where the product sits in the consumer's life."

This data feeds many strategic decisions from product development to communication planning, channel strategy to segment prioritization. A food brand can't determine the right communication message without knowing whether their product is consumed at breakfast or as an evening snack. A startup can't build a competitive strategy without knowing what alternative their users switch to.

What Does This Research Type Measure?

The focus of usage habits research is not what's thought but what's done. While most other research types measure perception and preference, U&A looks directly at behavior.

Core measurement areas:

Usage frequency

How often is the product used? Daily, weekly, occasionally?

Consumption moments

Morning or evening, at home or outside, alone or in social settings?

Usage context

What need drives the choice? Routine, a special moment, or problem-solving?

Motivations

Functional or emotional? For convenience, pleasure, or health?

In-category substitutions

What alternatives does the consumer switch the product with?

Churn and loyalty

Why do they leave, why do they come back, how loyal are they?

Open-ended responses

Capturing the language and reasoning behind behavior in the consumer's own words

The real value of this data is showing where the product sits in life. Knowing usage moments clarifies which moment to own in communication, which gap to fill in product development, and which channel is more strategic in distribution.

Listen to the Right Behavior from the Right Person

Asking someone who doesn't use the category about usage habits produces noise, not data. The quality of U&A research starts with targeting the right user types.

With Sorbunu, you can separately target heavy users, light users, category newcomers, your brand's users, and those going to competitor brands. Each segment's usage patterns are different, and these differences are the source of strategic insights.

For example, a coffee brand might find through research that heavy users consume the product as a morning routine while light users only prefer it in social settings. These two behavior patterns require completely different communication messages and channel strategies. If you look at the "average user," you'll miss both.

You can narrow the research to your needs with segment-based quotas and filters, and examine regional differences and demographic breakdowns separately.

See Not Just Usage Frequency, But Also Motivation

Two people who use the same product three times a week may be using it for completely different reasons. One for convenience, one for pleasure, one for health reasons, one out of habit. The frequency number is the same but the motivation differs. And this motivation difference changes the product's place in that person's life and therefore the communication strategy.

Measuring motivations alongside quantitative usage data is important in U&A research. Separating functional and emotional motivations, seeing the relationship between brand loyalty and category substitution, and understanding churn reasons produces actionable insights.

Capturing usage rationale in the consumer's own language through open-ended responses completes the story behind quantitative data. The answer to "why do you choose this brand?" sometimes reveals an unexpected motivation.

Growth Opportunity Comes Not Just from More People, But More Moments

Category growth is usually thought of as "reaching more people." But usage habits research also shows a second growth path: capturing more consumption moments in existing users' lives.

In research results, moments where the product is weak become visible alongside moments where it's strong. Consumption moments owned by competitors, usage gaps that no brand has filled, and usage scenarios that existing users aren't aware of can turn into strategic growth opportunities.

This perspective is especially valuable in mature categories where penetration is already high and acquiring new users is difficult. But it's equally valid for a startup entering a new category: the question "at which moments do users remember my product, and at which moments doesn't it come to mind?" directly shapes early-stage growth strategy.

When Is This the Right Research Type?

Choose usage habits research when:

You want to see in detail how consumers use the product or category
You want to map consumption moments and usage contexts
You want to understand in-category switching and substitution behavior
You want to uncover growth opportunities from existing users' behavior
You want to base product development, communication, or channel strategy on behavior data

Consider a different research type when:

Your question is "are our customers satisfied with the experience?"Customer Satisfaction →
Your question is "how is the brand's perception changing over time?"Brand Perception Tracking →
Your question is "does this product idea generate interest?"Product & Concept Testing →

How It Differs from Sibling Research Types

Usage habits vs customer satisfaction:

Usage habits answers "what is the consumer doing?" and focuses on behavior. Customer satisfaction answers "are they satisfied with the experience?" and focuses on evaluation. One measures behavior, the other emotion.

Usage habits vs brand perception tracking:

Brand tracking monitors the brand's mental position (awareness, preference, associations). U&A measures the product's real-life usage patterns. One focuses on "what do you think?" the other on "what do you do?"

Usage habits vs product & concept testing:

Concept testing measures reaction to a product idea not yet on the market. U&A reveals the actual usage patterns of a product or category already in use.

Frequently Asked Questions

It's a research type that measures when, where, with what motivation, and how frequently a product or category is used by consumers. Known in the industry as Usage & Attitudes (U&A).

It answers questions like when the product is used, where it's consumed, how frequently it's preferred, what need it fulfills, what alternatives it's substituted with, and what the churn reasons are.

Usage habits focuses on behavior: what's being done? Customer satisfaction focuses on evaluation: is the customer satisfied with the experience?

Yes. Different user groups can be separately targeted and compared in the same study. Seeing segment-based usage patterns improves the quality of strategic decisions.

Yes. A startup can see how users actually use the product, at which moments they remember it, and which alternatives they go to with even a 200-300 person sample. This data forms a valuable foundation for product development and growth strategy.

For basic behavior analysis, 600 participants is a good starting point. If you'll do segment-based comparisons, the sample needs to be increased to ensure adequate representation for each segment.

Usage frequency, consumption moments, motivations, segment breakdowns, and open-ended responses are tracked together on a live dashboard. Results can be exported as Excel or PDF.