Gravity Models: Predicting Attraction by Population Size
In our previous blog post we introduced Gravity Models a useful function that allows businesses and organizations to choose the location of their next store or mall. This time we are going to apply Huff’s Law to populated areas to study their attraction based on population as an extension to the gravity model of migration.
According to this law the probability of patronage to a specific business is dependent on the distance from the patron’s home to that business the attractiveness of that business based on the size of the surrounding population and adjusted by the presence of other potential businesses in the neighborhood.
When tasked with selecting a new location for your next store or business you can use these models as a way to predict potential success for profit and popularity. For example in this visualization by selecting Zaragoza from the drop down list of cities in the top right selector and zooming in you'll notice several factors:
Gravity Models make decision making processes easy when location is key to your businesses success. Stay tuned for our next installment on Gravity Models and how you can optimize your strategic location-based business decisions.
Happy data mapping!
