Recommended Starting Points
Remember that different resources can be used for different reasons.This page contains recommended starting points. You may want to consult these guides for additional resources and information:
Finding Customers
Use the Target Market/ Demographics guide for more information on target market, finding customers, determining size, and determining location. Here is a resource that might be helpful to start with:
Best Customers: Demographics of Consumer Demand by Call Number: HC110.C6 B384 2014ebPublication Date: 2014"Find out how the American marketplace has been transformed by the Great Recession in the new 10th edition of Best Customers: Demographics of Consumer Demand, with all-important 2012 spending data. Best Customers is a unique look at who the best and biggest customers are for hundreds of individual products and services. The new edition of Best Customers includes analyses of spending trends before (2000 to 2006) and after (2006 to 2012) the Great Recession, product by product."
Identify the industry code that your business/service falls under:
Simplify your research and keep things consistent by FIRST defining your industry by selecting the industry code(s) that classifies your business or service. This code will be particularly helpful when searching the databases or resources like American FactFinder.
- North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)
- Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) System Search
Use the Industry Research guide for more information and for specific resources that can help with understanding the market of a particular industry.
Search databases for articles or industry reports:
Articles
When searching for articles, review the information under the tab General Search Strategies.
For this assignment, you are likely looking for research studies that explored a similar topic to yours. E.g., if you are researching a bike share company and want to understand the successes or pitfalls that other companies have encountered on college campuses, you want to find research articles containing data that you can use. Similarly, the articles may lead you to other resources for further data, so be sure to read their literature review and bibliography/works cited sections.
Industry Reports
Try using keywords relating to your industry, or look up the NAICS code (see the next page titled Company & Industry Reports for more information).
- Business Source Complete This link opens in a new windowBusiness Source Complete is an essential tool for business students. It covers all disciplines of business, including marketing, management, accounting, banking, finance and more. Content includes many full-text journals and topical video content.
- Statista This link opens in a new windowStatista.com, by Statista, Inc. provides data on over 60,000 topics from over 18,000 sources, categorized into 21 market sectors. Statista.com provides quantitative data on media, business, finance, politics, and a wide variety of other areas.
Searching Websites
It's possible that the data you are seeking is published to a website rather than an academic article. To search for these resources in Google, add some keywords relevant to your research and the phrase "site:edu". You can explore other site endings as well (.gov, .org), depending on your topic.
e.g., bike sharing college campus study site:edu
Standard & Poor's Industry Surveys
- Standard & Poor's Industry Surveys byCall Number: HC106.6 .S74Analyzes over 50 major North American industries. Each industry survey contains information on: Current Environment; Industry Profile; Industry Trends; How the Industry Operates; Key Industry Ratio and Statistics; Glossary; Industry References (periodicals, trade associations, and government agencies); and, Comparative Company Analysis. Published quarterly.
What is provided in an S&P Industry Survey? Check out this sample provided from the Standard and Poor's publishing website.
Use the Industry Research guide for more information and for specific resources that can help with understanding the market of a particular industry.