Business Librarian
Market research reports
Can you buy this market research report I found via Google?
Market research reports are incredibly expensive, and the libraries don't have the budget resources to purchase individual reports for each student business plan. You can find some full-text reports via Business Source Complete and Factiva.
Otherwise, utilize the secondary data about consumer behavior available through Mintel Academic.
Consumer Research Reports
Consumer research databases: JMU subscriptions
- Insider Intelligence This link opens in a new windowContent type(s): Market data, statistics, and analyst reports on the Internet, e-business, digital marketing, media, and emerging technologies.
Dates covered: Current - Mintel Academic This link opens in a new windowContent types: Market data and forecasting for consumer industries in the U.S. and U.K.
Dates covered: Current - Statista This link opens in a new windowContent type(s): Data aggregation and research platform covering North American, European, and Asian markets, industries and societal topics.
Dates covered: Varies - Claritas 360 This link opens in a new windowContent type(s): Demographic and market segmentation reports
Dates covered: Current
Useful for more specialized products
- Data Axle: US Standard White Pages This link opens in a new windowDatabase of over 153 million US residents.
- Sports Market Analytics This link opens in a new windowMarket research and industry news covering all facets of the sporting goods and sport marketing industry.
- Consumer Brand Analytics This link opens in a new windowMarket size, demographics, social media and sports fan involvement for 200+ consumer brands in 19 product categories.
Social Surveys & Polls
Consumer attitudes: Public opinion polls & social surveys
Data on U.S. consumer attitudes & preferences. All sites can be searched free but full reports are not always freely available.
- The Harris PollSite contains press releases of major polls. Search to get results; browsing doesn't get you much.
- Pew Research CenterA nonpartisan fact tank that is especially useful for its Internet & Tech reports. Try searching by keyword.
- GallupProvides limited free information about polls. Try looking under Topics under Retail or Marketplace.
- General Social SurveyNORC at the University of Chicago is an independent research institution. Not all reports are available free. Try "Browse all research topics".
Demographics & Lifestyles
Consumer research websites: Free resources
These resources give you insight into demographics, market areas and consumers' tastes and preferences.
- DataUSAThe most comprehensive website and visualization engine of public U.S. Government data.
- Consumer Expenditure Survey (BLS.GOV)High-level data on current buying habits of Americans, by demographics & type of purchase/service.
- American Time Use Survey (BLS.GOV)Recent data on how American spend their time, tracking activities such as paid work, childcare, and socializing.
- Explore Census DataAs of July 2019, this is the new platform for accessing US Census Data.
- Think with Google: Consumer Behavior and TrendsBy mining Google search trends and YouTube watch behavior, you can uncover a wealth of insights on consumer behavior.
- Google Search TrendsGauge customer interest: track Google search trends over time by search term and geography.
Narrow by query location and time range.