MKTG 441 Media Strategy: Consumer
Consumer Profiles by Product/Lifestyle
If you're researching the demographics and attitudes/behaviors of consumers for a particular product/service or lifestyle, start with resources below:
- Mintel
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find the report on your product/service category, then click on the Consumer section - Passport (by Euromonitor)
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Contains extensive statistics and analyses on countries, industries, companies, and consumers. - Statista
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Provides statistics from over 18,000 free and proprietary sources on a wide range of topics such as business, media, and demographics. - MRI-Simmons
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Demographics, psychographics, and media usage of U.S. adult consumers. Allows 5 simultaneous users. - SMA: Sports Market Analytics (formerly SBRNet: Sport Business Research Network)
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Provides coverage of market segmentation for sporting goods, sports e-commerce, sports marketing, sports sponsorship, and sports facilities as well as articles on sports broadcasting and social media. - Reference Solutions (formerly ReferenceUSA)
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Choose the US Consumers/Lifestyles database on the landing page. You can search by individual names or by a combo of variables (lifestyles, income, location, etc.).
Useful Websites
- Pew Research Center"A nonpartisan fact tank" on issues, attitudes, and trends, covering topics such as politics, media, social trends, religion, technology, etc..
- Nielsen Insights"Discover the latest Nielsen insights based on our robust data and analytics to connect and engage with today's audiences"
- Harris Poll"Tracking the sentiment, behaviors and motivations of American adults since 1963"
- GallupPublic opinion polls
- American Time Use SurveyMeasures the amount of time people spend doing various activities, such as paid work, childcare, volunteering, and socializing. Collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Facebook Audience InsightsProvides demographic (age, gender, education level, etc.) and psychographic (interests, hobbies, lifestyles) data about your target audience.
- Think with Google Consumer InsightsArticles and reports with data and analysis on consumer behaviors.
Industry/Trade Associations
An industry association is established to advocate for the industry and associated companies. They collect and provide unique data/articles/reports. Sometimes these sources are on their websites for free.
To find the industry association websites:
- Do a Google search with keywords followed by "association".
- Industry profiles in library databases may have a section for related associations. For example, in the IBISWorld report, look under the External Environment -> Assistance -> Non-government section.
Consumer Profiles by Location
If you are research "who lives here and what are they like?", start with the following resources:
- ESRI TapestryFree site. Enter zip code to get top segments in that area. Segment profile covers demographic and lifestyle traits.
- MybestsegmentsConsumer demographics and lifestyles based on zip code. Basic information is free (PSU doesn't have full subscription)
- PolicyMap
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Provides mapping, data, and analytics tools on U.S. demographics, real estate, health, jobs, education, and more topics. Mapping allows for multiple layers and editable data ranges. - Social Explorer
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Social Explorer is an online research tool designed to access current and historical U.S. Census data and demographic information. It contains maps, profile reports, data elements, and variables. - Sage DataContains national, state-level, and local level historical data for the areas of agriculture, crime and law enforcement, defense, economy, education, employment and labor, energy and environment, geography, government finances, health, households and housing, political science, population, social welfare as well as transportation. Replaces Sage Stats.
- Reference Solutions (formerly ReferenceUSA)
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Provides profiles of U.S. companies, health care providers, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies.
- Census Quick FactsProvides quick data profiles as well as comparison on state, county, city, town, or zip code.
- Census DataPortal for Census data on population and economy. (** Replacing the American FactFinder. More info on the transition and data availability.)
- Census Business Builder"A suite of services that provide selected demographic and economic data from the Census Bureau tailored to specific types of users in a simple to access and use format."
- RKMA - U.S. Cities & Communities 2025 (ebook)Presents consumer-related characteristics of U.S. cities, including "best cities" rankings.
Related Resources:
- SimplyAnalyticsA demographic mapping tool used to research geographics in order to understand communities and target markets. * Available from the Multnomah County Library
Select Reference Books on Specific Industries & Consumers
- NSGA Reports & StatisticsReports and datasets from National Sporting Goods Association. Includes: Sports Participation in the US (2019-), Sports Participation Lifecycle Demographics (2019-), Gen Z Shopper Playbook (2022), Shopper Playbook (2015), and The Sporting Goods Market (2019).
- RKMA eBook CollectionProvides access to current RKMA PDF ebooks, which contain industry, consumer, and other relevant information useful for industry and market research.