Guides: SEC Capstone Resources: Demographics and Target Markets

Top Resources for Understanding the Consumer

Mintel Reports This link opens in a new window
Provides market research report insights for market share, consumer profiles, forecasting, driving forces, and distribution methods on very specific consumer markets in the US. Common data sources include: Simmons Consumer Research Information Resources, Inc., (IRI) Nielsen/NPD, Trade Associations and Mintel's unique consumer research. This database is only available to current Pepperdine students, faculty, and staff.
Passport (formerly Global Market Information Database) This link opens in a new window
From Euromonitor International, Passport GMID provides business intelligence on countries, consumers and industries and offers detailed analysis of consumer and industrial markets around the world across 781 cities, 210 countries, and 27 industries with historic data from 1997 and forecasts through 2020. This database is only available to current Pepperdine students, faculty, and staff.

Consumer Lifestyles information can be found from the Search Analysis section of the Passport opening page using the following steps:

Select Economies and Consumers
Within the drop-down Choose a Topic, select Lifestyles
Pick a Country from the Geography drop-down box
Click Go

eMarketer (now Insider Intelligence) This link opens in a new window
Includes daily research articles, analyst reports, and a database of e-business and online marketing statistics, aggregated and analyzed from over 4,000 sources. Topics include market research and trend analysis on Internet, e-business, online marketing, media and emerging technologies.

Additional Consumer Demographic Data Resources

American Time Use Survey
From the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Measures the amount of time people spend doing various activities, such as work, childcare, leisure activities.
Consumer Expenditure Survey
Identifies the buying habits of American consumers, including data on their expenditures, income, and consumer unit (families and single consumers characteristics).
Population Projections
Forecasts from the U.S. Census
Population Reference Bureau (PRB) Data Finder
Provides summaries of U.S. demographic and population characteristics
Reports on Families, Computer Use, Migration/Geographic Mobility, etc.
Reports on Families, Computer Use, Migration/Geographic Mobility, etc.
United Nations Demographic and Social Statistics
Demographics on countries around the world.

United States Census Bureau Data This link opens in a new window
The Census Bureau is the leading source of quality data about the nation's people and economy. Data access and dissemination system that provides useful facts and information about your community, your economy, and your society. The system will find and retrieve the information you need from some of the Census Bureau's largest data sets.

Using Claritas 360 from SRDS for Consumer Demographic Data (Geographic & Other Breakouts)

SRDS Media Solutions This link opens in a new window
Claritas 360 (formerly Nielsen Segmentation & Market Solutions) is an application available within SRDS that allows users to measure consumer demand and evaluate locations and markets. It provides users with information for finding best customers, customer locations, and how best to engage with them. *** Claritas 360 has replaced the Nielsen Segmentation & Market Solutions module.***

Additional Resources for Consumer Demographic Data

Who's Buying [Series] by New Strategist
Call Number: ONLINE
ISBN: 9781937737627
New Strategist is a helpful resource for understanding consumer spending and demographic trends in the American marketplace with data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

GfK MRI University Reporter
Note: This resource has been replaced by Simmons Brand Catalyst.

Tip: Use GfK MRI Mediamark Reporter to view demographic data and media viewer rates for those who reported engaging in many different activities by degrees of frequency (e.g., once in the past year, once per month, 2+ times a week).

Mediamark Reporter Help:

How to Read a Mediamark Report
This one page PDF from Bentley University explains how to interpret data in a Mediamark report.
Mediamark University Internet Reporter Tutorial
This 15 page PDF document explains how to use the Mediamark University Internet Reporter.
How to Change MRI Mediamark Default Target Settings
This document from Bentley University librarians provides instructions for adding ALL available targets to your default target settings.
How to Use the Mediamark database
This series of Video Tutorials is brought to you by Western Washington University librarian, Elizabeth Stephan.
Mediamark Reporter/MRI+ User Guide Definitions
A guide to commonly used terms in the Mediamark/MRI+ databases.
Mediamark Survey of the American Consumer Questionnaires & Technical Guides
View the personal interview questionnaire, product booklet and technical guide (which includes methodology) used for each survey.