Markets & Advertising

Librarian: Shaun Bennett

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General Market Research

Searching for market reports on Google you’ll likely find reports that seem like a perfect match, but require purchase. The Libraries cannot purchase those reports, however we recommend that you utilize our databases. 

The best database for your research will depend on the type of market.

  • Euromonitor Passport GMID offers international-level market share statistics on consumer product categories,  from food services to children’s toys, including raw data and reports. The "Industries" and "Consumers" tabs are the most helpful for market research.
  • Frost & Sullivan Reports is a source for market research on high tech, medical, automotive, and engineering. While not every topic is covered, it’s worth doing a quick search to see what comes up. 
  • Derwent Innovations Index gives access to the United States Patent databases. Patent searches are a great way to see what’s going on in an industry, and to check if another company is working on a similar product.
  • Market Share Reporter offers comparative business statistics. Each entry features a descriptive title, data and market description, a list of producers/products along with their market share.
  • The UN Comtrade Database contains trade statistics. Over 170 reporter countries/areas provide the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) with their annual international trade statistics data detailed by commodities/service categories and partner countries. 

Consumer Research

  • Mintel Reports has survey-backed reports for most consumer industries.  Going deeper into the "Explore Demographics" section allows fine-grain control of the questions and the answering demographic.
  • ESRI Business Analyst Online contains demographic, consumer spending, and business data. You can narrow by geographic region, then create detailed reports showing consumer behavior and purchasing habits. Under the "Build Reports" section use the "Custom Reports" option to search through the available data points. To get access, log in through https://ncsu.maps.arcgis.com/ and click the Sign-in link in the upper right.  Then click the blue button that says "North Carolina State University (Single Sign On).  At this point, enter your UNITY ID and password to authenticate through Shibboleth. Once logged in, click on the menu next to your name and look for the Business Analyst button.
  • Claritas Consumer Profiles can be found inside the Data-Planet database. Click on Datasets at the top, then on Source on the left menu. Look for Claritas, then click on the year you’re interested in. Browse through the three major sources: ConneXions, P$YCLE Premier, and PRIZM Premier.

Branding and Advertising

  • Brands and their Companies lists manufacturers and distributors from small businesses to large corporations. It provides complete coverage of U.S. consumer brands and manufacturers, including companies that are out of business, as well as brands that are no longer in production.
  • PaperChem is a paper products database, but has some great resources on branding and packaging in general. Try using a Boolean search like “packaging” AND <industry> to see what kind of packaging trends are happening your industry.

Regulation of Marketing in U.S.

Marketing practices are regulated at the federal, state, and local levels. Generally, federal regulations apply to interstate commerce, and state and local regulations govern intrastate commerce.

Below are three major regulatory bodies that play a part in product labeling practices and advertising claims:

Federal Trade Commission - Business Information

Food & Drug Administration - Information for FDA-Regulated Industry

Federal Communications Commission

 

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