Research Guides: Marketing Research: Consumer/Demographics

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Image Credits

2000 Decennial Census. By U.S. Government. Public Domain.

Databases with Consumer Information

It can be difficult to find consumer information (for example, which age group purchases the most yogurt?), and the databases below are your best bets.

Mintel Academic
Go to Category Overview > Demographic to see major groupings, or search for a specific population and product/industry (for example, women and yogurt).
MRI-Simmons Catalyst
If you are looking for data about who uses specific products or brands, Simmons NCS will provide the most specific answers. Simmons OneView provides access to U.S. adult consumer data on product and brand usage, spending behavior, media habits, and more. It can be used to create customized reports analyzing the demographic and psychographic characteristics of product users and their media behavior.
Passport
This database provides demographic, economic and lifestyle information for 205 countries. This is the source that is best for finding international consumer information.
Reference Solutions
Choose the U.S. Consumer/Lifestyles module to find out about consumers in particular zip codes. Check out the video below for more info.
Statista
Statista aggregates statistics and studies from market researchers, organizations, specialist publications, and government sources.
SBRNet
Provides analysis of statistical trends in major segments of the sports market.

Gov't Sources of Demographic Information

The U.S. government collects the most comprehensive data about the American people (all households are surveyed every 10 years for the Census, and a sampling is taken every 5 years for the American Community Survey). Most government information is available for free, but CU pays for some of the resources below that have enhanced features.

U.S. Census Data
This is the most comprehensive source for data on the American population, including the decennial census, American Community Survey, economic census, and much more.

Consumer Expenditure Survey
Consists of two surveys, the quarterly Interview Survey and the Diary Survey, that provide information on the buying habits of American consumers, including data on their expenditures, income, and consumer unit (families and single consumers) characteristics. This is the only federal survey to provide information on the complete range of consumer expenditures and incomes in the United States.

Social Explorer
This is the subscription version of American Factfinder. It contains data from the decennial census and American Community Survey from 1790 to the present, on topics such as age, gender, sex, race, ethnic origin, education, employment, occupations and housing of the U.S. population, as well as data on the number of congregations and adherents by religion from 1980 to the present. This database can create maps tracking demographic changes in the United States over time.

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Consumer Research
by Business Librarians Last Updated Feb 12, 2025 79 views this year