Entrepreneurship Resources: Market Research
Market Research
Market research is the process of gathering, analyzing and interpreting information about:
- a market
- a product or service to be offered for sale
- competitors
- the past, present and potential customers for the product or service
This might be research into the characteristics, spending habits, location and needs of your business's target market, digging into the industry as a whole, or even the particular competitors you face. Market research can help you determined the viability of your product/service, understand your target market, provide consumer opinions and inform decisions.
Market Research for Entrepreneurs
Top UB Only Databases
- Social Explorer This link opens in a new windowDemographic information about the United States including historical data back to 1790. Use this tool to visualize census data and create interactive maps for presentations.
- ProQuest Statistical Abstract of the United States This link opens in a new windowComprehensive single source for U.S. statistics. More InfoData UB ONLY
- Gale Business: Insights This link opens in a new windowDetailed company and industry news, especially good for trade publications and industry reports.
- Mergent Intellect This link opens in a new windowMergent Intellect, formerly Hoover's, includes information on both public and private U.S. companies, Canadian companies, and international companies. More InfoUB ONLY
Articles & News
- Business Source Complete This link opens in a new windowBest for searching trade publications, magazines and academic journals. Includes publications like Forbes, Fortune, Entrepreneur, Time, and more!
- Factiva This link opens in a new windowAccess world news and popular publications such as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and more.
- Access World News This link opens in a new windowProvides the full text of many USA and international newspapers. A great resource for finding local publications such as Buffalo News and Buffalo Business First.
- PPG Buffalo Commons LibraryReliable, full-text reports, fact sheets, images and more on local topics important to Buffalo and the surrounding community.
Public Resources by Topic
All resources listed in this section are freely accessible to the public.
- Think with GoogleResearch, data, insights, and inspiration from Google.
Data & Statistics
- America Counts: Stories Behind the NumbersFeaturing stories on various topics such as families, housing, employment, business, education, the economy, emergency management, and population.
- American Time Use SurveyThe American Time Use Survey (ATUS) measures the amount of time people spend doing various activities, such as paid work, childcare, volunteering, and socializing.
- Census Business BuilderThe Census Business Builder (CBB) is 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.
- Census DataThis platform allows users a single place to seamlessly access data and digital content from the Census Bureau. Census data provides a huge amount of statistics on the U.S. population, economy, and business.
- Consumer Expenditure SurveysThe Consumer Expenditure Surveys (CE) program provides data on expenditures, income, and demographic characteristics of consumers in the United States. CE data are collected by the Census Bureau for BLS in two surveys, the Interview Survey for major and/or recurring items and the Diary Survey for more minor or frequently purchased items.
- Consumer Financial Protection BureauResearch and data on consumer finances.
- Data USAA portal and data collection site that visualizes key social, business, political, demographic, and other issues. Data USA is a excellent, free tool to use to visualize Census data.
- Free small business data and trendsThe U.S. Small Business Association's listing of reliable sources that provide customer and market information at no cost. Some of these resources may overlap with others on this page.
- Open Data BuffaloOpen Data Buffalo is the open data program developed under the administration of Mayor Byron W. Brown in Buffalo, New York. The initiative is a commitment to proactively release high-quality, updated "publishable City data" through a centralized portal in machine-readable formats, fully accessible and freely available in the public domain.
- PolicyMapAn online mapping tool with data on demographics, real estate, health, jobs and more in communities across the United States. Although this is a subscription database, a public version of PolicyMap is available for free with signup.
Opinions, Polls & Surveys
- GallupAmerican analytics and advisory company known for its public opinion polls conducted worldwide.
- Pew Research CenterPew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. They conduct public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research. Pew does not take policy positions.
- Key Trends: General Social SurveyKey trends from the General Social Survey (GSS). Since 1972, the GSS has been monitoring societal change and studying the growing complexity of American society. The GSS is a publicly available national resource, and is one of the most frequently analyzed sources of information in the social sciences.
- Roper CenterNOTE: UB does not subscribe to iRoper. Use the Roper Center to find your keywords in study questions.
The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research is the leading educational facility in the field of public opinion. The Center exists to promote the intelligent, responsible, and imaginative use of public opinion in addressing the problems faced by Americans and citizens of other nations. - YouGovYouGov provides consumer research through global public opinion and data. They regularly publish articles, ratings and surveys on major topics and brands.
Social Media & SEO
- Google Trends"Explore what the world is searching"
- Social Mention"Real-time social media search and analysis."
- StatCounterStatCounter measures internet usage trends based on over 10 billion page views per month recorded across more than 2 million websites. See more at: https://gs.statcounter.com/factsheet
- UbersuggestA simple tool for keyword and content research. Input a phrase, and this tool will return a long, alphabetized list of additional keywords and content ideas.
Additional Resources
- GWI ReportsGlobal reports, infographics and guides that are crafted to help you stay in the know.
- World BankWorking for sustainable solutions that reduce poverty and build prosperity in developing countries.
Management Librarian
Personas
- Make My PersonaMakeMyPersona is one of the market research tools from HubSpot’s marketing toolbox. It lets you create buyer personas by providing answers to a series of questions based on already existing market research.