Research Guides: Marketing: Demographics

Demographics & Psychographics Sources

Key Resources

Social Explorer Professional This link opens in a new window
Create and save demographic maps and reports down to the U.S. neighborhood and street level using U.S. census data, the American Community Survey, and the Religious Congregations and Membership Study. Visually analyze and understand demography and social change throughout U.S. history. Also useful in developing an understanding of the census data is an e-book on the history of the census, Measuring America : the decennial censuses from 1790 to 2000.Tip: Start with the maps and tables.
SRDS This link opens in a new window
A search engine for media opportunities and marketing information, that offers rates and contact data for national and/or international magazines, digital media, newspapers, television, radio, direct marketing, and out-of-home businesses; as well as demographic and lifestyle information for counties and metropolitan areas in the U.S.(through Claritas 360).
Passport This link opens in a new window
Euromonitor's online market research tool, formerly called GMID or Global Market Information Database, monitors economic trends and gives strategic analysis, market size, and market share for numerous products across key countries. Passport includes demographic, psychographic, economic and marketing reports, and statistics, which are comparable across countries. It provides country profiles that include economic news and emerging sectors, and integrated data sets that provide historical trends and forecasting numbers. Datasets may be downloaded to Excel.
EMIS (Emerging Market Information Service) This link opens in a new window
EMIS, Emerging Market Information Service, presents news, industry information, company profiles, reports, and financial data, closing price quotes, macroeconomic statistics and forecasts, and legal and political news from emerging markets in Asia, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe including the Baltic States and Russia. Searches can be narrowed to resources in English though they include many articles in over a dozen languages.

Supporting Resources

data.census.gov
A source for population, economic, housing, and geographic information and data about the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Island areas. Includes information about income, education, insurance, employment, housing, poverty, veterans, and much more. Replaces American FactFinder
Bureau of Labor Statistics
The BLS is created and maintained by the United States Department of Labor. It is an excellent resource on the past, present, and future outlooks on professions.
Bureau of Transportation Statistics: National Transportation Statistics
From the U.S. Department of Transportation. Includes statistics about all modes of transportation in the U.S. Find state-by-state transportation facts, comparisons and rankings.
City-Data.com
Information about how many people live in a zip code are. Search by Zip Code, city or town name.
Colorado Demography Office
Primary state agency for population and demographic information. Its data are used by state agencies to forecast demand for facilities and services.

Eurostat This link opens in a new window
European Commission data and forecasts on the European Union as a whole or on separate countries within the Union. Eurostat relies on each country to send in their data, so it is sometimes incomplete. The site includes the Eurostat Yearbook.

U.S. Census Bureau: Economic Census
Economic Indicators (US Census Bureau)
Published monthly by the Council of Economic Advisors for the Joint Economic Committee, provides economic information on GDP, income, employment, production, business activity, prices, money, credit, security markets, Federal finance, and international statistics.

Business Collection This link opens in a new window
Use the Gale Business Collection to research companies, the products and technologies they produce, and the markets in which they compete. Includes summaries and full text from business and trade journals, industry newsletters, newspapers, market research studies, news releases, and investment and brokerage firm reports. This collection replaces PROMT, Business Index ASAP, Business & Company ASAP, and General Business File.
Census.gov This link opens in a new window
Website of the U.S. Census Bureau. Comprehensive data on the United States summarized and analyzed.

Demographics and Psychographics - Uses in Business Plans

Barry and Weinstein, "Business Psychographics Revisited"
Tsai, Dungchun, and Hsiao-Ching Lee. "Demographics, psychographics, price searching and recall in retail shopping." Service Industries Journal 29, no. 9 (October 2009): 1243-1259. Business Source Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed July 10, 2013).
Tsai and Lee "Demographics, psychographics, price searching and recall in retail shopping"
Barry, James, and Art Weinstein. "Business Psychographics Revisited: From Segmentation Theory To Successful Marketing Practice." Journal Of Marketing Management 25.3/4 (2009): 315-340. Business Source Premier. Web. 10 July 2013.

Demographics and Psychographics

According to Tsai and Lee, the internet revolution has placed a premium on identifying the ways in which demographics and psychographics affect consumer behaviors, and the acts of "price searching," and "price recall." Their thesis is that "there is a dynamic relationship in the ways that psychographics affects price-searching tendencies directly while demographics affect price-searching only "indirectly."

This relationship between price-searching tendencies tends to have a positive effect on "price recall," and is stronger when consumers buy discounted items.

Definitions

Demographics: study of changes that occur in large groups of people over a period of time.

Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Psychographics: the use of psychological, sociological, or anthropological factors, including self-concept and lifestyle to market products and to affect buying decisions made by consumers about the products they buy. Source: (Barry, J. and A. Weinstein, in "Business Psychographics Revisited")

Geodemographics: The study and grouping of the people in a geographical area according to socioeconomic criteria, esp for market research.

Source: The Free Dictionary

Firmographics: the characteristics of an organization especially when used to segment markets in market research. What demographics are to people, firmographics are to organizations.

Source: Wikipedia

Distribution Channels: "What Channels of Distribution Affect Marketing?"

Sources:

Barry, James, and Art Weinstein. "Business Psychographics Revisited: From Segmentation Theory To Successful Marketing Practice."Journal Of Marketing Management 25.3/4 (2009): 315-340. Business Source Premier. Web. 10 July 2013.

Bonoma and Shapiro Model is Adapted from: Bonoma, T. V. and Shapiro, V.P. (1983), Segmenting the Industrial Market, Lexington Bks.

Tsai, Dungchun, and Hsiao-Ching Lee. "Demographics, Psychographics, Price Searching And Recall In Retail Shopping."Service Industries Journal 29.9 (2009): 1243-1259. Business Source Premier. Web. 10 July 2013.