Library Research Guides: BUS X170 How Business Works: Database Quick Guide

What Info Where?

You can't buy tires at Taco Bell
and you can't get company financials from Mintel. Different kinds of business-related information are created, tracked and published by different organizations, which means they show up in different databases. Knowing what you're looking for helps you search in the right places.

	Demographics	Consumer/ Market Research	Industry/ Market Information	Company Information
What is it? Data on …	age, race, ethnicity, education, income and religion of a population.	behaviors, opinions and preferences of consumers	performance and outlook of industries with regard to financial performance, competitors, and operating conditions	financial performance, structure, initiatives, strengths and weaknesses of specific companies
Type of question answered by this information	How many people live in Indiana? What is the racial makeup of Atlanta? How many people in Bloomington are over 50 & have at least a bachelor’s degree?	What kind of branding works best for green products? Who is most likely to buy healthier snacks? What features are most important to car shoppers?	How much revenue do American breweries bring in? How much money is spent on bottled water? Will the market for electric cars grow or decline in the next 5 years?	How much revenue does Nike bring in annually? What brands are owned by Unilever? What are 3M’s most recent products?
Who creates/tracks/publishes this information?	US Census Bureau	Researchers; some employed by market research firms, others working in academia in Business, Psychology or Economics departments.	Industry analysts, Economists, Various US Government agencies, like the Bureau of Labor Statistics	Business analysts, The Securities and Exchange Commission, The company itself, News sources
Which databases or websites have this kind of information?