24-784 – Decision Tools for Engineering Design and Entrepreneurship
Profs. Fuchs and Michalek
Library Resource Guide for Finding Market Data

Preliminaries

Industry overviews and surveys
Find industry leaders, market size and market share, future trends, histories and profiles of the industries here. (If you look up the NAICS/SIC numerical codes for your industry first, this will be a bit easier.) If you don't find your industry here (because it is a niche industry, or a new one) then try the News Sources, below - a specific trade publication will often have articles on trends and annual outlooks.

U.S. Government - agencies of the federal government often support entrepreneurial efforts, and produce market-oriented reports, in their areas. Do a google search ending in "site:.gov" to limit to governmental sources.

Demographics and characteristics of consumer markets

Consumer spending and attitudes:

New Strategist publications - in the Hunt Library reference room or online:
Best customers : demographics of consumer demand, HC79 .C6 R87 2008
American attitudes: what Americans think about the issues that shape their lives [ebook]
Generation X : Americans born 1965 to 1976, HC110 .C6 G46 2006
The Millennials : Americans born 1977 to 1994, HQ796 .M4797 2004
Ten things you need to know about the college market , HF5415.332 .C64 T45 2008  
Who we are : Blacks, E185.615 .W46X 2007
Who we are. Hispanics, E184 .S75 W46X 2007
Who's buying alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, HD9348 .U52 W46 2005
Who's buying executive summary of household spending, 2006 [ebook]
Who's buying for pets, SF414.7 .W46 2005

Surveys:
Roper Center for Public Opinion Research
Consumer Surveys from the Univ. of Michigan/Reuters
Consumer Expenditure Survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Pew Research Center
Link to various survey sites

Competitors

News sources - trade and industry publications:
There is considerable overlap among these databases, but also many unique items in each one. Use search terms such as “market,” “forecast,” “trends,” “industry overview,” etc. along with your own market identifier, i.e. “solar energy."

Books on an industry: Use the library catalog to locate entire books focusing on an industry.

Questions?
Contact the librarians: