LibGuides: EI 101: First-Year Business Experience 2023-24 (all sections): Customer Analysis

Customer Analysis Resources

Trade sources can include trade publications and trade associations. The databases linked below will provide articles from trade publications and links to associations.

Other tips on finding trade sources:

Google industry keywords with the word "association." ex: "fast food" association
Find an industry report and look for links to trade sources in the report (ex: First Research report).
Use keywords to search a database and then filter results to trade publications. (ex: Business Source Complete database).

Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
First Research This link opens in a new window
One Business (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window

CSIMarket
Look up a public company on this trade website to see if customer information is included in the profile.

Tip: Review a public company's Form 10-K (SEC filing) for information about its customer base.

Butler LibGuide on Government Information Resources for Business Information
See this LibGuide for links to Federal, State, and Local Government Resources.
U.S. Census--Business and Economy

Statista This link opens in a new window
The Statista database has reports and tables with government statistics.

Start with the Mintel or Statista database for consumer information. SimplyAnalytics is helpful for mapping demographics.
Use the IBISWorld database to look up reports for the industries that involve your customers. For example, if your company is a fertilizer manufacturer, look for IBISWorld reports on farms.
Passport provides industry and consumer reports for over 200 countries. First-time users of Passport: See the login instructions video below.
For help using databases, see the tutorials linked on this LibGuide.

IBISWorld This link opens in a new window
Provides industry research, industry risk rating reports, and business environment reports. Industry research reports provide key statistics, market characteristics, operating conditions, current and forecasted performance, major industry participants, and other information.
Mintel Reports This link opens in a new window
Mintel Reports offers product and industry market research reports covering US marketplaces. Each report combines data and analysis of the competitive landscape, supply chain, market-share size and trends, and consumer profiles.
Passport (Euromonitor) This link opens in a new window
Provides marketing data and reports on countries, companies, markets, and consumers from approximately 200 countries.

Passport Login instructions (video)
The Passport database has a one-time registration process. For help with registration, follow the steps shown in this video.

MRI-Simmons Catalyst This link opens in a new window
Simmons provides a comprehensive study of American adult consumers.
SimplyAnalytics This link opens in a new window
Choose "Sign in as guest" to access without creating an account. Limited to 3 concurrent users. SimplyAnalytics is a web-based mapping, analytics and data visualization program providing over 100,000 data variables.
Statista This link opens in a new window
Statista.com provides companies, business customers, research institutions, and the academic community with direct access to quantitative data on media, business, finance, politics, and a wide variety of other areas of interest or markets.

Try the databases linked below to find general business news articles (ex: WSJ, Forbes, local business newspapers). Tip: Try Google to find WSJ articles. Example: "fast food" site:wsj.com

Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
Regional Business News This link opens in a new window
Wall Street Journal This link opens in a new window
This is the Eastern edition of the Wall Street Journal, available from 1984 to the present.

Wall Street Journal (online edition)
You have full access if you signed up for your free Butler WSJ account.

Strategic Communication LibGuide
Business Databases by Topic
Use this chart to help you find the best databases for specific topics.
Social Searcher
Search social media for customer reviews
Article with listing of Customer Review Sites

EI 101: First-Year Business Experience 2023-24 (all sections): Customer Analysis

Customer Analysis Resources

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