Your Librarian
Finding Demographics
When looking at the market it is important to identify who will potentially be buying your product. For example:
Who are the current customers?
What is the purchasing power of target customers?
Pyschographics and lifestyles of customers?
Many of this data can be found via government resources such as the US Census or Bureau of Labor Statistics. Some commercial data providers use government data in conjuction with their own survey data for their estimates and forecasts.
Consumer Behavior & Demographics
- U.S. Census Bureau DataThe main portal page to explore the data collected by the U.S. Census.
- The Pew Research Center: Social & Demographic TrendsThe Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends project studies behaviors and attitudes of Americans in key realms of their lives, including family, community, health, finance, work and leisure. The project explores these topics by combining original public opinion survey research with social, economic and demographic data analysis.
- Consumer Expenditure SurveyThe Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Expenditure Survey records how Americans spend their money by tracking expenditures on food, housing, transportation, education, pensions, healthcare, etc.
Additional Data & Statistics
The American Customer Satisfaction Index: Quantitative analysis of the causes and consequences of customer satisfaction, covering 10 economic sectors, 45 industries, 225 companies, and 200 government services.
American Time Use Survey: The Bureau of Labor Statistics collects annual information on the average hours Americans spent in primary, weekend, leisure and sport activities.
Bureau of Economic Analysis: The cornerstone of BEA's statistics is the national income and product accounts (NIPAs), which feature the estimates of gross domestic product (GDP) and related measures.
Survey of Consumer Finances: From the Federal Reserve Board, a triennial survey of the financial statements of households in the US, including expenditures and the use of banks.
Current Population Surveys: The Current Population Survey (CPS) is a monthly survey of households conducted by the Bureau of Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It provides data on the labor force, employment, unemployment, persons not in the labor force, hours of work, earnings, and other demographic and labor force characteristics.
Thanks to the University of Pennsylvania Library for sharing this compilation of resources.
New Strategist Publications
- New Strategist PublicationsThese publications provide tabular American demographic and lifestyle data. The link above takes you to catalog records for these books, most of which are available to read online. An example is below.
Household Spending: Who Spends How Much on What by ISBN: 1937737136Publication Date: 2013Examines how much American households spend on hundreds of products and services by age, income, household type, region of residence, race and Hispanic origin, and educational attainment.
- Who's Buying SeriesExamples include:
Who's Buying: Executive Summary of Household Spending by Call Number: e-bookISBN: 9781933588360Publication Date: 2015This reference is designed to give researchers insights into consumer spending trends and patterns and how the patterns differ by demographic characteristics
Consumer Research Journals
These journal report on research conducted into consumer behavior.
NOTE: Login required.
- Journal of Consumer ResearchAn interdisciplinary journal focusing on all aspects of consumer education.
- Journal of Consumer BehaviourThe latest original analysis of key developments in understanding consumer attitudes and behavious from the industry and academia. Explores the strategies of leading players in the global marketplace, trends, and techniques.