Subject Guides: Marketing & Industry Research: Industry Research

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Find sources for: Industry Reports | Industry Averages | Market Research | Demographics | Advertising | Companies & Finance

The Fine Print: These tools are licensed for the use of BYU students and employees for academic purposes only. Content or access must not be provided to outside individuals or organizations, although BYU students can reference these tools in support of course requirements. Contact your librarian with questions.

Industry Research

IBIS World This link opens in a new window
Reports on over 1,000 industries: size, barriers to entry, segmentation, cost structures, etc.
For educational use only. Content may not be disclosed or resold to outside companies.
MarketResearch.com Academic This link opens in a new window
Expert industry reports on market size and growth, industry structure, product trends, and competitive analysis. Covers consumer, manufacturing, medical, and technology industries.
MarketLine This link opens in a new window
From Aerospace and Automotive to Media, Mining, and Textiles, MarketLine covers industries across the globe.
Statista This link opens in a new window
An aggregator of statistics on almost any topic.
Gale Business Insights: Global This link opens in a new window
Includes in-depth Plunkett Reports and other industry overviews.

Fill in the gaps with Factiva

Factiva This link opens in a new window
Our best source for global and local news on business and economics. Includes the Wall Street Journal.
No Systematic Downloading. Factiva may not be used for data mining, text mining, or trend analysis functions.

Average Industry Financials and Ratios

Benchmark your company against averages in the industry.

BizMiner This link opens in a new window
For non-commercial use only.
Mergent Key Business Ratios (KBR) This link opens in a new window

Troy Almanac (in print at HF 5681 .R25 T68)

Tips

Associations: Trade, industry, and professional associations can be a great source of information. They may have data available on their website, or contacting them might result in good leads. A search in Google is the easiest way to identify associations.

Proxy Research: It's hard to find secondary research on innovative or niche markets. Try to think of a proxy--an analogous product, use-case scenario, or target.

Market or Target? Look for reports on your product category, but also reports on your target. A 200-page report on the American Mother may not mention your product category, but if that's who you're targeting, it will likely provide valuable insight into that target.

Industry vs. Market Research: Start with industry research, then move on to marketing. Industry research focuses broadly on industry size, outlook, and structure. Market research is narrower and adds emphasis on branding, trends, and consumer behavior. Market research firms specialize in certain industries and are more likely to conduct primary research. A high-quality industry report might be 20-30 pages and cost $1,000, while a good market research report can be 200 pages and, depending on the industry, from $4,000 to $15,000.