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Guides

Marketing Information: the Situation Analysis

Situation Analysis Resources:

Library Information

Introduction

This guide is designed to assist you in finding online resources for completing a marketing situation analysis. Sources are suggested for each portion of the analysis. As you work through the guide, keep in mind that most sources listed here are useful for more than one section of the analysis, so examine each one with the entire project in mind.

The following databases will be of use to you in researching all sections of your project:

Getting Started

The resources listed here comprise business and economic databases to which McIntyre Library subscribes (marked with ), as well as selected Internet sites. Some of the internet sites are commercial sites that provide some sample data for free, in the hope that you will pay for access to more information. This is not an expectation of this class! These sites are listed here only because some of the free sample information may be of use. You will probably find the information in the databases marked with the lock to be of the greatest value.

About proprietary UW-Eau Claire databases

These databases are available to you as long as you are affiliated with UW-Eau Claire or accessing them from within McIntyre Library. The library subscribes to these databases, and they contain valuable published information that is not freely available on the Internet. They require you to log on with your UW-Eau Claire username and PIN, or a username and password provided by your instructor. For more information on accessing databases from off-campus, please see Remote Access to Library Databases.

Getting journal articles:

  • Some databases provide access to full-text journal articles and reports that you can download or print out from your computer. Look for "full-text" or "PDF" links to indicate fulltext.
  • Sometimes databases do not provide the actual articles but rather give you the citation information (i.e. article title, author name, journal name, date, etc.) that you need in order to find the article elsewhere. McIntyre Library may have the article you need, either online in another database or in print. Click on the FIND IT button in the database to find out if McIntyre Library has the article.
    • If it is available online, follow the links to get to it.
    • If the article is only available in print, you can photocopy it or scan it from the library collection. (If you are in a distance education class and do not come to campus, the library can send print materials to you. For more information, please see Have Books and Articles Sent to You. Please keep in mind that this process may take several days or a week, so plan ahead!)

Getting books: While not usually as current as journal articles or Internet sites, books can often provide valuable background and in-depth information on a company or industry. Search McIntyre Library's online catalog for books on your industry or company. (Distance education students can have some books mailed directly to them. For information on checking out books at a distance, please see Requesting Books and Articles. If you are registered at a campus other than UW-Eau Claire, request the book through your home library). Again, remember that this service takes several days, so plan ahead!

Need more information on researching a company or industry? If you need information on doing research beyond what this guide provides, take a look at How to Learn about an Industry or a Specific Company (Polson Enterprises). It includes a step-by-step approach to conducting research on companies and industries, as well as extensive links to and lists of useful resources. Also, check out Researching Companies Online, a tutorial for finding free company and industry information on the Web.

Questions? We expect them. Getting frustrated? That's why we're here! Reference librarians are available at McIntyre Library to assist you in your research. Email library.reference@uwec.edu or call toll-free at 877-267-1384.

Industry Information

Industries are categorized in various ways, so consider broader and narrower definitions of the industry as you review the following sources:

Company Information

  • Marketline
    Profiles of 10,000 companies, 2,500 industries, and 100 countries. It also includes SWOT analyses for some companies.
  • Business Source Elite
    The Company Profiles tab in this database will retrieve detailed reports for the 5000 largest companies in the world. The reports are updated quarterly and average 100 pages each.
  • RDS Business Reference Suite
    Includes three business databases which are useful for this project:
    1. Busines and Industry Database: a partial full-text database of trade journal articles that is particularly useful for finding market share and sales information. To find articles indexed by product name, enter tn=[name of product] (tn is the "trade name" command)
    2. Business and Management Practices: a partial full-text database that includes marketing and planning articles useful in providing a larger picture of the situation.
    3. Tablebase: a database of tables extracted from periodical articles and published and unpublished reports providing useful statistical information.
  • Thomson Research (formerly Global Access)
    Full-text financial information and other data from federal filings of all public companies, updated daily.
  • LexisNexis Academic
    Its Business database contains company news and financial information
  • Hoovers Online
    Includes profiles of larger American public companies. (Hoovers is also available through the LexisNexis Business database under Compare Companies).
  • Annual Report Gallery
    Lists more than 2,200 Annual Reports and covers the majority of the fortune 500 companies.
  • ReferenceUSA (in library only)
    Provides detailed data on more than 14 million businesses, including small- and medium-sized and privately-owned companies. Available only in the library.

Product Information

  • RDS Business Reference Suite
    Busines and Industry Database: a partial full-text database of trade journal articles that is particularly useful for finding market share and sales information. To find articles indexed by product name, enter tn=[name of product] (tn is the "trade name" command)
  • ABI-Inform
    Use the dropdown menu next to the search box to search by product name.
  • Business Source Elite (EBSCOhost Web)
    From the "Select a Field" dropdown menu, select "PS Reviews & Products."
  • News
    Newspaper articles provide a wealth of information on products.

Competitive Analysis

  • RDS Business Reference Suite
    Search its Business and Industry Database. On the search screen, type in your company or product name and select market share from the list of Concept Terms.
  • LexisNexis
    From the Business section (click Business on the red bar), you can compare two or more companies by clicking on “Dossier compare companies” (on the right side of the screen, under Business Searches).
  • ReferenceUSA
    Detailed data on more than 14 million businesses. Available only in the library.

Environmental Variables

Evaluation of Consumers

  • RDS Business Reference Suite
    Find articles which address consumer characteristics by entering your product or brand name and combining it with terms selected in the Concept Term field. Possible concept terms include:
    • all market information
    • consumer behavior
    • demographics
    • market research
    • users
    • and specific markets such as generation X, men's market, mature market, minority market, women's market, youth market, etc.
  • Corporate ResourceNet
    Search on your product or brand name in combination with the word "consumers."
  • U.S. Bureau of the Census
    Demographic and population statistics
  • County and City Data Book (U.S. Census Bureau)
    Demographic data at the state, county and city level.
  • Zipskinny: quickly and easily compare Census data for neighboring zipcode areas.
  • State and County Economic Profiles (U.S. Census Bureau)
  • Statistical Resources on the Web -- Consumers
    Collection of online resources for finding demographic and consumer information, compiled by the University of Michigan.
  • Pretrieve
    Find public record data by person, address or business
  • Community Information by Zip Code
    Links to sources of information by zip code, including statistics on population, health, politics, business, housing, education, environment and more.
  • ERsys
    "Covers over 2600 US cities with detailed information on demographics, environmental factors, economic indicators, housing stats, media (newspaper, television, and radio), schools, transportation, local contacts..."
  • Consumer Expenditure Survey
    "information on the buying habits of American consumers, including data on their expenditures, income, and consumer unit (families and single consumers) characteristics."
  • Sperling's Best Places
    Data on cost of living, crime, education and more for cities throughout the U.S.
  • Nielson Media Research
    television audience research. Some news available for free. Additional reports available to order for a fee.
  • Advertising Age
    Search current and back issues for demographic information. To get fulltext, check availability of American Demographics on the library periodicals list
  • Population Reference Bureau
    Summaries of the demographic characteristics of countries worldwide.
  • Simmons Choices 3 (only available in library)
    Detailed data on consumer buying patterns, demographics, and psychographics.

Marketing Mix

  • Emerald Intelligence
    An international database containing full-text articles from marketing journals
  • Thomas Register
    Search by product/service, brand name or company name for company profiles and online catalogs. (requires free registration)

International Ramifications


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