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Business Research Guide

Marketing Research: Introduction

This guide, prepared by the Business subject specialist, is designed as a gateway to the research needed to complete course assignments in marketing. Click on any of the links below to jump to a section on this page:

Related Guides: Company Research, , Industry Research, International Business/Country Research, Entrepreneurship, Statistics & Data

Background literature search

Start your research by searching for related articles in the following databases. To retrieve the best results think about what your key words are before searching, e.g.:

("influencer marketing" OR "digital marketing";
(banking OR financial services) AND industry AND Canada;
publication title (American demographics) AND (cars OR automobiles);

"consumer behavior" AND (trends OR forecasts)

Industry/Market Reseach

The following listed resources provide an excellent starting point for conducting both business market and consumer market research.

Type a keyword and select "Industry Profiles" from the drop-down menu OR explore using "Browse by Sector" to refine content by 19 core sectors.

Provides in-depth economic, political and business analysis and short-term market outlooks for almost 200 countries. Each report examines the political scene, economic policies and development plans, domestic economy, trends in production and demand, monetary and fiscal conditions, wages and prices, sectoral trends, foreign trade, capital flows, exchange rates and foreign debt, and also reports on national, regional and global events that affect business in the short to medium term. Detailed two-year forecasts complement the analysis and pinpoint political and economic developments and trends..

Provides reports written by analysts at investment banks, brokerage houses, and consulting firms. Reports cover financials and analysis on companies and select industries.

From Industry Canada, Canadian Industry information and statistics.

Provides counts of active business establishments by: employment size ranges, geography, various levels of industry classification, Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) and NAICS (North American Industry Classification System.  Available through DLI. and also at the Open Government Portal: Government of Canada

Provides analysis and forecasts of the Canadian economy and financial markets. Also included are the indicators for the United States and key international markets.

Provides access to more than 1000 industries across Canada, including more than 30 performance benchmarks to help small businesses determine how they measure up to their competitors..

Provided for free by Wilfrid Laurier University, in collaboration with the Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL), nationally significant polling data, donated by market research firm Ipsos Canada. The data includes the Canadian Corporate Reputation Monitor I-Rep series data covering brand reputation, consumer preferences and market data..

From the Bureau of Economic Analysis, US Dept of Commerce. 
  • Bloomberg ((only accessible from dedicated workstations in the Killam, South Learning Commons and Rowe)

To access industry overviews and analysis type BI (for Bloomberg Industries) and hit GO. Find a list of industries covered on the left.

Competitive Intelligence

Search the the following resources to identify competitors, suppliers etc:

Provides access to in-depth company profiles (including SWOT analysis) and additional tools for Company Financial Analysis e.g. Company Deals Tracker and Company Prospector.
Use the Company/Markets Search function to access pertinent information about a company and its competitors.

From the NexisUni menu list click on Company Dossier to access info on thousands of Canadian and international companies. Search by name, geography, industry and financial criteria. Get company overviews, financials, news, intellectual property, corporate hierarchy, and more. Search for lists of companies by geography, industry, NAICS/SIC, and other criteria. Includes private companies.

A comprehensive global company database providing access to detailed company profiles. Allow you to use a NAIC code to generate a list of companies within an industry.

Provides reports written by analysts at investment banks, brokerage houses, and consulting firms. Reports cover financials and analysis on companies and select industries.

Provides access to over 6,000 top Canadian companies profiles. Each company record includes: contact information officers' and directors' names, brief company description, financial data, SIC codes, direct links to email and website addresses, direct links to press releases, stock analysis, and investment information.

A directory of Canadian companies

Provides access to 159 000 companies information. Free service but requires registration.

Available in print at call number REF HF 5072 H3 M47

Brands & Market Share

Advertising: Expenditures, Rates, etc.

Company Rankings