Business Research Sources

  • Industry Reports & Market Research
  • Company Reports (public, private, local, foreign)
  • Statistics/Data (government, trades associations, studies)
  • News
  • Consumer Surveys
  • Academic Research
  • Trade Associations
  • Patents

Strauss's Handbook of Business Information For overview of common sources.

Business Subject Page Lists subscribed sources

 

Total Addressable Market (TAM) Sources

 

Industry and market research reports are typically used for top down secondary research on determining the total addressabile market because they estimage market sizes and market shares.  Because they are typically produced to address the needs of established markets, they have less utility for innovative entrepreneural projects.  You may find many market research reports by Googling, that cost thousands.  Contact a librarian to see if we have access.

Bottom up TAM research typically involves primary research that is informed or supported with other business sources such as business or membership directories, conference exhibitor lists, syndicated consumer surveys, statistics and networks such as LinkedIn.  

  IBISWorld
Provides access to U.S. and global industry market research reports.

  MarketResearch.com Academic  Limitations on Use
Provides marketing reports for many industries and demographic reports on a variety of age groups. Documents are formatted as Adobe Acrobat or PowerPoint files.

  Market Share Reporter

  Statista
Provides a portal to statistics and studies gathered by market researchers, trade organizations, scientific publications, and government sources. Topics covered include industries, media, companies, product categories, and countries.

  Euromonitor (Passport)

  Data-Planet (Sage)

  Data.gov
Data.gov increases the ability of the public to easily find, download, and use datasets that are generated and held by the Federal Government. Data.gov provides descriptions of the Federal datasets (metadata), information about how to access the datasets, and tools that leverage government datasets.

  CrunchBase
Great source of information on start-ups, including founders, products, competitors and funding.

  Catalyst MRI Simmons
Provides access to the results of a National Consumer Study (most recent studies embargoed) encompassing demographics, lifestyle statements, and consumer behaviors. Supports the creation of custom cross tabulations or quick reports.

  D&B Hoovers
Offers public and private company and industry information including company profiles, market research reports from Marketline, Freedonia, Euromonitor, and RMA updated with recent news, executive profiles, and analyst reports.

  Data Axle Reference Solutions (Formerly Reference USA)

Research Consultation Tips

  • Use the appointment scheduler
  • Share a description of your innovative new product
  • Briefly summarize what you have already tried
  • Get specific about what you want to know by generating concrete questions you hope to answer.