Library Briefings

To market, to market

The Library introduces two new market research databases

Does Evanston need another coffeehouse? Who is the coffee consumer? How can I get a competitive profile of the mainstream coffee marketers? How about sales of packaged coffee in coffee houses? Answers to these questions and more may be found in reports available from two new market research databases.

MarketResearch.Com Academic provides access to several hundred lengthy market research reports published by Packaged Facts and Kalorama Information, as well as briefings called MarketLooks (15-30 page report summaries). The full reports in this database appear one year after publication and the MarketLooks appear within one month after corporate clients receive them. Topics include beverages and food, biotechnology, computers, consumer products, energy, financial services, health care, retailing, transportation, telecommunication, and much more. The 246-page research report on the coffee market, for example, reveals that coffee, after oil, is the second largest import in the United States, with U.S. consumers drinking one-fifth of the world’s coffee. Sections analyze the market size, competition, and growth; brands and market share; the major coffee marketers and their products; distribution strategies; the consumer; and trends and opportunities.

Almost 100 demographic reports in MarketResearch.Com Academic may be of interest to researchers working in other fields. Some representative titles include Marketing to the Internet Generation, 55+ Consumers in the U.S., and the U.S. African American Market.

Mintel Reports publishes more than 550 reports on European, U.K.-specific, and U.S. markets every year. The typical Mintel report covers market drivers, market size, and trends with a minimum of five years of data, the supply structure with key players in each market, advertising and promotion, distribution, consumer attitudes and purchasing habits, new products and trends, and market forecasts for the next five years. Mintel Reports lists U.S. Coffeehouses among the three most popular market research reports in its database for 2004 (the other two are U.S. Athletic Footwear and U.S. Music Retailing.) Information in the U.S. Coffeehouses report is supplemented by Mintel reports on U.S. Coffee and reports on other beverages marketed in the United States. For comparison, the lengthy reports on the coffee market in Germany, France, Spain, and Italy can also be researched.

The consumer sectors covered in the U.S. reports include automotive, electronic, beauty and personal, health and medical, clothing and fashion, drink, food and food services, household, internet and consumer lifestyles, and travel. The Consumer Lifestyles reports look at particular segments of the U.S. purchasing demographic, such as Teenage Lifestyles, Hispanics Food & Drink, and Baby Boomers Lifestyles.

Both market research databases are listed in NUcat, the Library's catalog, and can be accessed by title from the Electronic Resources page.

Leslie Bjorncrantz