MK 495: Capstone Team Project Research Guide

Overview

This page overviews how to locate research on market and consumer segmentation.

• Market segmentation research involves analyzing broad market data to identify distinct groups based on factors such as demographics, geography, behavior, and psychographics. The goal is to break down the overall market into smaller, more manageable segments, allowing businesses to allocate resources and develop tailored strategies.
• Consumer segmentation research delves deeper into understanding individual consumers within the market segments you've identified. This includes things like consumer preferences, buying habits, attitudes, and motivations. this research uncovers insights that help businesses refine their offerings and communication strategies. 

In short, a market is the big picture, and consumer segments are the smaller groups within that market with more specific characteristics. The databases and resources that you will use to explore these areas largely overlap, which is why the resources below are separated by source type, instead of specific content. Together, these segmentation processes provide a comprehensive approach to identifying and engaging with the right audience, maximizing business impact, and customer satisfaction.

Industry Reports

Industry reports are a good place to start your market research, as they will often detail the major markets that drive the industry. Learn about how to find industry reports in the Industry Analysis section of this guide:

Company Reports

If you are working with an existing, publicly-traded company, looking at company reports can also be useful. Many company reports will include details about their consumer segments. You can find information on finding company reports in the Organizational Analysis section of this guide:

Regional, state, or national professional associations can be great sources for finding target market information.  

• Search the Internet to discover credible, respected, and stable industry or product associations or organizations. 
• Determine the quality and relevance of the association’s site to your market. For example: Who sponsors the site? How current is the site? Are there links to other reliable organizations? 
• Search for reports, surveys, fact sheets and statistics regarding marketing or consumer profiles. 

You can locate industry association websites by running an advanced Google search using the following format: industry description + association. You can also add site:.org to your search to ensure that you only return results that have a .org domain. 

Example search: site:.org brewery + association 

In addition to government sites, you can find consumer statistics using the resources below. These platforms are great for digging deeper into customer characteristics. These resources will help you gather information on the more specific details related to specific customer groups. Some things to look for when searching:

• Buying habits
• Preferences
• Attitudes
• Motivations or interests
• Values
• Pain points

You can also search our databases or the Internet using combinations of terms such as: 

• [your product] + consumers + Seattle 
• trends + [your product] + King County 
• [your product or industry] + lifestyle 

Search the following databases to locate magazine and journals covering your topic or industry.

Search the Internet for magazines, newsletters, or journals published by associations or organizations on your product or industry, or for recent blogs or articles on your topics. Be persistent and try a variety of combinations of search terms. Enter phrases for the exact data you want, such as: 

• who buys + [your product]
• cost + [your product]
• trends + [your product]