Business Research Resources for "Non-Business-y" Types: Consumer Demographics & Statististics

The New Strategist publishing house puts out a lot of great titles related to consumer demographics and spending, like:

• American time use: who spends how long at what
• American attitudes: what Americans think about the issues that shape their lives 
• Who we are: Hispanics
• Household spending: who spends how much on what

Click HERE to get to browse "New Strategist" search results in U-M Library Catalog Search...many of the titles are available as eBooks.

Don't forget to search for data in articles—ABI/Inform, etc.  

• Try adding different terms like "target market" or "consumers" or "customers" or "consumer behavior” or “attitudes” or "demographics" to your topic.
• For industry statistics, add in terms like "data" or "statistics"

DataPlanet Statistical Datasets

• Formerly ProQuest Statistical Datasets, you can find quite a bit of data here, from macroeconomic indicators to health and vital statistics to a number of industry topics. ​​

Proquest Statistical Abstract of the United States

• Lots of data on industries, consumers and more.​

Social Explorer

• Create maps and reports based on decennial censuses of 1940 to 2010
• Also contains American Community Surveys and religious congregation data.

Statistical Abstract of the US

• Use the old online version to find sources of data quickly--browse through the categories or go straight to the PDF version and look through the index.

U.S. Census Bureau- American Fact Finder

• Under the catagory People is population data for the entire U.S. and some demographic maps by state.
• Look up the number of establishments, sales, payroll, and employees for an industry using Economic Fact Sheet for an Industry under Business and Government.
• For city or county level data use the American Community Survey under Data Sets.
• Offers additional demographic data on government employment, county business patterns, and more.
• Also useful is the page on the Census site for population projections.

American Time Use Survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

• The American Time Use Survey (ATUS) measures the amount of time people spend doing various activities, such as paid work, childcare, volunteering, and socializing.

Pew Research Social & Demographic Trends

• Data on behaviors and attitudes of Americans in their daily lives.  Check out the Pew Research Center's full site for additional topics.

Nielsen reports

• With free registration, you can download a number of reports on consumer behavior from Nielsen.

Finding Statistics guide

• Additional guidance from MLib