MKTG 350- Jay Lambe   Tags: business, market_research, statistics  

Here are some potentially helpful secondary data sources. Many of these titles are included in our database subscriptions, but they are highlighted here for your convenience.  There may be more sources for you to check---so don't stop with these!

Use online resources to begin your market research project. In searching databases and website, use boolean searching to combine concepts. Be creative in the use of terms and in thinking about your search strategy. Be persistent and willing to rerun and revise searches to gain solid and reputable sources. Recognize that a good deal of marketing research is proprietary and may not available through the databases or websites.  Evaluate  your sources for currency, authority and reliabilty. Cite your sources in format consistent with the requirements of the assignment and the discipline. 

 From your assignment,"your objective should be to find a few articles/reports (which you can add to later.. but should never need a ton) that are highly targeted to what you are researching."

Trying to find Product-Relevant Needs?

(Use search terms for Product-Market. If you are successful then you will know that your support is linked to the TM). Here is an example of combining all of the search terms for each concept or attribute)

Product and needs of and TM and (features or benefits)

Mobile app and (needs of) and prospective US undergraduate business school students (features and benefits)

You may have to broaden search. Remember you are only interested in smartphones not other devices. The most specific search would include prospective business students. A broader search would be prospective students to the university.

Be persistent and creative. Refine your search, use synonyms and search again.  Keep a log of your searches so that you remember what and how you searched.

In General: 1) Databases available through library subscriptions can be discipline specific and hone in on relevant information 2) Can include and sort by scholarly and popular information 3) Academic libraries review and subscribe to databases which will support the curriculum. 4) Different interfaces can be difficult for users to learn. 5) So many databases may make it difficult for a user to know which one to use.

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