Guides: Resources for Community Entrepreneurs: Consumer Research

Finding Demographic and Psychographic Reports & Data

Demographics or demographic data are the characteristics of a human population. Commonly used demographics include sex, race, age, income, disabilities, mobility (in terms of travel time to work or number of vehicles available), educational attainment, home ownership, employment status, and even location.

Consumer psychographics provide information on why consumers purchase things and how much they spend on things. These types of resources will help you track consumer attitudes, opinions and purchasing behaviors.

Search Tips:

Use a combination of primary resources (surveys, interviews etc.) and secondary resources (reports, articles, and statistics) to help answer "who would want my product/service"
Be sure to define your target market geographically and by the market's population
You'll likely need to use a variety of sources, from government websites to Pitt databases and talking with experts.

Government Databases

American Census Data
Primary way to access Census Bureau data, including releases from the 2018 American Community Survey, 2017 Economic Census, 2020 Census and more. Use data.census.gov to view, print, and download statistics about population, housing, industry, and business.
US Census Quick Facts
QuickFacts provides easy access quick demographics for all states and counties, and for cities and towns with more than 5,000 people.
U.S. Census Bureau's International Database
Select a report, year(s), countries or region to search for data. Other information is available by clicking the "Data" tab, such as links to the World Population Summary, Country Ranking (by population), or Global Population Mapping.
Pennsylvania State Data Center
The Pennsylvania State Data Center serves as Pennsylvania's official source of population and economic statistics.If you are formulating a marketing plan, relocating or starting a business, developing a customer profile, working on a public policy initiative or just want a demographic figure, The Pennsylvania State Data Center has the information you need.
Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center
The Data Center maintains Allegheny County and the City of Pittsburgh’s open data portal, and provides a number of services to data publishers and users. The Data Center also hosts datasets from these and other public sector agencies, academic institutions, and non-profit organizations.
Consumer Expenditure Survey
This site consists of two surveys that provide information on the buying habits of American consumers, including data on their expenditures, income, and consumer characteristics. The survey data are collected for the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Commercial Databases and Resources

eMarketer
eMarketer offers some free data and insights to the digital media consumer market. It focuses on understanding how consumers spend their time and money online and how marketers can best communicate with them via digital channels. Industries covered include automotive, consumer products, financial services, healthcare, telecom and media and entertainment.

Pitt-owned resources are only available in-person at the Hillman Library or Homewood CEC or by appointment via the Business Research Clinic for non-Pitt entrepreneurs. Users can obtain a guest pass at the Hillman Library Ground Floor Services for walk-in access to business resources. For more information, please contact lmw129@pitt.edu

Statista This link opens in a new window
Offers market and consumer data across a variety of topics in the form of statistics, dossiers, and infographics as well as a global consumer behavior survey.
RKMA Market Research Reports This link opens in a new window
Market research reports on a variety of topics.

Carnegie Library resources require a library card. Click here for more information.

Mergent Intellect
Private and public U.S and international business data, industry news, facts and figures, executive contact information, and industry profiles.

University of Pittsburgh Library System

Course & Subject Guides

Resources for Community Entrepreneurs

Finding Demographic and Psychographic Reports & Data

Search Tips:

Government Databases

Commercial Databases and Resources