Consumer markets can be segmented using a multitude of variables from four main categories:
- Demographic: age, years of education, income, family size, gender, race, marital status
- Geographic: Rural/urban, climate, radius, neighborhood, nearby resources and amenities
- Psychographic: Activities, interests and opinions, personality, attitudes, values
- Behavioral: Purchasing history, usage habits, brand loyalty, purchase reasoning
Market research firms use a combination of these variables to create proprietary market segments, which are usually only available with a subscription. While the sources throughout this guide cover a wide range of consumer segments, the subsections on this page highlight a sample of sources that look at consumers via the individual market segment categories [demographic, geographic, psychographic, and behavioral].
For additional information, we have a few research guides on specific markets, such as:
Demographic Resources
For consumer behavior information focused on specific generational cohorts, see "Generations" section of this guide.
AARP Research External
AARP is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting Americans over 50 years old. Their research page includes reports, infographics and articles with statistics about the 50+ population in the United States.
AGing, Independence, and Disability [AGID] Program Data Portal. Administration for Community Living
Access statistics on older adults and their caregivers, and people with disabilities of all ages through four different options: data-at-a-glance, state profile, custom tables, and data files.
Asian American Advertising Federation [3AF] External
The resources section of their website has marketing research, 3AF Insights, and 3AF Research on Asian American consumers.
Cassandra External
Cassandra is a trend tracker and research group focused on young consumers. They issue reports with consumer research analysis, which are only available to members.
ChildStats
The Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics publishes an annual report, America's Children, which includes 41 indicators such as: family and social environment, economic circumstances, health care, physical environment and safety, behavior, education, and health.
Coming of Age External
Coming of Age is a marketing agency focused on the 50+ demographic. While their services are for hire, they do have a blog which covers topical issues as they pertain to 50+ consumers.
Culture Marketing Council External
As "The Voice of Hispanic Marketing," the market research section of their website includes a number of studies on Hispanic consumers.
Lifecourse: Generations in Anglo American History External
For an example of a fairly rough outline of generational breakdowns, see the website of LifeCourse Associates, which focuses on generational research, and was founded by the authors of Millennials Rising.
National Equity Atlas External
The National Equity Atlas is produced by PolicyLink and the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity. It has indicators and reports on racial disparities, with the goal of educating and working towards eliminating economic inequities. Data can also be shown at state levels, or for the top 100 largest cities.
The following titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online content are included when available.
Young Consumer Behaviour by
Call Number: HF5415.332.C45 Y68 2018
ISBN: 9780415790086
Published/Created: 2018
"Although one perspective depicts young consumers as vulnerable and passive in the marketplace system, our knowledge of this consumer group will be inadequate if limited to this contention. Their roles and relevance in family consumption activities are becoming increasingly profound. Available evidence shows that they cannot be ignored in the marketplace dynamics as they consume goods and services in their households and are involved in various other active roles in their household consumption including making decisions where applicable. Hence, the landscape of young consumer behaviour is changing. Young Consumer Behaviour: A Research Companion focusses on exploring the behaviour of young consumers as individuals and societal members." —From publisher's description.
Black Privilege by Cassi L. Pittman
Call Number: F128.9.N3 C655 2020
ISBN: 9781503613171
Published/Created: 2020
"In their own words, the subjects of this book present a rich portrait of the modern Black middle-class, examining how cultural consumption is a critical tool for enjoying material comforts as well as challenging racism. New York City has the largest population of Black Americans out of any metropolitan area in the United States. It is home to a steadily rising number of socio-economically privileged Blacks. Cassi Pittman Claytor examines how this economically advantaged group experiences privilege, having credentials that grant them access to elite spaces and resources with which they can purchase luxuries, while still confronting persistent anti-Black bias and racial stigma." —From publisher's description.
Hispanic Marketing by Felipe Korzenny; Betty Ann Korzenny; Sindy Chapa
Call Number: HF5415.33.U6 K67 2017
ISBN: 9781138917798
Published/Created: 2017
"Now in its third edition, the book provides marketers with the skills necessary to perform useful Hispanic market analysis and thus develop effective integrated marketing communication strategies. Brought to you by three leaders in the field of Hispanic Marketing, this third edition now includes: twenty-seven new case studies which emphasize digital marketing applications; theories and discussions on recent changes to Hispanic culture and society; concepts of social identity, motivation, cognitive learning, acculturation, technology adaptation; and the influence of word of mouth in relation to the Hispanic market." —From publisher's description.
Geographic Resources
Bureau of Transportation Geospatial Portal
The landing page has categories for data and maps, which includes numbers related to infrastructure, bikeshares, bus routes, and other transportation topics.
Census Business Builder
The Census Business Builder [CBB] is a suite of services that provide selected demographic and economic data from the Census Bureau tailored to specific types of users in a simple to access and use format.
Community Indicators Consortium External
The indicators project portal lists active and inactive local projects that examine demographics, health, and well-being in specific municipalities.
Atlas of Rural and Small Town America [USDA]
Just one of the many data products from the USDA, the Atlas of Rural and Small Town America provides demographic and socioeconomic statistics for nonmetro and metro regions.
Policy Map External
Policy Map gathers data from a variety of government and private sources. Search categories and/or limit by geographic regions. The data defaults to a map view, but can be switched to a table version. This free, open map version of Policy Map does not include all data points.
The following title links to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online content are included when available.
Suburban Remix by Jason Beske [Editor]; David Dixon [Editor]
Call Number: HT352.U6 S7995 2018
ISBN: 9781610918626
Published/Created: 2018
"The suburban dream of a single-family house with a white picket fence no longer describes how most North Americans want to live. The dynamics that powered sprawl have all but disappeared. Instead, new forces are transforming real estate markets, reinforced by new ideas of what constitutes healthy and environmentally responsible living. Investment has flooded back to cities because dense, walkable, mixed-use urban environments offer choices that support diverse dreams. Auto-oriented, single-use suburbs have a hard time competing. Suburban Remix brings together experts in planning, urban design, real estate development, and urban policy to demonstrate how suburbs can use growing demand for urban living to renew their appeal as places to live, work, play, and invest." —From publisher's description.
Psychographic Resources
Nielsen Insights External
Nielsen has provided data and insight for over 90 years. They are best known for their surveys related to media consumption, but also have reports on retail, consumer spending, and specific demographics. Many articles and videos are free to access; reports are available in exchange for contact information.
Pew Research Center External
Pew Research is a nonpartisan fact tank that does not take policy positions. It conducts surveys and publishes data related to American opinions on politics, media, internet and technology, science, religion, and social trends.
The following titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online content are included when available.
Gifts Romance and Consumer Culture by Yuko Minowa; Russell W. Belk
Call Number: GT3040 .G55 2019
ISBN: 9781138500709
Published/Created: 2019
"This book addresses gift giving among consumers attempting to express and construct romantic love. It lies at the intersection of consumption, markets, and culture. In societies shaped by the globalizing neo-liberal economic order, increasing wealth disparity, and a partially digitized social environment that they help to co-construct, it may be time to rethink romantic love. Gift giving is a key arena to do so, as gifts make love tangible and act as carriers of meaning as well as cultural symbols. In gift giving the meanings of romance are renewed, renegotiated, and reconstructed. Gifts, Romance, And Consumer Culture demonstrates a wide variety of scholarly work bearing on romantic gift giving using an interpretive consumer research perspective. The book introduces critical studies by scholars in this unfolding and new interdisciplinary field." —From publisher's description.
The Evolution of Luxury by Ian Malcolm Taplin
Call Number: HB841 .T35 2020
ISBN: 9780815386513
Published/Created: 2020
"This book offers a unique analysis of how our definitions of luxury have changed over the ages, and with that the role and actions of both suppliers and buyers of luxury products. It traces the way luxury was seen as avarice and emblematic of morally corrosive behavior in past societies, to being viewed in more virtuous terms as the inevitable outcome of structural changes that legitimize the acquisition and display of wealth. It examines the origins of the shift from criticism to acceptance, and traces these changes to fundamentally different notions of what constitutes the basis for social order." —From publisher's description.
Behavioral Resources
Consumer Expenditure Surveys, Bureau of Labor Statistics
The survey provides information on how much consumers spend on a variety of product categories, based on age, occupation, income, and other demographics.
New Neuromarketing External
Writers for this website read scientific articles related to sales conversion, advertising, strategy, and research, and write "clear bit-sized articles." References to the original scholarly research is included.
The following titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online content are included when available.
Point of Sale: Analyzing Media Retail by Daniel Herbert and Derek Johnson [Editors]
Call Number: HF5439.M267 P65 2020
ISBN: 9780813595528
Published/Created: 2019
"Point of Sale offers the first significant attempt to center media retail as a vital component in the study of popular culture. It brings together fifteen essays by top media scholars with their fingers on the pulse of both the changes that foreground retail in a digital age and the history that has made retail a fundamental part of the culture industries. The book reveals why retail matters as a site of transactional significance to industries as well as a crucial locus of meaning and interactional participation for consumers. In addition to examining how industries connect books, DVDs, video games, lifestyle products, toys, and more to consumers, it also interrogates the changes in media circulation driven by the collision of digital platforms with existing retail institutions." —From publisher's description.
Handbook of Research on the Impact of Fandom in Society and Consumerism by Cheng Lu Wang [Editor]
Call Number: HF5415.332.F36 H36 2020
ISBN: 9781799810483
Published/Created: 2020
"Fans of specific sports teams, television series, and video games, to name a few, often create subcultures in which to discuss and celebrate their loyalty and enthusiasm for a particular object or person. Due to their strong emotional attachments, members of these fandoms are often quick to voluntarily invest their time, money, and energy into a related product or brand, thereby creating a group of faithful and passionate consumers that play a significant role in multiple domains of contemporary culture. The Handbook of Research on the Impact of Fandom in Society and Consumerism is an essential reference source that examines the cultural and economic effects of the fandom phenomenon through a multidisciplinary lens and shapes an understanding of the impact of fandom on brand building." —From publisher's description.
The Opt-Out Effect by Jeffrey M. Nicholson; Gerald E. Smith
Call Number: HF5415.1265 .S6142 2016
ISBN: 9780134191508
Published/Created: 2016
"Marketing thought leader Gerald Smith brings together new research data, powerful strategies, and indispensable tools for implementing customer-centric brand management that supports today's customers and earns their loyalty." —From publisher's description.