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BADM 370

This guide is intended to help you successfully complete marketing research projects in BADM 370, BADM 476 and other courses by providing specific paths to the kinds of information you will need to complete course assignments.

Introduction to Industry Research

Industry Research

An industry profile is a report about an industry that pulls together lots of information in a single document. It will provide many of the answers needed to complete assignments regarding an industry.

On this page, you will find the following information:

  1. Understand and find NAICS codes

  2. Industry profile or description of industry

  3. Top-ranked companies within an industry

  4. Current news about an industry

  5. Investment news about an industry

1. Understand and Find NAICS Codes

NAICS stands for North American Industry Classification System. In conjunction with Canada and Mexico, this is a governmental database used for analysis by businesses and industry players. To find your NAICS code, go to the source: https://www.naics.com/search

2. Find industry profile or description of industry

Use the following databases and sources to locate industry profiles

Remember:

An industry profile is a report about an industry that pulls together lots of information in a single document.

It will provide many of the answers needed to complete your writing surrounding an industry.

Instructions for Databases

ABI INFORM Complete

  1. Go to ABI INFORM Complete using the database links above. 
  2. To find an industry profile, go to  "Advanced Search."
  3. Below the search box, find "More options" and in the "document type" section, select "Industry Reports."
  4. In the search box, type the name of the industry being searched, and click the Search button.
  5. You may need to include the geographic location (e.g. united states) in the search. Or use the Location filter on the left side of the search results to select the geographical location that you want.
  6. You may need to change the sort order from "relevance" to "most recent first" to get the most recent reports at the top of the results list. 
  7. Start first with the "First Research" industry profiles. Use the "Publication Title" options on the left side of the results screen to select "First Research Industry Profiles." Other reports may also be useful.

Business Source Premier

  1. Go to Business Source Premier using the database links above.
  2. To find an industry profile, click on "Search options" right below the search box.
  3. In the Publication Type dropdown menu, select "industry profile."
  4. Then enter search terms in search box that describe the industry and click the Search button.
  5. Explore the resulting articles and profiles.
  6. You may need to go to the left navigation area of the page and find the "Geography" section to limit your results to the United States.
  7. Items are displayed in "relevance" order, so you may want switch the sort order from "Relevance Sort" to "Date descending sort" to get the most recent articles/profiles at the top of the list.

IBISWorld

  1. Go to IBISWorld using the database link above.
  2. Search for an industry name, keyword, or NAICS code in the search box.
  3. When you click on a report you can go to specific sections using the contents on the left side of the page.
  4. You can download sections of the report, the full report, or charts from the report.

3. Find current news about an industry

Find current news about an industry

Current news is found in sources that are published frequently such as magazine and journal articles.

"Trade magazines" are particularly useful because their target audiences are people involved in specific trade/manufacturing groups (for example, soft drinks or electronics).

Why use these tools? 

Current news is needed to update information found in industry profiles -- including events that might affect investment decisions and new developments or trends in the industry that impact marketing.

Business Source Premier

METHOD 1. SEARCH BY KEYWORD

  1. Use the link above to find Business Source Premier
  2. Enter terms that describe the industry. For example, type: beverage* AND industry
  3. On the results screen, you can use the choose a particular "source type" on the left side -- such as "academic journals" or "trade publications."
  4. You may want to narrow your search by going to the left navigation area and limiting by subject or limiting by one of the other categories to further refine your search.

METHOD 2.   NAICS CODE SEARCH.

  1. Use the link above to find Business Source Premier
  2. Click on the link to "Advanced Search."  
  3. Use the "Select a field" dropdown menu to select a NAICS search.
    • Then enter the NAICS code in the search box to the left.  
    • Place an asterisk immediately after the NAICS code. For example:  44411*
  4. After doing the search, try using filters on the left side of the screen to limit to trade journals (or use other filters as needed).
  5. You may also change the sort order from Relevance to Date to get the most recent articles to show at the top of the results.

ABI INFORM

METHOD 1.  WORD SEARCH

  1. Use link above to find ABI INFORM.
  2. Enter terms that describe the industry. For example, type: beverage* AND industry
  3. On the results screen, you can use the choose a particular "source type" on the left side -- such as "trade publications."
  4. You may want to narrow your search by going to the left navigation area and limiting by subject or limiting by one of the other categories to further refine your search.
  5. You may want to change the sort order from Relevance to Publication Date (most recent first)

METHOD 2.   NAICS CODE SEARCH.

  1. Use link above to find ABI INFORM.
  2. Click on the link to "Advanced Search."  
  3. Use the dropdown menu to the right of the search box to select a NAICS search.
    • Then enter the NAICS code in the search box to the left.  
    • Place an asterisk immediately after the NAICS code. For example:  44411*
  4. After doing the search, you may want to use the filter options on the left side of the screen to limit to trade journals (or use other filters as needed).
  5. You may want to change the sort order from Relevance to Publication Date (most recent first).

4. Find investment news about an industry

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

Find investment news with the following business research databases.

Use these methods to find inaformation relevant to investing in either or both of the databases that are listed above.

METHOD 1.  Look for information relevant to investment in an industry profile.

  1. See section II above to learn how to find an Industry Profile in Business Source Premier and in ABI INFORM.
  2. When you've found a profile, look in it for forecasts regarding market share, financials, etc.

METHOD 2.  Search for trade journal articles related to investment.

  1. Go to Business Source Premier or to ABI-INFORM .
  2. In the search box, combine the name of the industry with investing or investment.
    • For example, type:
      "soft drinks" AND industry AND invest"