Market Research as Storytelling: Home
Purpose of Research Guide
This research guide is to support students completing market research projects.
After reading the guide, students can submit their questions to Nancy via email before scheduling a research meeting.
What is market research?
What is market research?
When you're doing market research, you're looking for answers to questions so that you can use data to tell a coherent, compelling story about whatever it is you're researching. You might answer questions like:
- What is the size of my market?
- Who are my competitors?
- Which market is best suited for my product or service?
- How much will customers pay for my product or service?
- What are the emerging trends in an industry?
(source)
The best market research is combining primary and secondary information to tell a compelling story.
Primary information: research you compile yourself or hire someone to gather for you.
Secondary information: This type of research is already compiled and organized for you. Examples of secondary information include reports and studies by analysts, government agencies, trade associations or other businesses within your industry. (source)
Telling a Market Research Story
Remember that you are telling a story about your industry in your market research report. Use data & information as evidence to support your story.
Key tips:
- Base your story on evidence
- Focus on a problem that needs an answer
- Make your target audience as specific as possible
"The more specific the target audience, the more concise the story and the more focused the recommendations." - Organize your story around themes
- "TL;DR" End with a concise summary
From industry professionals:
"Our market research project is most valuable when it delivers a coherent story."
"There is only one thing that is going to make a set of research recommendations listened to, adhered to and returned to, and that is a convincing story well told."
For more, check out this industry article "The Key Ingredients of World-Class Market Research Presentations: It’s All About Storytelling"
What Sources "Count" for Market Research
What Sources "Count" for Market Research
Market research is different than a regular research paper. It's more flexible and expansive, and you can (and should!) use more types of sources than just scholarly articles. Here's some of the types of sources commonly used for market research:
- Industry Reports
- Big picture information about an industry
- Include trends, major companies and market share, chain of supply & demand, consumer information (source)
- Government & NGO Data
- U.S. government is single largest collector of data about U.S. consumers, industries and economic activity
- International organizations (e.g. World Bank, International Monetary Fund) provide international data
- Trade Publications (Journals, Magazines)
- Focus on one industry and provide in-depth information on trends, new products and other topics of interest to people working in that industry
- Industry Associations
- Organization collects information and data about an industry.
- Often publishes reports, newsletters, blogs, etc., and member directories
- Newspapers and News/Opinion Magazines
- Business news publications (like The Economist and The Wall Street Journal) report on market conditions, policies and regulations affecting industries, and more
- Learn about Evaluating News Sources
- Scholarly/academic articles
- Especially relevant for cutting-edge or research-based products and services
- Learn the best way to read a scholarly article: Anatomy of a Scholarly Article
Research Resources
Understand the Bigger Picture
The first thing you need to do is understand the bigger picture of your industry.
- How many major companies or brands are here?
- What is typical revenue in this industry?
- Who purchases or uses the product or service?
- What external factors affect the industry?
Industry reports provide you with the foundation of your story. Details of your story will come next, and help you answer the deeper "why" and "how."
Getting into the Details
Every good market research story has characters who experience the problem and are looking for a solution. Who is the target customer for the product/service? Who experiences the industry trend?
If businesses are the target customer, search for information about the companies.
If individual consumers are the target customer, search for information about the motivations, lifestyles, spending habits, etc., of these people.
Using Library Subscription Resources
Except for government data, reports and data can be incredibly expensive. Use a combination of sources to find information for your market research story. Library subscriptions provide access to high-quality reports and credible data at no cost to you.
READ DESCRIPTIONS TO PICK THE RIGHT SOURCE.
Some sources do one thing really well, and some sources do several things. Pay attention to the description to choose the right source! They're listed in no particular order.
Check out this webpage for more Research Resources for Social & Environmental Issues.
- IBISWorld Industry ReportsCovers the entire U.S. economy, providing in-depth and concise business intelligence and industry analysis. Global and China industry reports provide market information for many industries and business sectors.
- Mintel AcademicContains market research data and reports on consumer markets and products, demographics, consumer buying behavior and motivations, trends in global consumer markets. Many reports include Databooks with downloadable consumer survey data. U.S.-focused with some global coverage.
- BCC ResearchIndustry and market research reports on major economic, scientific, and technological developments in industrial, pharmaceutical, and high technology organizations
- Euromonitor PassportProvides detailed data and reports for international and consumer industries, including historic data from 1997 and market forecasts. Reports include market size, company and brand profiles and market share. Consumer information includes population trends, lifestyles, buying behavior. Export data into Excel. Great for international business.
Note: You will be asked to login. UNC affiliates only – no walk in access allowed. - StatistaContains statistics, infographics, industry and market research reports and publicly-available data for over 25 countries on all topics. Download statistics and charts in Excel, PowerPoint, or PDF.
Note: UNC Chapel Hill currently has full access to Statista with the exception of the Global Consumer Survey and Market Studies. - SimplyAnalyticsCreate maps, tables, and rankings from over 30,000 demographic, consumer spending, and psychographic variables. Covers the U.S. from states to neighborhood levels. Create your own optional account to save your searches and favorite variables and locations.
Data analysis and mapping tool with U.S. demographic, housing, employment, business, consumer spending, marketing data from government sources, EASI Analytics, Nielsen Scarborough, and SimmonsLOCAL Consumer Insights. Export data in spreadsheet or shapefile format, and export maps as images.
Note:Access is limited to 5 concurrent users.
- Market Research HandbooksPDF downloadable e-books
One-stop shops for consumer & industry data.
Choose the most relevant title(s) to download and use the table of contents to navigate data tables.
- Data Axle Reference SolutionsContains directory information for millions of U.S. and Canadian businesses and consumers (white pages). Use Consumers/Lifestyles data for market research and customer discovery. Search by company name, geographic area, industry codes (NAICS/SIC), sales volume, etc. Create custom lists of up to 250 records that you can download to Excel.
Note: Users are not permitted access from IP addresses outside of the United States. Download limit is 250 records. - Foundation Directory Online ProfessionalFDO Professional provides subscribers with access to timely, comprehensive information on grantmakers and their grants. Included is a database of the entire universe of over 140,000 foundations, corporate giving programs, and grantmaking public charities in the U.S.; a database of over 4,000 sponsoring companies, offering a quick pathway to corporate funders; a database of over 9.5 million grants; and a keyword-searchable database of over 1 million recently filed IRS Forms 990 and 990-PF.
Access to this resource is provided by the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations at UNC. - PolicyMapAccess social, economic, health and demographic data about U.S. communities and markets in this online mapping tool. View data on map, in table or chart format, and download via the sidebar menu. Reports provide a summary snapshot of an area: Community Profile, Community Health Profile, Rental Housing Report, and Housing Mortgage Report.
Guides for Market Research
- Market Research BasicsOnline tutorial for an overview of research strategies and information sources for market research.
- Market Research as StorytellingA framework to understand how market research is like telling a story
- Demographic & Market ResearchFrom UNC Park Library
Business Research Consultant/Librarian
