Related Research Guides
RKMA Industry Research Online Handbooks
Link to all industry statistics online handbooks
These Handbooks offer surveys of statistics on:
- Business-to-Business Marketing
- Consumer Behavior
- Consumer Behavior: Pandemic & Post-Pandemic
- Consumer Marketing
- Consumer Use Of The Internet & Mobile Web
- Entertainment, Media & Advertising Market
- Healthcare Business Market
- International Consumer Markets
- Leisure Business Market
- Restaurant, Food & Beverage Market
- Retail & E-Commerce
- Sports Marketing
- Sports: Impact Of The Pandemic
- Travel & Tourism Market
- Travel & Tourism: Impact Of The Pandemic
- U.S. Cities & Communities
Industry Sources
- D&B HooversDetailed global coverage of industries and companies, both public and private. Includes RMA Industry Norms (statistical summaries of key financial and operating ratios for an industry).
- Passport (Euromonitor)Global market information on countries, consumers, and companies through in-depth reports and relevant statistical data. Includes consumer demographics and market trends.
- EMIS ProfessionalDetailed profiles, statistics, market reports, and news on sectors and industries in emerging markets. Reports are in multiple languages.
- StatistaStatista provides access to statistics and studies gathered by market researchers, trade organizations, scientific publications, and government sources on over 600 industries.
- Fitch Country Industry Reports (in ABI/INFORM database)Quarterly Fitch Solutions Country Industry Reports (formerly Business Monitor International - BMI). Includes coverage of regions and countries around the world. These reports are also available in the EMIS database.
- Gale Business CollectionVarious types of resources covering companies, industries, and business issues.
- Nexis UniUse the Sources tab to screen for sources by industry or by type of report, such as market research reports or trade publications. The Company Dossier feature enables screening for industry ratios and major players.
- Thomas Register of American Manufacturers / ThomasNetOnline directory of suppliers of industrial products. Filterable by product type, geographic location, and qualifications such as ISO certification.
- Valuation Resources Industry Information SourcesAlongside listings of fee-only market research, includes leads on industry associations and valuation studies.
- EconBizJoint project of the German National Library of Economics and the University and City Library of Cologne, gateway to materials in multiple languages from global sources, including many freely available sources. Coverage includes sources on companies and industries.
- Millie (from Northern Lights)News from various sources for specific industries.
- Manufacturing Trade Associations and Related LinksFrom IQS Directory
Industry Research Paths
Depending on the nature of your project, you can take several approaches to industry and market research:
- For well-defined and established industries, searches databases and online catalogs by using the industry name or classification codes (see Industry Classification Systems).
- Search resources on companies that provide the products that you are focusing on, then determine which industries they belong to (see the Research Guide on Companies). Such companies can be identified by searching through directories, trade association materials, company reports, and trade journals.
- Search resources on issues, trends, and other topic of interest and then identify the industries and companies that focus on these areas.
Trade Publications
Trade publications, often published by industry-specific trade associations, are a valuable source of information current trends, issues, management, and products. Examples of trade journals include:
Databases featuring Trade Publications
Trade Associations
- Encyclopedia of Business Information SourcesSources of information including associations related to diverse industries, product types, and business activities.
Directory of Business Information Resources 2017 by Call Number: Ginn Ref. HF5381 .B7785 2016
Emerging Industries
Sources on new, fledgling industries may be hard to locate because industries often are formally defined only when they constitute a certain percentage of economic output. The major industry classification systems (see the page on Classification Systems) often are slow to reflect new industries. Therefore, locating information on these sectors requires research in a broader set of sources. After you have exhausted the basic resources on industries, try the following:
- News sources
- Sources on private companies
- Professional associations, institutes, and organizations that focus on a particular market or issue
- Patents, which describe inventions in industries of the future