Marketing: Research a Target Market

A target market is a group of people that have been identified as the most likely potential customers for a product because of their shared characteristics such as age, income, and lifestyle.

Identifying the target market is a key part of the decision-making process when a company designs, packages, and advertises its product.

Questions to ask yourself when identifying a target market:

1. Can the target be measured? How can it be described (e.g., demographic, lifestyle, income, etc.)?
2. Is it stable? How long will it exist?
3. Is it substantial? Is it large enough for a company to make a profit?
4. Is it different from other segments?
5. Is the target accessible? How can a company's message reach them in order to purchase its product or engage its service?
6. Can the company develop marketing actions that the target market will respond to?
7. Is there enough information/research available about the market?

Investopedia. (2022). Target Market: Definition, Purpose, Examples, Market Segments. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/target-market.asp

University of Denver Libraries. (2022). Target Market Research Guide. https://libguides.du.edu/c.php?g=90660&p=581993 

Demographics are the statistical characteristics of human populations used especially to identify markets. For example, age, family size, family life cycle, gender, income, occupation, education, religion, race, generation, nationality, etc.

Searching Google for demographics:

1. My best tip for finding demographics is to first think about what data sets or data points you need, then search Google. For example, if your target market is recent graduates who own pets, you will want to know things like the race, sex, location, and income of recent college graduates, as well as how many of those individuals own a pet. Do a Google search for each individual thing you need, or also try one structured like the following: (target audience) and the word "demographics".
   • Tip: If you can't find what you need right away, remember to try some synonymous search terms.
2. Since sources found on Google will be of varying quality and reliability, you need to evaluate the quality of the sources you find. To make sure a source you are using is reputable or appropriate for citing, consider the following criteria (or visit our Evaluating Sources guide):
   • Currency: When was the information published or posted? Is the information current or out-of-date for your topic?
     • For business research, you will need information published recently (preferably within the last 2-3 years)
   • Relevancy: Does the information relate to your topic or answer your question? Who is the intended audience?
   • Authority: Who is the author/publisher/source/sponsor? What are the author's qualifications to write on the topic?
     • I.e., A company in a relevant industry may have a blog with helpful psychographic information since they serve similar customers
   • Accuracy: What is the source of the information? Does the author include citations/references for the information? 
   • Purpose: What is the purpose of the information? To inform? Teach? Sell? Entertain? Persuade?

Web sites with quality demographic information:

The sites below are all high quality, reputable sources of demographic data that you can explore. 

• Census Business Builder
  Provides selected demographic and economic data from the Census Bureau tailored to small business owners who need key data for their business plan or to better understand their potential market. It presents data for a single type of business or a single industry cluster at a time

• American Time Use Survey (BLS)

  Measures the amount of time people spend doing various activities, such as paid work; childcare; volunteering; and socializing

• Consumer Expenditure Survey (BLS)

  The consumer expenditure survey provides information on the buying habits of American consumers, including data on their expenditures, income, and consumer unit (families and single consumers) characteristics

• Wages by Area and Location (BLS)

  Wage and occupation data at national, regional, state, and metropolitan area levels

Psychographics are the study and classification of people according to their attitudes, aspirations, and other psychological criteria, especially in market research. Common types of psychographic characteristics include personalities, lifestyles, interests, opinions, beliefs, and values.

Searching scholarly databases for psychographics:

Psychographics are often found in scholarly articles. Use the databases listed below to find articles that discuss psychographic information.

Suggested keyword search: (target audience) and the word "psychographics". For example:

• teens AND psychographics
• "STEM graduates" AND psychographics
• "college students" AND psychographics

You should also try adding the industry you are researching to the search string using "AND".

Tip: Perform multiple searches using synonymous terms, like "teens" vs. "adolescents" vs. "young adults", to make sure you capture everything. If you aren't finding what you need, try searching for "preferences or attitudes or beliefs or opinions" in addition to "psychographics".

Searching industry report databases for psychographics:

Industry reports provide a lot of information about the performance of an industry, including information about customers, which often include psychographics. To find psychographic information, search in the database below for the relevant industry for your project. In the report, click on "Industry Performance" and pay special attention to the "Current Performance" information on that page.

Searching Google for psychographics:

You probably will not find all the information you need in databases, so after searching those I would recommend doing a broad Google search.

1. Do a Google search structured like the following: (target audience) and the word "psychographics"
   • For example:
     • teens psychographics
     • STEM graduates psychographics
     • college students psychographics
   • Tip: You should also try adding the industry you are researching to the search string. Perform multiple searches using synonymous terms, like "college students" vs. "university students", to make sure you capture everything. If you aren't finding what you need, try searching for "preferences or attitudes or beliefs or opinions" in addition to "psychographics".
2. Since sources found on Google will be of varying quality and reliability, you need to evaluate the quality of the sources you find. To make sure a source you are using is reputable or appropriate for citing, consider the following criteria (or visit our Evaluating Sources guide):
   • Currency: When was the information published or posted? Is the information current or out-of-date for your topic?
     • For business research, you will need information published recently (preferably within the last 2-3 years)
   • Relevancy: Does the information relate to your topic or answer your question? Who is the intended audience?
   • Authority: Who is the author/publisher/source/sponsor? What are the author's qualifications to write on the topic?
     • I.e., A company in a relevant industry may have a blog with helpful psychographic information since they serve similar customers
   • Accuracy: What is the source of the information? Does the author include citations/references for the information? 
   • Purpose: What is the purpose of the information? To inform? Teach? Sell? Entertain? Persuade?

Web sites with psychographic information:

The sites below are all high quality, reputable sources of demographic data that you can explore.