Analyzing the Impact of COVID-19 on Consumers, Markets & Industries

Many of the library’s business research databases are publishing special analysis of the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic on consumers, markets, and industries. Below is a roundup of key resources providing unique and timely content to keep you up-to-date and well informed.

Search tip: Look for a special COVID-19 link, button, icon or banner on the landing page of each database to be directed to their collection of COVID-19 insights, analysis and statistics. Then, conduct keyword searches in the databases to search for additional information.


eMarketer
Database focus: digital marketing, advertising, and media; retail and e-commerce; social media; mobile technology; and consumers. Global coverage.

Examples of recent reports, analysis, and charts: US Consumer Confidence Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic | Bored At Home: US Consumers May Be Eyeing New Subscription Services | Telemedicine Could Be More Widely Adopted Due to the Coronavirus | Coronavirus Impact: Expected Post-Outbreak Vacation Behaviors Among US Internet Users


Euromonitor Passport
Database focus: Global economic, industry and consumer research, data and analysis.

Examples of recent reports and analysis: Coronavirus Price and Availability Tracker | Coronavirus Economic Scenarios | The Impact of Coronavirus on Luxury Goods | Coronavirus Outbreak to Accelerate Household Wellness Trends | Coronavirus Impact on Consumer Payments.


Forrester Research
Database focus: impact of technology on consumers, customer experience, marketing, and business strategy.

Examples of recent insights and reports: Redesign Physical Spaces Now in Response to COVID-19 | Improve Customer Experience in Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic | US Shopper Insights and the Impact of COVID-19 as of Early April 2020 | Base Your Marketing Priorities During COVID-19 on Your Company’s Context


Gartner Group Resources
Database focus: IT-related topics and technology, business and management insights.

Examples of recent articles, insights, and reports: Consumer COVID-19 Concerns Tracker | Redeployment of Employees During Times of Disruption Into Agile Teams | Focus on Virtual Customer Engagement to Maintain Effectiveness During the COVID-19 Pandemic | 9 Questions to Measure Employee Engagement During Disruptions


IBISWorld Industries and Markets
Database focus: US Industry reports (including a wide variety of specialized industries), Business Environment Reports, and selected Global Industry reports

Examples of recent insights and on-demand webinars: Will Working from Home Remain? | Webinar: COVID-19 & the Accounting Industry | Industry Impacts of Social Distancing

Note: Individual industry reports are being updated with relevant information and analysis surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak. View a list of updated reports.


IHS Connect
Database focus: Analysis of business conditions, economic data, and risk assessment for countries, continents, and regions.

Examples of recent analysis: Impact of COVID-19 virus on the MENA region | Fears unbound: Geopolitics after the pandemic | Daily COVID-19 roundup: Russia has second highest rate of COVID-19 infections, dispute over mortality rate continues


Mintel Market Research
Database focus: U.S. consumer lifestyles, attitudes and behavior; market research reports for consumer products and services. Also includes selected international coverage.

Examples of recent reports and analysis: Grocery Retailing | Haircare From Home During COVID-19 | Brands Play the Long Game to Connect with Consumers | COVID-19’s Economic Impact Will Reshape US Consumer Behavior and Shift Market Demand


NBER Working Papers

Database focus: The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Working Papers make results of NBER research available to other economists in preliminary form to encourage discussion and suggestions for revision before final publication.

Examples of recently released working papers: “When Do Shelter-in-Place Orders Fight COVID-19 Best? Policy Heterogeneity Across States and Adoption Time” by Dhaval M. Dave, Andrew I. Friedson, Kyutaro Matsuzawa, Joseph J. Sabia | “Which Retail Outlets Generate the Most Physical Interactions?” by Avi Goldfarb, Catherine Tucker | “The Macroeconomics of Testing and Quarantining” by Martin S. Eichenbaum, Sergio Rebelo, Mathias Trabandt


Statista
Database focus: portal for quantitative data, statistics and related information. Global coverage.

Examples of recent statistics, charts, infographics, and dossiers: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Disease Pandemic- Statistics & Facts | Where Americans See Misinformation | Coronavirus: Impact on e-Commerce in the U.S. | Main Worries and Concerns about the COVID-19/Coronavirus Pandemic 2020 in the United States, United Kingdom and Germany


U.S. Census COVID-19 Data Hub

Focus: contains key demographic and economic data from Census programs including the American Community Survey and County Business Patterns program.

U. S. Census Real-Time Trackers: Household Pulse Survey and Small Business Pulse Survey.

Focus: The Household Pulse survey is collecting data on a range of ways in which people’s lives have been impacted by the pandemic. Data collection started started April 23 and the Census plans to collect data for 90 days before releasing their results. After that, the survey will be updated weekly. The Small Business Pulse survey data tabulations and visualizations will be available on their site beginning in mid-May and will be updated weekly through June.  


The library provides online personal subscription to three leading news sourcesFinancial TimesNew York Timesand Wall Street Journal. If you have questions about registering or renewing your accounts (NYT and WSJ subscriptions expire annually on their anniversary), please contact the Reference Desk.


Want to explore more? Visit the library’s Databases A-Z page to view a complete listing of library databases. Use the options at the top of the list to filter by subject.


Database of the Month provides a very brief introduction to useful library databases, highlighting key features you should know about. If you would like more information about this resource (or any of the library’s databases), please contact us for research assistance. If you would like a demonstration of these resources for a class, please schedule a research instruction class using the instruction request form.

Database of the Month: Mediamark Reporter - Consumer Survey Data

Mediamark University Internet Reporter (“Mediamark Reporter”) presents demographic, lifestyle, product, brand, and media data from GfK MRI’s Survey of the American Consumer, a national survey of over 25,000 consumers. Through personal in-home interviews, the Survey collects demographic data (age, income, educational level, etc.), media usage information (including print, television, online and social media), and details about the products and services that they buy and use.

Why use Mediamark Reporter?

Use Mediamark Reporter to identify a target market and profile consumers. Data is reported for more than 6,500 products and services in 600 categories, making this database an important resource for students working on GB214, GB320, marketing, and corporate immersion projects.

For example, you can use Mediamark Reporter to find the demographic characteristics of people who:

  • drink bottled water more than 8 times a week
  • subscribe to Netflix
  • spent more than $250 on sports equipment in the past year
  • pay bills using their mobile device
  • watch NBA games on TV on a regular basis
  • have used a dating app in the last 30 days
  • have purchased Converse sneakers in the past year
  • “always” vote in national, state and local elections

Beyond basics: Report types and custom targets

Utilize Mediamark Reporter’s options to create custom reports:

  • The default report is “standard” report, which shows data from one survey period. Select “trend” report to view three years of data side-by-side.
  • Combine targets to customize brand or usage data.
    • For example, when viewing the Bottled Water reports you may decide you’d like to combine data for multiple brands. Select the brands you are interested in (e.g. Smartwater and Fiji), then choose either Any of These Items (to OR your selections) or All of These Items (to AND your selections) to create a custom target.
  • Create custom demographic targets under the “Reporter Options” settings.
    • For example, you can create a custom Household Income (HHI) category by combining the HHI $50,000-59,000 category with the HHI $60,000-74,999 category to create a new user-defined category of HHI $50,000-74,999.

You can find more information about these customization options in the help documentation listed below.

Register for a Mediamark account

To use Mediamark Reporter you must create an account using your Bentley email address. Mediamark accounts automatically expire two times per calendar year — on June 30 and December 31. Users will need to re-register after January 1 and July 1 each year for access to the Mediamark database.

Account registration instructions are available at libguides.bentley.edu/consumers/mediamark.

Help guides, search tips, and more

Mediamark’s interface and navigation are unlike other databases, and the reports are a bit tricky to read without help. The most important thing to have in front of you while using Mediamark is the the 1-page How to Read a Mediamark Report, which describes how to interpret Mediamark data. The 15-page Mediamark Tutorial explains how to customize your reports.

You can find additional Mediamark Reporter search tips, help guides and tutorials on the Consumer and Market Research Guide. Visit or contact the Reference Desk for personal assistance using Mediamark Reporter.


Database of the Month provides a very brief introduction to a useful website or Library database, highlighting key features you should know about. If you would like more information about this resource (or any of the library’s databases), please contact us for research assistance. If you would like a demonstration of this resource for a class, please schedule a research instruction class using the instruction request form.