Marketing 3361: International Marketing Research Sources

Please note that this guide has been superseded by one on our LibGuides site:

http://libguides.trinity.edu/content.php?pid=67981

1. Books and Encyclopedias

Quite a few books in our library contain useful background information on the social, business, and economic characteristics of other countries. Two techniques should prove successful:

• Do a subject search in Quest for the name of your country.  Look under the main entry and also selected subheadings, such as "dictionaries and encyclopedias," "economic conditions," "social conditions," and "social life and customs."  E.g., Brazil--social life and customs.
   
• Use the following subject headings and look for subheadings for your particular country or region:
  • National characteristics
  • Corporate culture
  • Business etiquette
  • Negotiation in business

Those titles which begin with phrases such as "Doing Business ..." are especially helpful. (NOTE: Searching this same phrase with a country name can be quite useful in web search engines like Google.) See information about PricewaterhouseCoopers online series below.

Don't forget that there are many good subject encyclopedias in our collection that may have useful information, including some that take a subject rather than geographic approach; remember to use the indexes of these volumes. Examples:

Countries and Their Cultures (4 vol.)   REF  GN 307 G68 2001

International Encyclopedia of National Systems of Education   REF  LB 43 I584 1995

Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women: Global Women's Issues and Knowledge  REF HQ 1115 R69

2. Article Databases & Subscription Data Sources

Euromonitor Global Market Information Database

Database of international market research includes internationally comparable statistics on industries, countries, and consumers; over 15,000 industry, company, country, and consumer reports; articles on topical reactions to major news events; and market and brand share information.

The following databases may contain either scholarly or more popular articles, but all are potentially valuable for this project.  Use the name of your country and combine it with terms describing the national characteristics you are trying to locate, such as "sex roles" or "business conditions."

Business Source Complete

Best full-text source for scholarly business and economics journals, trade journals, and the popular business press.

 

Academic Search Complete

Multidisciplinary database covers a wide range of subjects in both scholarly and popular periodicals.  Many of the titles have full text available.

 

Sociological Abstracts

The most extensive index to sociology and anthropology scholarly journals. Some full-text links.

 

Social Sciences Abstracts

Multidisciplinary for the areas of sociology, psychology, economics, political science, and related subjects.  Limited full text.

 

Worldwide Political Science Abstracts

Best index for this subject. Limited full text.

 

Access World News

Access to the full electronic editions of over 1100 US and international newspapers, including English translations of selected top stories from more than 1,000 sources.

3. Web Resources

Country Studies

Excellent, lengthy coverage of countries for Americans needing to move there; best single starting place.  However, the series doesn't cover most Western European nations.

 

Doing Business (World Bank)

"... provides indicators of the cost of doing business by identifying specific regulations that enhance or constrain business investment, productivity, and growth. The indicators are developed by the Finance and Private Sector Vice Presidency of the World Bank Group."

 

OFFSTATS: Official Statistics on the Web

Very nice collection of links to the official agencies of countries around the world that collect and issue statistics on business, population, income, and many more subject.

 

The Economist Country Briefings

Short but incisive coverage; use menu on left side for viewing different sections.  Note that the longer reports require a fee at the Economist web site, but we have access to recent Country Reports in another database (see below).

 

BuyUSAInfo Country Information--Quick Reference

Includes trade issues, business etiquette, political conditions, and more.

GeographyIQ

globalEDGE

Created by the International Business Center at Michigan State University; provides handy access to many other free web resources.

 

CIA World Fact Book

Useful but basic data.

 

United Nations Statistical Division

See especially Social Indicators.

 

STAT-USA

Our license permits only one simultaneous user, and you must get the current password from the Circulation Desk (kept with our CD-ROM databases).  Password may change frequently.  Login and go to the Globus/NTDB section, where you'll find Country Commercial Guides, Industry Sector Analysis Reports, and many other detailed reports.  Please logout when you finish to allow others to use the database!

Trendwatching

Briefings on global trends and ideas.

 

Export.gov

Some of this area requires a company to register for access; however, many free reports are available, including links to trade statistics, country data, etc.

 

European Industrial Relations Observatory On-line

Information on working and living conditions for each of the 15 EU Member States, Norway, and the United States. Data from 1997 to the present covers most industry sectors.

 

European Union in the United States

Descriptions of customs and tariffs, standards, and protection of intellectual and industrial property rights in the EU; links to web sites of European Union institutions.

A Chartbook of International Labor Comparisons: United States, Europe, and Asia

Country Report
Country Profile
Country Review

These are excellent reports that you can access through our various periodical databases.  Recommended fast search method:  click on Journals link on library home page; enter your country name and one of the words in the titles above (e.g., "korea country").  Browse the list of titles and click on one to go to that publication's index page. Note that some of the very most recent reports may be excluded due to publishers' embargoes, but this is usually no more than six months or so.

 

InfoMine: Scholarly Internet Resource Collections

A web index of resources chosen for their academic usefulness; contains over 100,000 sites.