Skip to Main Content

Business Market Research: Getting Started

A guide to market research at OCC

What is Market Research?

The process of gathering, analyzing and interpreting information about a market, about a product or service to be offered for sale in that market, and about the past, present and potential customers for the product or service; research into the characteristics, spending habits, location and needs of your business's target market, the industry as a whole, and the particular competitors you face . - from Entrepreneur.com, Market Research

Before You Start

Before you start your research, consider the following:

  • What industry or product are you researching? Think of narrower or broader names for your product. For example, if you were performing market research for a pizza place, a broader term might be restaurant and narrower term might be food delivery. 
  • What is the NAICS code for your industry? NAICS can help you quickly narrow down your searches in certain web  or database searches. Here is a site for NAICS codes lookup.
  • What kind of information do you need? For market research, you will probably need to find lots of different kinds of information. You are unlikely to find everything you need in one place. Make a list of the pieces of information you need before you start.

Getting Help

Need Research Help? 

 Chat with a librarian by clicking on the speech bubble below anytime the library is open.   

 

Librarian at desk. Icon by wanicon at Flat Icon Stop by the Reference Desk to talk with a librarian.  

 

  Schedule a research appointment with a librarian.
  20 minute research appointments are available throughout the week.
  This is a great opportunity to get help finding articles, ebooks, or other online resources for papers and projects.  

 

 Email your question to a librarian 

Faq icons created by Freepik - FlaticonVisit the Library Frequently Asked Questions!