BUS 343: Introduction to Marketing – Summer 2015
Secondary Research Skills and Resources
Mark Bodnar
(Burnaby)
mbodnar@sfu.ca
Ania Dymarz
(Surrey)
adymarz@sfu.ca
A. Skill #1: Brainstorming

Mark's Marvelous Modified Munchies - new product: the SalmApple
= $$!
(A delicious GMO hybrid of two of BC’s best exports – apples and salmon.)

It's green (no fish farms required), healthy (omega 3s and vitamin C), and local (just need a lab to grow it
near your local supermarket). How can we go wrong?
1) Why should you be a bit cautious if I handed you a report that answered all of your questions perfectly?
2) What information do we need before we
can predict demand or put together our
marketing strategy? What are our
questions?
For example, you might want to know sales trends for
“close substitutes” (and you’ll probably want to know
what some close substitutes might be!).
(Think of your customers, competitors, economic conditions, and the regulatory environment.)
B. Skill #2: Identifying Likely Publishers

Once you have an initial list of questions, think about who might have the answers before you start
searching randomly. Going directly to the site or the publications of a likely publisher can save you time!
Try it…
Who would publish:

Info on whether
people’s GMO
purchase intentions
translate to reality?

Info on how much
salmon is consumed
in different parts of
Canada?

Info on the
regulations around
such products?
C. Resources #1: Library Guides
Identifying likely publishers gets easier as you start to learn more about key resources. Many of the major
marketing resources available to you as SFU students are listed on the following guides:
SFU Library Guides to…
1. Market Research
http://www.lib.sfu.ca/help/subject-guides/business/secondary-market
2. International Market Research
http://www.lib.sfu.ca/help/subject-guides/business/international-market
3. Company Information
http://www.lib.sfu.ca/help/subject-guides/business/company-info
4. Industry Surveys
http://www.lib.sfu.ca/help/subject-guides/business/industry-surveys
D. Resources #2: Sample Resources (all of which are listed in the above guides or in your assignment)
1. Passport GMID
2. IBISWorld
3. Business Source Complete
4. PMB Reports
5. Ipsos News Centre
6. Other cool stuff…. Market Share Reporter, Best Customers, SimplyMap Canada, Encyclopedia of Major
Marketing Campaigns/Strategies …
BUS 343: Introduction to Marketing – Summer 2015
Secondary Research Skills and Resources
Page 2
Practice Questions
A. Passport GMID
1. MENU Searching Which spent more per capita on Vitamins and Dietary Supplements in 2013 (using US$ and
year-on-year exchange rates), China or Canada?
Extra: What is the forecast for sales (same criteria) for 2018 in both countries?
2. TEXT Searching: How many tonnes of cookies were sold in Indonesia in 2013? (Hint: Cookies are a type of
biscuit.)
Extra: What is the forecasted value of cookie sales in Indonesia for 2018?
3. Browsing for related material: Find the report Organic Packaged Food in Canada. Do any of the related reports
listed on the left side of the screen seem potentially relevant to my amazing SalmApple product?
B. Other sources
4. Search IBISWorld for a report on “Vitamin & Supplement Manufacturing in the US.” Is the US information
relevant to my target market in Canada for the SalmApple?
5. Find the report The Future of Nutrigenomics in Business Insights. What are the market drivers for personalized
nutrition?
6. Using the PMB Reports, look at the demographics of the people who say they “personally use Omega 3/Fish Oil”
products. What region/province do the largest portion of those consumers come from? If you adjust for the size of
the region/province, which area is the best represented among Omega3/Fish Oil consumers?
1. Canada: USD $37.90/capita vs. $10.60/capita for China. Forecast = 41.7/15.8
2. 9.10 (‘000 tonnes); 567.36 Rp billion
Answers:
3. Think laterally! Broader/related categories? Consumer trends? Check the Key
External Drivers section, for instance.
4. Your decision! Can you find other data that shows the US consumers are
similar to us on this point? Or that the US industry is similar or the same as ours?
5. Healthy aging, consumer demographics (older cohort), chronic noncommunicable disease, etc.
6. Ontario: 39.5% of the users; BC: index number is 142 (followed by the Prairies
with an index of 140). (See next page for more on how to read the PMB Reports.)
BUS 343: Introduction to Marketing – Summer 2015
Secondary Research Skills and Resources
Page 3
Reading the Print Measurement Bureau Category (PMB) Reports
Vertical (V) percentage:

A measure of the demographic profile of the users of the product/service.

Of people in Canada who reported that they use [product/service & frequency], V% were
[demographic characteristic on the left side].

From the image above: Of people in Canada who reported that they drink Red Bull Regular most
often of all the Energy drinks, 22% were 18-24.
Horizontal (H) percentage:

A measure of the product/service choice of the people in a narrow demographic slice.

Of people in Canada who were [single demographic characteristic on the left], H% reported using
[product/service & frequency].

From the image above: Of people in Canada who were 18-24, 2.3% say they drink Red Bull Regular
most often of all the energy sport drinks.
BUS 343: Introduction to Marketing – Summer 2015
Secondary Research Skills and Resources
Page 4
Index (I):

Gives you an indication of whether the V% is significant (weird). How does the reported V%
number compare to the number of people in the country overall who fit in that same demographic
category?

For example, if 40% of the users of a product are 12-17 (a V% of 40), but only 10% of the
population is 12-17, then the Index (I) would be roughly (40/10)*100=400.

From the image above: The Index number of 18-24 year-olds who drink Red Bull Regular most often
is almost 200 (198), so the proportion of Red Bull Regular drinkers who are 18-24 is roughly twice
the proportion of the population overall who are in the same age range.

An I=100 means that for that demographic characteristic, the same percentage of people are using
the product/service as are in the population overall. An index number considerably higher than
100 means that demographic characteristic is over-represented among users of the product.
Conversely, an index number significantly below 100 equals under-representation. Both over- and
under-representation are often of interest to marketers.
Practice Questions
Access: http://cufts2.lib.sfu.ca/CRDB4/BVAS/resource/11020 or http://tiny.cc/pmb-sfu or
Be sure to carefully read the database description at the link above. There are three different types of
reports available (Demographics, Readership, and Lifestyles/Attitudes), and some technical issues
involved in accessing them.
Not sure how to interpret the numbers in the reports? Start with our Reading the PMB Reports guide at the
beginning of this document, then stop by the library to chat with a librarian if you still need help.
1. Demographics: Who reports that the burger restaurant they eat at most often is McDonalds? What do we
know about their demographics? ANSWER
2. Readership: Almost 15% of all Canadian households with kids under 3 read Today’s Parent magazine: True
or False? ANSWER
3. Lifestyles/Attitudes: What other leisure activities are the people who go golfing 10+ times a year (the
heavy/frequent golfers) most likely to be involved in? How about their least likely leisure activities?
ANSWER
BUS 343: Introduction to Marketing – Summer 2015
Secondary Research Skills and Resources
Page 5
ANSWERS
NOTE: The numbers below may be a bit off from what you find as they change each time new survey data is
added to the reports – a few times each year These answers should at least be close, though.
1. Demographics: Consumers who report that McDonalds is the burger restaurant that they most often visit...

Tend to be 25-49 and to be parents with young kids (vertical percentages for the 25-34 and 35-49
ranges of 20.2% and 27.2% and both ranges have high index values (128 and 115). Note that they 12-17
age range is also strongly represented given its size in the population overall (index=131), but people in
that range still represent only about 10.2% of all the McD-Often consumers. Quite a bit less likely to be
older than 50.

Are significantly more likely to be in Quebec than in BC, and are especially common in Quebec City
(I=181).

Interestingly, 16.3% of households with couples and children living at home report going to McDonalds
most often of all burger restaurants, but only 10.4% of households with couples and no children at
home. (Using horizontal (H) percentages for this last comparison.)
Back to Questions
2. Readership: Almost 15% of all Canadian households with kids under 3 read Today’s Parent magazine: True
or False?

TRUE – and note that this time you are looking at the behaviors of a specific demographic group, so the
number to pay attention to is the horizontal percentage (H%) of 14.9%.
Back to Questions
3. Lifestyles/Attitudes: What other leisure activities are the people who golf 10+ times a year (the
heavy/frequent golfers) most likely to be involved in? How about their least likely leisure activities?
For this one, go to Leisure > Restaurants > Tobacco and choose “Leisure Activities: Personally Participate.”
Then click on the link for the people who said they are Frequent/Heavy (10+/yr) Golfers. Then change the
report type in the upper left to “02 Report Type – Leisure.” You’ll be scanning the vertical (V) percentage
column to see which activities are most/least frequently reported among the serious golfers.
Most likely:


Walking/Hiking: 50.3 % of the frequent golfers like to go for walks. Again, not surprising.
Gardening: 43.9% of the group enjoys gardening.
Least likely:



Wind surfing (1.6%)
Roller hockey (2.0%)
Attend figure skating or wrestling events (1.6%)
Back to Questions
BUS 343: Introduction to Marketing – Summer 2015
Secondary Research Skills and Resources
Page 6