{"id":55,"date":"2026-08-24T09:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T13:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opentextbooks.concordia.ca\/businessintel\/?post_type=back-matter&p=55"},"modified":"2026-08-25T15:23:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T19:23:18","slug":"consumer-behaviour","status":"publish","type":"back-matter","link":"https:\/\/opentextbooks.concordia.ca\/businessintel\/back-matter\/consumer-behaviour\/","title":{"raw":"Consumer Behaviour","rendered":"Consumer Behaviour"},"content":{"raw":"

Consumer Behaviour<\/h1>\r\nThis page is designed by Olivier Charbonneau, Senior Librarian for the Marketing department of JMSB, to support learning and classroom activities of students enrolled in MARK 305 Consumer Behaviour.\r\n\r\nSee also:\u00a0Business communication, for a half hour video on searching for business information.<\/a>\r\n
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Quick access<\/strong>: remember to access the Library\u2019s (1)\u00a0Business Research Portal<\/a>\u00a0for the recommended business sources; use the (2)\u00a0Ask-A-Librarian<\/a>\u00a0help desk; and the (3)\u00a0citing business sources in APA format<\/a>. In addition, you can access the Library\u2019s guide on how to\u00a0create an annotated bibliography.<\/a><\/blockquote>\r\n

What is a consumer trend?<\/h3>\r\nPowers, D. (2019).\u00a0On trend\u00a0: the business of forecasting the future<\/em><\/a>. University of Illinois Press. Retrieved 2023, from\u00a0https:\/\/concordiauniversity.on.worldcat.org\/oclc\/1121628104<\/a>\r\n\r\nNiosi, A. (2021).\u00a0Introduction to Consumer Behaviour<\/a>. BC Campus. Retrieved 2023, from\u00a0https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/introconsumerbehaviour\/<\/a>\r\n\r\nMany people have a lot to say about consumer trends. What should you believe? What is true? Many students have difficulty differentiating conjecture, opinion, beliefs and facts. Some of these are rooted in our own biases, experiences or expectations. One thing is certain: you are called upon to think critically about the claims you are making. Thinking critically, in this case, means providing\u00a0credible evidence about the claims you are making.<\/strong>\r\n\r\nCredibility can be expressed in a variety of factors. Who is behind the claim? How have they arrived to their conclusion? What data or evidence did they analyse to make the claim? Do they describe their method, the limits of their analysis? Was it reviewed by experts? Do they stand to benefit from you believing their claim?\u00a0Do you really want to base your project on some shoddy source gleaned from an underwhelming search on Google?<\/strong>\r\n
\u201cIf you are\u00a0only using Google<\/strong>\u00a0for this project,\u00a0you will fail<\/strong> in achieving its learning objectives. \u201c<\/blockquote>\r\nTo succeed in this project, you must eliminate opinions from facts and provide\u00a0evidence from credible sources to support your claims<\/strong>\u00a0about consumers. Here are some simple strategies to avoid making baseless claims from shoddy evidence.\r\n

Tip #1: Start by reading basic market & industry research reports<\/h4>\r\nTo succeed in this project, you are expected to\u00a0access and read\u00a0<\/strong>market and industry research reports from the\u00a0Library\u2019s collection of databases\u00a0<\/strong>BEFORE identifying the consumer trend for your project. Concordia University Library provides complementary (free!) access to reports used by professionals in your field.\u00a0Librarians at Concordia evaluate these databases and select the one providing the best evidence<\/strong>. These These sources are listed on the\u00a0Library\u2019s Business Research Portal<\/a>\u00a0but all students in this course are expected to use the following databases:\r\n\r\nPassPort by Euromonitor\u00a0https:\/\/www.concordia.ca\/library\/guides\/business\/market-analysis.html<\/a><\/strong>\r\n\r\nPassport from Euromonitor is a professional tool paid by the library and provides reports worldwide consumer markets, such as\u00a0Megatrends<\/strong>,\u00a0Consumer lifestyles Canada<\/strong>\u00a0as well as sectorial reports and data (from Search> Search Full Tree). The library website provides for a tutorial on using Passport by Euromonitor.\r\n\r\nIBISWorld\u00a0https:\/\/www.concordia.ca\/library\/guides\/business\/industry-info.html<\/a><\/strong>\r\n\r\nIBISWorld provides over 1000 industry reports for business in Canada, the USA, China and global markets. Use these reports for insight on industries & external environment\r\n\r\nCRTC\u2019s Communications Market Reports\u00a0https:\/\/crtc.gc.ca\/eng\/publications\/reports\/PolicyMonitoring\/<\/a><\/strong>\r\n\r\nThe Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is a federal agency that regulates to our country\u2019s media outlets, like TV or radio stations. They monitor market conditions of this sector to determine whether the policies that they enforce are useful. Because they are a government agency, they post this market research on the Internet.\r\n\r\n \r\n

Tip #2: Discuss sources with your group to identify salient claims and evidence they contain<\/h4>\r\nAs a group, discuss the preliminary research done so far. What did the basic sources tell you? Did they contradict or confirm what you expected? What are the salient companies (major players or brands), industries or consumer trends discovered so far?\r\n
\u201cAt this point, you have minimal information. You need to go much deeper in your research to succeed.\u201d\r\n\r\nSource: true to his nature, Senior Librarian Olivier Charbonneau tells it like it is.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\r\n

Tip #3: dig deeper in trade news and scholarly sources<\/h4>\r\nIf you think you can do this in\u00a0Google, you are wrong<\/strong>. You will need to cite at least half-a-dozen\u00a0trade news or scholarly articles<\/strong>\u00a0in your paper to write a mediocre paper. Good papers have much more than the minimal threshold. Yes, this means using library databases to locate articles, read and discuss them in your group and select the most salient elements for your report. If you do not engage with this task, you shouldn\u2019t complain about your grade. Forget\u00a0Google for this step, use ProQuest instead<\/a>.\r\n\r\nSearch for\u00a0articles<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0ProQuest Business Databases<\/a>:\u00a0https:\/\/www.concordia.ca\/library\/guides\/business\/business-articles.html<\/a>\r\n\r\nSearch for companies (name of major players, brands, etc.), industry name or consumer trend concept. For example:\r\n\r\nConsum* behavio* AND (canad* or Quebec*) AND <company\/brand\/topic><\/em>\r\n\r\nFilter\u00a0Source type<\/strong>\u00a0for:\r\n
    \r\n \t
  1. Trade journals: for industry news<\/li>\r\n \t
  2. Scholarly journals: for credible research<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nSelect & export citations in .RIS format to\u00a0Zotero<\/a>\u00a0or create bibliography. You can also use\u00a0Eureka<\/a>\u00a0(local newspapers in French) or\u00a0Factiva<\/a>\u00a0(worldwide trade journals).\r\n

    Tip #4: Dig through Statistic Canada\u2019s Census and Data<\/h4>\r\nTo discover three essential data tools provided for free by Canada\u2019s national statistics agency, please access this short post:\r\n
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    https:\/\/www.outfind.ca\/get-familiar-with-statistic-canada<\/div>\r\n
    This post offers insight on using Statistics Canada\u2019s website for market research, including 3 videos.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\nTry these different Data searches:\r\nhousehold spending quintiles \/ \u201cretail trade sales\u201d \/ \u201clabour force survey\u201d\u2026\r\n\r\nUse the Census\u2019 Data Products > Data Tables to get market size by demographic variables. If you don\u2019t understand what that means, please\u00a0Get familiar with Statistics Canada<\/a>!\r\n

    Optional step: Use Vividata to support or double-check your claim(s) and evidence<\/h4>\r\nVividata (formerly PMB) is a database providing tables obtained from a yearly Canadian consumer survey. It contains psychographics & demographics based on a questionnaire. Create unique tables by combining variables, please watch the tutorial on the library website:\u00a0https:\/\/www.concordia.ca\/library\/guides\/business\/market-analysis.html<\/a>\r\n

    Parting thoughts<\/h3>\r\nYou may have to loop through the tips provided above a few times if you discover new evidence. Creatively combine data and insight from multiple sources to support your claims. Use only the most credible and authentic sources. Go to the bottom of things: be weary of superficial & fallacious sources.\r\n\r\nRemember, a successful project will have you answer clearly and concicely the following questions:\r\n