Last Reviewed: September 2026

Marketing research can draw from many different forms of consumer information, including surveys, audience panels, purchase behavior, retail measurement, media consumption, search behavior, public-opinion research, brand tracking, digital activity, and custom studies. No single dataset provides a complete picture of a consumer or market, so strong research usually combines sources selected according to the question being investigated.

The AAMA Marketing Research & Consumer Data Sources directory provides a curated starting point for marketers, advertisers, agencies, researchers, students, academics, media professionals, and organizations seeking reliable sources of consumer and market information. It includes both publicly accessible research resources and commercial data providers commonly used for professional marketing, media, consumer-insights, and strategic-planning work.

Inclusion in this directory does not constitute an AAMA endorsement of a particular vendor, methodology, product, or subscription. Researchers should evaluate methodology, sample, definitions, geographic coverage, data provenance, licensing, privacy practices, cost, and suitability before selecting a source.

Start With the Research Question

The best data source depends on what you are trying to learn.

Different sources may be appropriate for questions such as:

• What do consumers believe?
• What products do they purchase?
• Which brands do they use?
• What media do they consume?
• What are they searching for?
• How is a category growing?
• Which audiences use a particular product?
• How do attitudes differ among segments?
• How large is a market?
• How do customers move through the purchase process?
• How is a brand perceived?
• What cultural or behavioral trends are developing?

Do not begin with a favorite database and attempt to force every research question into it. Begin with the question, determine what evidence is needed, and then identify the source capable of providing it.

Understand the Major Types of Consumer Data

Marketing researchers commonly encounter several broad categories of data.

These can include:

• Survey data
• Consumer panels
• Purchase data
• Retail point-of-sale data
• Audience measurement
• Media-consumption data
• Search-interest data
• Brand-tracking data
• Digital behavioral data
• Public-opinion research
• Customer data
• Custom primary research

Each type answers different questions.

A survey can reveal what people say they believe, while purchase data can reveal what they actually bought. Media data may indicate what audiences consume, while search data can reveal changing information demand.

Strong research often becomes more useful when these sources are compared rather than treated as interchangeable.

Public & Accessible Research Sources

Pew Research Center

Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan research organization conducting public-opinion polling, demographic research, computational social-science research, and other data-driven studies. Its work covers subjects including technology, media, generations, work, demographics, social trends, news consumption, and public attitudes.

Pew is especially valuable because much of its research is publicly accessible and accompanied by detailed methodological information.

Especially useful for:

• Public attitudes
• Demographic trends
• Generational research
• Technology adoption
• Media behavior
• Social trends
• Internet use
• Public opinion
• Research methodology

Researchers can also access many of Pew’s underlying datasets through its Tools & Datasets collection.

Pew should not be treated as a substitute for commercial product or category research. Its strength lies primarily in understanding society, public attitudes, behavior, demographics, technology, media, and broader social change.

Roper Center for Public Opinion Research

The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research at Cornell University maintains a major archive of public-opinion research. Its collections allow researchers to examine how public attitudes have changed across decades and compare contemporary findings with historical polling.

The Center’s Roper iPoll platform provides access to a large archive of polling questions, results, questionnaires, methodology, and historical survey documentation.

Especially useful for:

• Historical public opinion
• Attitude trends
• Survey-question research
• Polling methodology
• Longitudinal comparisons
• Political and social attitudes
• Historical consumer context

Roper is particularly useful when a researcher wants to know whether a supposedly new attitude or social trend is actually new.

Historical opinion data can also provide valuable cultural context when studying advertising, consumer behavior, media, public trust, and changing attitudes toward industries or technologies.

Google Trends

Google Trends provides public information about relative search interest over time and across geographic areas. It can help researchers compare interest in topics, brands, categories, cultural events, and consumer questions.

Especially useful for:

• Search-interest trends
• Seasonality
• Geographic differences
• Emerging topics
• Brand comparisons
• Category interest
• Cultural trends
• Early exploratory research

Google Trends should be interpreted carefully.

It does not provide direct market size, customer counts, sales, or representative survey responses. Search interest measures search activity and should not automatically be interpreted as purchase intent, popularity, or market share.

It is most useful as one signal within a broader research process.

Syndicated Consumer & Audience Research

MRI-Simmons

MRI-Simmons provides syndicated research focused on American consumers, including demographics, attitudes, lifestyles, product use, brand behavior, and media consumption.

Its flagship MRI-Simmons USA study uses nationally representative research to help marketers profile audiences and understand relationships among consumer characteristics, products, brands, attitudes, and media behavior.

Especially useful for:

• U.S. consumer profiling
• Psychographics
• Product usage
• Brand usage
• Media planning
• Audience segmentation
• Lifestyle research
• Advertising strategy
• Multicultural consumer research

MRI-Simmons can be especially valuable when a marketer needs to answer questions such as:

• What distinguishes customers of Brand A from the general population?
• Which media does a particular audience use?
• What attitudes are associated with a category?
• Which brands overlap with a particular consumer segment?

Because the platform contains many variables within the same research system, researchers can examine relationships among attitudes, behaviors, products, media, and demographics.

GWI

GWI provides consumer and audience research based on large-scale survey data across multiple markets. Its research covers consumer attitudes, digital behavior, media use, brands, interests, purchasing, technology, lifestyle, and other audience characteristics.

Its consumer insights platform allows marketers and researchers to define audiences and compare behaviors and attitudes across segments and markets.

Especially useful for:

• Audience profiling
• Global consumer research
• Digital behavior
• Social media
• Media habits
• Consumer attitudes
• Brand research
• International comparisons
• Audience segmentation

GWI is particularly useful for organizations working across multiple countries or digital-media environments.

Researchers should still examine the sample, market coverage, questionnaire definitions, and time period associated with individual analyses rather than assuming that every finding represents every population.

YouGov

YouGov operates a global research and analytics network built around large online panels. Its services include public-opinion research, brand tracking, audience intelligence, shopper research, custom studies, and campaign measurement.

YouGov Profiles provides audience information covering areas such as demographics, attitudes, interests, brand relationships, shopping behavior, and media consumption.

Especially useful for:

• Audience intelligence
• Brand tracking
• Consumer attitudes
• Media planning
• Shopper research
• Public opinion
• International comparisons
• Custom surveys

YouGov also publishes a substantial amount of public research, making it useful even to researchers without access to its commercial products.

As with any panel source, researchers should understand how the population was recruited, weighted, defined, and measured before applying results to broader conclusions.

Full-Service Market Research & Consumer Insights

Ipsos

Ipsos is a global market-research organization working across consumer research, public opinion, brand research, advertising, innovation, customer experience, media, and social research.

Its work combines custom research, panels, syndicated studies, polling, qualitative methods, quantitative research, and analytical services.

Especially useful for:

• Consumer research
• Brand research
• Advertising testing
• Public opinion
• Innovation
• Customer experience
• Market strategy
• Custom studies
• International research

Ipsos also publishes a large collection of public research and reports through its Insights Hub.

Its public research can provide useful current context, while its commercial research services are more appropriate when an organization needs a study designed specifically around its own question.

Kantar

Kantar provides research, analytics, brand measurement, advertising research, consumer panels, media research, and other marketing-intelligence services across global markets.

Its work includes large-scale brand research and consumer-behavior measurement, along with specialized products for advertising, media, innovation, and customer understanding.

Especially useful for:

• Brand measurement
• Consumer behavior
• Shopper research
• Advertising effectiveness
• Media research
• Brand equity
• International research
• Marketing strategy

Kantar Worldpanel focuses particularly on consumer and shopper behavior through purchase and usage panels.

Kantar can be valuable when researchers need to connect attitudes about brands with observable consumer and shopper behavior.

Purchase, Retail & Shopper Data

NielsenIQ (NIQ)

NielsenIQ provides consumer intelligence and market measurement with particular strength in retail, consumer packaged goods, technology, durables, ecommerce, and shopper behavior.

Its systems combine retail measurement, consumer panels, product information, ecommerce activity, and analytical tools.

Especially useful for:

• Retail measurement
• Category performance
• Market share
• Consumer packaged goods
• Shopper behavior
• Product performance
• Pricing
• Promotions
• Distribution
• Ecommerce

NIQ’s Retail Measurement Services are particularly useful for understanding sales, pricing, distribution, and category performance across retail environments.

Retail measurement should not be confused with consumer-attitude research. One explains what was purchased within measured environments, while the other may be required to understand why consumers made those decisions.

Circana

Circana provides consumer and market intelligence across retail, consumer packaged goods, durable goods, foodservice, media, and other categories. The company combines point-of-sale information, consumer-panel data, analytics, and market research.

Its consumer research solutions examine who purchases products, what they purchase, and the motivations associated with shopping behavior.

Especially useful for:

• Consumer purchasing
• Retail
• Market share
• Category analysis
• Shopper behavior
• Point-of-sale measurement
• Consumer panels
• Omnichannel commerce
• Product performance

Circana can be particularly useful when research requires connecting market outcomes with information about the consumers producing those outcomes.

This distinction matters because sales data can reveal what changed while consumer research can help explain why.

Numerator

Numerator specializes in consumer and shopper insights, including purchase-panel research, consumer profiles, surveys, and verified shopping behavior.

Its research can help brands, retailers, and agencies understand household purchasing and connect buying activity with consumer characteristics and attitudes.

Especially useful for:

• Shopper behavior
• Household purchasing
• Consumer panels
• Brand switching
• Category behavior
• Promotions
• Consumer profiles
• Purchase journeys

Numerator is especially relevant when marketers want to study actual purchasing rather than relying only on stated intentions.

Researchers should still distinguish measured panel behavior from total-market sales and understand how panel findings are projected to the broader population.

Media & Digital Audience Data

Comscore

Comscore provides audience measurement, digital-media measurement, advertising measurement, and cross-platform media data.

Its Digital Media solutions include measurement across desktop and mobile environments, audience segmentation, digital panels, and consumer-journey research.

Especially useful for:

• Digital audiences
• Media planning
• Publisher measurement
• Cross-platform audiences
• Advertising measurement
• Consumer journeys
• Digital behavior
• Audience duplication

Comscore is particularly useful when a marketer needs to understand audiences around digital properties and media consumption rather than simply customer attitudes.

As with all media measurement, researchers should understand exactly how metrics such as audience, visitor, reach, impression, and engagement are defined.

EMARKETER

EMARKETER produces research, forecasts, benchmarks, charts, and analysis covering advertising, media, ecommerce, consumer behavior, technology, financial services, and digital marketing.

Unlike a single consumer panel, EMARKETER synthesizes information from multiple sources using its own forecasting and research methodology.

Especially useful for:

• Advertising spending
• Digital media
• Ecommerce
• Technology adoption
• Market forecasts
• Industry benchmarks
• Digital marketing
• Strategic planning

EMARKETER can be valuable when researchers need a consolidated view of a market or a forecast constructed from several data sources.

Researchers should distinguish an EMARKETER forecast or synthesis from the underlying primary datasets it incorporates. When a number is particularly important, examine the methodology and original source where possible.

Brand & Audience Research Tools

Brand Tracking

Brand-tracking systems measure changes in consumer perceptions over time.

Common measures may include:

• Awareness
• Familiarity
• Consideration
• Preference
• Purchase intent
• Brand associations
• Reputation

Providers such as YouGov, Ipsos, Kantar, and other research organizations offer brand-tracking programs.

The best brand tracker is one built around stable definitions, appropriate samples, consistent measurement, and questions connected to actual business decisions.

Audience Profiling

Audience-profiling platforms allow researchers to compare a target group with another population.

A marketer might compare:

Customers of Brand A

with:

All U.S. adults

and identify differences in:

• Media consumption
• Attitudes
• Interests
• Product usage
• Demographics
• Shopping behavior

Sources such as MRI-Simmons, GWI, and YouGov Profiles are particularly useful for this form of analysis.

The purpose is not simply to find every statistically different characteristic. The objective is to identify differences relevant to strategy, communication, media, or product decisions.

First-Party Customer Data

Organizations should not overlook information they already possess.

First-party marketing data may include:

• Sales
• Website activity
• CRM records
• Customer service interactions
• Email behavior
• Loyalty activity
• Purchases
• Product usage
• Surveys
• Registrations
• Leads
• Subscription behavior

These data can provide direct information about actual customers.

However, first-party data only describe the customers and interactions represented in the organization’s systems. They may provide little information about noncustomers, competitors’ customers, the overall market, or broader social attitudes.

External research can provide the context needed to interpret internal data.

Survey Research

When existing sources cannot answer the research question, organizations may need to conduct primary survey research.

A custom survey can investigate:

• Awareness
• Attitudes
• Satisfaction
• Intent
• Needs
• Preferences
• Brand perceptions
• Concept response
• Purchase behavior
• Customer experience

Survey providers range from full-service research firms to self-service platforms.

The quality of survey research depends heavily on sampling, questionnaire design, fieldwork, weighting, data quality, and interpretation.

Related AAMA Resource: How to Design a Marketing Survey

Qualitative Research

Consumer understanding should not always begin and end with numerical data.

Qualitative methods can include:

• Individual interviews
• Focus groups
• Ethnography
• Observation
• Diary studies
• Online communities

These methods can help researchers understand motivations, language, context, and experiences that are difficult to capture through predefined survey questions.

Qualitative research is often especially useful early in a project when the organization does not yet know which questions it should be asking.

Related AAMA Resource: Marketing Research Methods Guide

Behavioral Data vs. Attitudinal Data

One of the most important distinctions in marketing research is between what consumers say and what they do.

Attitudinal data can reveal:

• Beliefs
• Preferences
• Intentions
• Opinions
• Motivations

Behavioral data can reveal:

• Purchases
• Visits
• Searches
• Media use
• Clicks
• Product usage

Neither is automatically superior.

Someone may genuinely say that environmental sustainability affects purchasing while still choose a lower-priced product in an actual retail environment. The apparent contradiction can itself become an important research insight.

Use the data type appropriate to the question.

Stated Intent Is Not Actual Behavior

Purchase-intent research can be useful, but saying that someone intends to purchase something does not mean a purchase will occur.

Behavior can be affected by:

• Price
• Availability
• Competition
• Timing
• Economic conditions
• Retail environment
• Habit
• Other household members

When possible, compare intentions with actual behavioral evidence.

This is particularly important for forecasts, concept testing, and product launches.

Panel Data

A panel consists of people who participate in research over time or who can be repeatedly measured.

Panels can enable:

• Longitudinal analysis
• Audience profiling
• Purchase tracking
• Brand measurement
• Recontact studies
• Behavioral analysis

Panel quality depends on more than size.

Researchers should examine:

• Recruitment
• Representativeness
• Weighting
• Attrition
• Participation frequency
• Fraud controls
• Sample composition

A very large panel can still produce poor research if the sample does not adequately represent the population being studied.

Point-of-Sale Data

Retail point-of-sale data can provide direct information about what products were purchased.

Common applications include:

• Market share
• Category growth
• Distribution
• Pricing
• Promotion
• Unit sales
• Revenue

Sources such as NIQ and Circana are widely associated with this form of market measurement.

Point-of-sale data can describe the market outcome but may require additional consumer or research data to explain the underlying motivations.

Search Data

Search behavior can provide evidence about what people are actively looking for information about.

Search data can help identify:

• Seasonality
• Emerging questions
• Product interest
• Brand interest
• Geographic variation
• Cultural trends

Google Trends is one accessible source for this type of analysis.

Search behavior should not automatically be interpreted as positive sentiment. A spike in searches for a brand may result from a successful campaign, controversy, product problem, news event, or simple curiosity.

Social Media Data

Social platforms can provide information about:

• Content engagement
• Audience behavior
• Public conversation
• Campaign response
• Creator performance

These data should be interpreted carefully.

Social-media audiences are not automatically representative of the general population, and platform algorithms influence what becomes visible.

A high volume of online conversation does not necessarily indicate widespread public opinion.

Commercial Data Access

Many of the most powerful consumer datasets are commercial products.

Access may be provided through:

• Enterprise subscriptions
• Agency agreements
• University libraries
• Research departments
• Media-planning systems
• Custom research contracts
• Data licenses

Students should check whether their university already provides access to research products before assuming that commercial datasets are unavailable to them.

Professionals should likewise determine whether an employer, agency, client, or media partner already licenses a source.

Evaluate the Methodology

Before using consumer data, determine how it was created.

Questions should include:

• Who was measured?
• How were participants recruited?
• How large was the sample?
• How were results weighted?
• When were data collected?
• Which markets were included?
• Which behaviors were observed?
• Which behaviors were self-reported?
• How were metrics defined?

A sophisticated dashboard does not eliminate the need to understand the methodology behind it.

Examine the Date

Consumer behavior can change quickly.

Areas that may require particularly current data include:

• Technology
• Social platforms
• Media
• Retail
• Pricing
• Artificial intelligence
• Streaming
• Ecommerce
• Consumer confidence

Older data may remain useful for historical comparison, but researchers should not describe it as current without qualification.

Always identify the measurement period rather than relying only on the date a report was published.

Check Geographic Coverage

A global platform does not necessarily measure every country in the same way.

Verify:

• Available markets
• National sample sizes
• Local geographic detail
• Language coverage
• Urban or rural representation
• Population definitions

Do not generalize U.S. consumer findings to another country simply because the behavior seems plausible.

Understand the Universe

Every research result represents a defined population or universe.

Examples include:

• U.S. adults
• Internet users
• Households
• Smartphone users
• Grocery shoppers
• Category buyers
• Television viewers
• Customers of a company

The denominator matters.

“40% of consumers” and “40% of category buyers” describe very different populations.

Understand How Variables Are Defined

Do not assume that similar-looking measures from two vendors are identical.

Terms such as:

• Customer
• Buyer
• User
• Viewer
• Household
• Heavy user
• Brand awareness
• Purchase
• Engagement

may have different definitions.

Read the documentation before combining or comparing datasets.

Compare Sources When Possible

Important market conclusions become stronger when independent sources point in the same direction.

For example, a category trend might be supported by:

• Retail sales
• Consumer surveys
• Search behavior
• Customer data
• Industry reporting

Agreement does not prove causality, but it can provide greater confidence that the observed change is real.

Disagreement can be equally useful because it may reveal different populations, definitions, or stages of consumer behavior.

Do Not Mix Numbers Without Checking Compatibility

Researchers often collect statistics from several reports and place them together because they appear to discuss the same market.

Before comparing them, check:

• Geography
• Time period
• Age range
• Market definition
• Measurement method
• Currency
• Channel coverage
• Population

Two market-size estimates can both be methodologically reasonable while measuring substantially different things.

Watch for Data Aggregators

Sites that aggregate statistics from other sources can be useful for discovering information.

They should not automatically replace the original research.

When an important statistic is found through an aggregator:

1. Identify the original source.
2. Locate the original report if possible.
3. Confirm the definition.
4. Confirm the date.
5. Review the methodology.

This reduces the risk of repeating outdated, misquoted, or decontextualized statistics.

Understand Data Provenance

Data provenance explains where information came from and how it reached the system being used.

This is particularly important for commercial audience data assembled from multiple sources.

Ask:

• Was the information surveyed?
• Was it observed?
• Was it purchased?
• Was it inferred?
• Was it modeled?
• Was it provided directly by consumers?
• Was it obtained from public records?
• Was it combined with other datasets?

Do not describe modeled or inferred characteristics as though consumers directly provided them.

Privacy Matters

Consumer data can become increasingly sensitive as datasets are combined.

Researchers and marketers should consider:

• Consent
• Appropriate use
• Data minimization
• Sensitive attributes
• Retention
• Security
• Vendor practices
• Applicable law

The ability to acquire or infer a characteristic does not automatically mean it should be used for every marketing purpose.

Related AAMA Resource: Marketing Data Ethics Checklist

Avoid Treating Segments as Individuals

Research segments describe patterns within groups.

They should not be treated as though every individual in the group shares the same:

• Attitudes
• Motivations
• Media habits
• Values
• Behaviors

Segmentation is a decision-making tool, not a complete description of a person.

Use segments to improve strategy without turning statistical tendencies into stereotypes.

Public vs. Commercial Sources

Public sources can provide excellent information without subscription costs.

Examples include:

• Pew Research Center
• Roper Center
• Google Trends
• Government datasets

Commercial sources may provide greater depth in areas such as:

• Product usage
• Media behavior
• Shopper data
• Market share
• Brand tracking
• Audience profiling

The best research system often uses both.

Public sources provide broad context, while commercial datasets can provide specialized detail around categories, brands, audiences, and markets.

Recommended Source Selection Process

A practical process for choosing consumer research sources can follow these steps:

1. Define the Research Question
2. Define the Population
3. Determine Whether You Need Attitudes, Behavior, or Both
4. Identify the Required Geography
5. Determine the Required Time Period
6. Review Available First-Party Data
7. Search Public Research Sources
8. Evaluate Syndicated Research
9. Identify Required Commercial Data
10. Review Methodology
11. Compare Independent Sources
12. Identify Research Gaps
13. Conduct Primary Research Where Necessary
14. Document Definitions and Limitations
15. Translate Evidence Into Decisions

The research question should remain at the center of the process.

Do not collect data simply because a platform makes another variable available.

Consumer Data Source Evaluation Checklist

Before relying on a source, ask:

• Who produced the data?
• What population does it represent?
• How was the sample created?
• Is the data observed or self-reported?
• What is the sample size?
• When was it collected?
• What geography does it cover?
• How are key variables defined?
• Is weighting used?
• Are methods documented?
• Is the information current enough?
• Is the source independent?
• Does the provider have a commercial interest in the conclusion?
• Are privacy practices appropriate?
• Does the license permit the intended use?
• Can the conclusion be corroborated?

The most expensive dataset is not automatically the best source. The strongest source is the one whose methodology and coverage fit the question being asked.

Use Data to Reduce Uncertainty

Marketing research should improve decisions rather than create the appearance of certainty.

Consumer data rarely provide a perfect prediction of what every person will do. Their value comes from identifying patterns, testing assumptions, measuring change, comparing alternatives, and reducing uncertainty.

The goal is not to accumulate the largest possible collection of statistics. It is to use appropriate evidence to make better advertising and marketing decisions.

Related AAMA Resources

Continue researching audiences and markets with the Advertising & Marketing Research Sources Guide, Marketing Research Methods Guide, How to Design a Marketing Survey, Recommended Marketing & Advertising Journals, Government Data Sources for Marketers, Advertising & Marketing Publications Directory, Advertising Archives & Historical Collections, Marketing Metrics & KPI Reference, and A/B Testing Guide for Marketers. These resources provide additional guidance for locating evidence, designing research, evaluating data, measuring marketing activity, and interpreting consumer behavior.

AAMA will continue reviewing this directory as research providers, datasets, methodologies, platforms, and consumer-data practices change.