WMU Research Guides: MKTG 3710: Marketing Research: Mumuni

Market Research Tutorials for SPuRS or Class Credit

Instructions for Personal and Interpersonal Knowledge – SPuRS Advanced

Introduction to Secondary Marketing Resources at WMU
Learn how to use IBISWorld, Mintel, and Statista to research U.S. industry trends, consumer behavior, and local market data.
Introduction to International Secondary Market Research at WMU
Learn how to find international market and consumer data using two of our most powerful tools: 1) Statista, for country-specific statistics and global consumer preferences and 2) Global Data Explorer, for international industry reports.

AI Resources

Use these prompts to guide your reading and analysis of articles for the exploratory research assignment.

Understanding the Study

In a few sentences, explain the main marketing ideas in this article (for example, trust, brand image, or buying decisions). How do these ideas connect to social media or influencer posts?
Walk through the research method step by step (e.g., survey, experiment, interviews). What makes this method a good fit—or not—for studying social media and influencers?
Describe how the researchers analyzed their data (for example, percentages, correlations, regression). In simple terms, what do those numbers show about the results?

Evaluating Quality and Credibility

Look for anything that might make the results less trustworthy—like a small sample, a company paying for the research, or survey questions that push people toward certain answers.
Give one or two key strengths and one or two main weaknesses of the overall study. Think about sample size, clarity of questions, and how well the conclusions match the evidence.
Explain how closely this study fits our class topic on how social media and influencer endorsements impacts customer perceptions and purchasing decisions. Give it a relevance rating from 1 to 10, and briefly justify the score.

Applying the Findings

List the most important results a marketing team could use when planning an influencer or social media campaign. How might these results help us write survey questions for our class project?
Compare the findings of the studies I've found, how are this article’s results the same or different? What stands out as new or unique?

American Marketing Association -- Generative AI Takes Off with Marketers
This AMA-survey piece (Dec 2024) reports on how professional marketers are using generative AI tools—from content creation to design—and identifies both the major benefits (productivity, creativity) and concerns (ethics, quality, bias).
APA Style: Citing Generative AI in APA Style
APA explains how to credit tools like ChatGPT in academic work. Include the tool name, version, year, and URL in your References and briefly describe how you used it (e.g., in a methods or disclosure section). For example:
OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (GPT-4 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat

If AI output isn’t publicly accessible, note that and place key prompts or text in an appendix. This ensures transparency and supports WMU academic integrity.

Articles

ABI/INFORM Collection (now ProQuest One Business)
Use to find in-depth, credible research on how social media and influencer marketing shape consumer brand perceptions and purchase decisions. This database includes:
1) Scholarly marketing and consumer-behavior journals (e.g., Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research) for peer-reviewed studies required in your literature review.
2) Trade and business publications (e.g., Adweek, Marketing News, Business Insider) for current trends, campaign examples, and industry commentary.

Tips for this assignment:
1) Combine topic terms: ("social media" OR TikTok OR Instagram) AND influencer* AND (brand OR "purchase decision*").
2) Limit to peer-reviewed for academic articles, or select Trade Journals for practitioner insights.
3) Use abstracts to quickly confirm relevance and export citations in APA or Chicago style.
Google Scholar
Google Scholar is a freely accessible search engine for scholarly literature across disciplines. It’s a good complement to ProQuest when you’re gathering peer-reviewed studies for the Deliverable #2 literature review on social media and influencer endorsements.

1) Find journal articles, conference papers, and working papers that may not appear in subscription databases.
2) Link to full text through Find It @ WMU to access library holdings.
3) Use quotation marks and connectors for precise results:
"social media" AND influencer* AND (brand OR "purchase decision*")

4) Filter by date or click “cited by” to trace newer studies.

To enable links from the "Find it@WMU" from off-campus computers, follow these instructions or watch a video tutorial : 1. Go to Google Scholar. 2. Click on the "options" wheel in the top right corner. 3. Select "Library Links" from menu on the left side. 4. In the "Library Links" search box, type "Western Michigan University Libraries". 5. Click the checkbox next to "Western Michigan University Libraries (ArticleLinker)". 6. Click the "Save". 8. A link to "ArticleLinker" should now appear next to those citations that are available electronically from the Libraries.

Data and Reports

Mintel US Reports
Mintel provides full-text market research reports on U.S. consumer industries and trends. For this project it is especially useful for secondary data on social media and influencer marketing—including market size, growth forecasts, consumer attitudes, and competitive strategies.

Examples from a recent “influencer” search:
1) Social Media Influence on Food and Foodservice – US 2025
2) Travel Influencer Marketing – US 2024
3) Beauty Influencers – US 2023 & 2022
4) Podcast: Influencer Marketing Strategies
5) Social Media Influence in Discovery and Purchase – US (coming Oct. 2025)

How to use Mintel effectively
1) Search with one-word or short keywords such as influencer, TikTok, or Instagram.
2) Use the Databook icon within a report to view and download ready-to-use charts and cross-tabbed consumer data by age, gender, or other demographics.
3) Cite the report (APA or Chicago style) and note the publication year for currency.

Mintel is ideal for Deliverable #1 (industry data and trends) and can also supply consumer insights that inspire qualitative questions and survey items for the final class study.
MRI Simmons
MRI-Simmons Insights
MRI-Simmons provides detailed U.S. consumer survey data on attitudes, behaviors, media use, and product preferences. It’s ideal for exploring how social media and influencer marketing connect with specific demographics—supporting both the industry overview and the survey design in this project.

How to use for this assignment
1) Start with Quick Reports to locate topics like social media use, online purchasing, or influencer marketing.
2) Use Indexes to gauge how likely a group is to exhibit a behavior compared to the national average (Index = 100).
Example: an index of 150 means the group is 50 % more likely than average to engage in that activity; 80 means 20 % less likely.
3) Combine filters—such as Age, Gender, or Lifestyle segments—to see how different consumer groups interact with social media and influencer content.

Why it’s valuable
MRI-Simmons offers rich, citable data for Deliverable #1 (industry and consumer data) and can help generate survey questions and specific research objectives that target particular audience segments.

Statista: Influencer Marketing in the US
This Statista collection brings together key quantitative data on influencer marketing in the United States, making it easy to locate current market size, spending, and consumer behavior indicators in one place.

What you’ll find:
1) Market size & growth – annual spending forecasts through 2025, growth by platform (Instagram, TikTok, YouTube), and ROI metrics.
2) Business practices – budgets, campaign planning, top challenges, and most common reasons brands work with influencers.
3) Consumer insights – demographics of influencer audiences, trust levels, purchasing triggers, and platform preferences.
4) Spotlight sections – deep dives on TikTok and other major platforms.

Global Data Explorer (formerly MarketLine)
This in-depth market research report analyzes the U.S. digital advertising industry—covering social media, search, mobile, and other online channels—and looks ahead with forecasts and competitive analysis. It provides detailed market definitions, trend discussions, and company profiles (including major advertising platforms) to help you understand how digital advertising supports influencer and social media marketing.

For this assignment
1) Use it to supply credible industry statistics, market structure details, and company context for your exploratory research report.
2) Connect insights from this source with other literature and your own qualitative findings to shape survey questions and research objectives.
3) Cite figures and tables in APA or Chicago style as required.

Business Librarian

LuMarie Guth

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Subject and Course Guides

MKTG 3710: Marketing Research

Market Research Tutorials for SPuRS or Class Credit

AI Resources

Articles

Data and Reports

Business Librarian