One of our BUS 345 sections (hi, D100!) will be doing some primary market research focused on meal kits this term.

The students have a huge amount of flexibility when it comes to choosing the research questions they want to explore, so it would be difficult to suggest specific resources and search strategies for them. Instead, I thought I'd try a different approach: 

I'll highlight just a few of the possible research questions to give you a sense of the range of research that goes into marketing (section A below). I'll aim to highlight the amount of lateral/creative thinking that a market researcher has to do, but my list won't be anywhere near as detailed as that of a real marketer.

Then I'll list the guides and blog posts that cover the sorts of resources I'd normally use to answer such questions (section B).

Finally, I'll return to the target product and talk about research resources that are specifically about meal kits (section C).

Here we go...   <Read on!>

One of our marketing classes (BUS 345 E100) is going to be doing some primary research on alternative protein products & consumers again this semester.

In support of that class, I've listed some key resources, but students in other classes may also want to use this post as a case study to learn about some of the powerful market research tools available to SFU researchers.  Bon appetite!

<Read on for a menu of delicious databases! >

Another video on business research skills & resources! 

As you can probably figure out from the title, this one is about using news sources to gather information about what a company has been doing so that you can infer the company's strategy, rather than relying solely on the company's explicit statements or third-party analysis. That is, focusing on actions vs. words.  

And it includes a brief demonstration of one of our main news article databases here at SFU: Factiva.

<Read on for details.>

Frequent readers of the BUEC Buzz -- and most students in the classes I visit -- will know that I consider the use of good news sources to be imperative for business research.

You really can't deal with strategies, marketing plans, investments, etc. without being on top of all that is changing in our world... and that means exploring beyond the curated-for-clicks content of most social media.

And frequent readers will also know that one of our best news sources here at SFU is Factiva which covers over 33,000 news publications from around the world, including the Wall Street Journal. 

<Read on to learn about Factiva's new content, and about the time-saving Factiva Expert Search feature!>

Time flies when you're having fun...

It was one year ago today that Canada legalized cannabis. Now that we are a year into this new world of legalized sale and consumption, we are seeing innovations such as edibles & low-cost, bulk buying, and there are reports of a boost to the economy of over $8 billion.

I thought I'd do a quick "anniversary" check today to see what new information resources might now be available on this hot topic... 

<Read on for lots of recent resources on this fast-changing topic!>

I spotted an interesting story in the Wall Street Journal this morning: "Netflix U.S. Users Decline, Sinking Its Stock --- Video service reports 130,000 fewer domestic subscribers in second quarter."

To be frank, what was interesting for me about this article wasn't the content -- as much as I like streaming Netflix shows while I fold the laundry, I don't really need an ongoing blow-by-blow of its subscriber numbers.  No, what caught my attention was that this would be a good chance to highlight a couple of my favourite SFU Library resources: Factiva and Statista. 

<Read on for details!>

A couple of our marketing classes are going to be doing some primary research on alternative protein products & consumers this semester.

In support of those classes, I've listed some key resources, but students in other classes may also want to use this post as a case study to learn about the powerful market research tools available to SFU researchers.  Bon appetite!

<Read on for a menu of delicious databases! >