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New reports on Canadian consumers: revealing the power behind Vividata's complexity

Published by Mark Bodnar

  Update (January 2025): Vividata has a new interface (Vivintel) and a new guide.  We've left the old database/guide links in the post below, but please use these new links instead.

With great power comes great... complexity?

Sorry about mangling that Spider-man quote. My point is that sometimes the most powerful databases are, unavoidably, also the most complex. Sadly, that complexity can act as a barrier, causing researchers to avoid some amazing sources.

Image showing 4 puzzle pieces labelled Opinions, Activities, Demographics, and Purchases, with a Canadian flag in the centre.Take, for instance, our Vividata database...

Vividata’s Study of the Canadian Consumer reaches 40,000+ Canadians each year, gathering detailed data on Canadians’ opinions, demographics, and activities, as well as their product, service, and media purchases. 

For those who are willing to learn how to create and interpret its (complex) tables, the Vividata database available via the SFU Library allows you to connect those puzzle pieces in many ways to answer such questions as... 

Small image of two puzzle pieces, yellow and blue representing purchases combined with demographics  Which age group (generation) is most likely to frequently purchase energy drinks?

Small image of two puzzle pieces, blue and green representing demographics combined with activities  Which province has the most people who attend pro hockey games?

Small image of two puzzle pieces, red and yellow, representing opinions combined with purchases  Are Canadian Geographic readers more likely to care about a car’s fuel efficiency than readers of Elle Canada?

Small image of two puzzle pieces, green and red, representing activities combined with opinions  Are frequent gardeners likely to be open to trying new food products?

If that's not enough incentive to draw your interest, we now have another way for you to see the value of Vividata: SFU researchers recently gained access to a series of reports based on data gathered by the Vividata organisation! In most cases that same data (and much, much more) is available in our Vividata database. 

Check out the following reports on consumer trends in Canada to get a sense of what you can do with Vividata's survey results once you master the interface with help of our Introduction and Advanced guides.

As always, let me know if you have any questions at all!

-- Mark

P.S.: These reports are available to current SFU students, faculty, and staff only and must not be shared beyond SFU.
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Mark Bodnar
mbodnar@sfu.ca
Business & Economics Librarian

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Vividata
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