Finding and Using Sources in Marketing 483

1. Finding and Using Sources in Marketing 483 Prepared by Lizzie Harris McCormick and Laurel Harris

2. Preliminary Research Before you begin collecting sources, you should conduct an informal, preliminary search to familiarize yourself with your topic (in this case, your proposed enterprise or product and your market base). You should begin to develop research questions from this initial search. In this case, you might begin asking more specific questions about your product or enterprise, about a target audience, and about a marketing program to reach this audience. During this stage, your research doesn’t yet need to be defended, so you can do a more general Internet search. However, you should ultimately use only validsources, or sources that your reader will take seriously in your term paper.

3. What Is a Valid Source? A good part of persuading your audience is backing up your points with facts and figures, narratives, examples, and testimony. Convincing evidence will be current and will be from a source recognized for accuracy. To this end, you should critically evaluate any sources that you use. Is the source current? Will your reader respect your source as trustworthy? While it is useful for preliminary research and can be a place to find valid sources, you need to be particularly careful with Internet searches. For example, Wikipedia is generally not regarded as a valid source by most readers because no one is held accountable for the material posted on it. Please see the next sheet for resources that will generally be recognized as valid.

4. Library Resources • New York Public Library: Science, Industry, and Business Library 188 Madison Avenue (at 34th Street) http://www.nypl.org/research/hours/sibldir.cfm Sources to Consult: International Marketing Data and Statistics (HA42.I56); Direct Marketing Market Place (HF5415.126 D57); EPM Entertainment Marketing Sourcebook (HF5438.5.E66); Green Book (American Marketing Association) (HF5415.M32); M Guide: AMA’s Essential Marketing Directory (HF5415.M32); Researcher Sourcebook (HF5415.2.R47); Multicultural Marketing in America (HF5415.127.M85); Marketing Pocket Book (HF5410.M37). • Baruch College Library 151 East 25th Street http://newman.baruch.cuny.edu.index.php Database to Consult: MRI (Mediamark Research Inc.) • York College Library Reference Desk: 718-262-2023 Remote Access to CUNY Databases: http://www.york.cuny.edu/library/reference-databases/remote-access Useful Books Available through CUNY Loan: Kenneth Gronbach, The Age Curve: How to Profit from the Coming Demographic Storm; Mediamark Research Inc., The MRI Psychographic Sourcebook: A Compilation of Psychographic Batteries and Segmentations from Survey of the American Consumer, Teenmark, and the American Kids Study; Lynne R. Kahle, Euromarketing and the Future; M. Isabel Valdes, Marketing to American Latinos; Richard K. Miller and Associates, The Restaurant and Food Service Market Research Handbook; Daniel Wardlow, Gays, Lesbians, and Consumer Behavior; James McNeal, Kids as Customers: A Handbook of Marketing to Children; United States Small Business Association, Researching Your Market; Attracting the Affluent: The First Guide to America’s Changing Ultimate Market.

5. Online Resources • Hoovers http://www.hoovers.com • Entrepreneur http://www.entrpreneur.com • US Small Business Association http://www.sba.gov • New York Times Business Section http://www.nytimes.com/pages/business/index.html • Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com • Business Week http://www.businessweek.com/ • Business Weekly http://businessweekly.com/ • You might also consult trade publications specific to your product or enterprise.

6. Help with Research A successful search for sources is dependent on the “buzzwords” or “key words” that you use to conduct your search. Be resourceful as you research. If one term doesn’t get any hits, try a more general term. For example, if you get few responses from “vending machines with fresh fruit,” try “healthy vending machines.” If the term produces too many responses, narrow it down. For example, if “soft drinks” produces too many responses, narrow it to “fruit-flavored soft drinks.” You can also try using synonyms and new forms of wording. As you conduct research, you are already starting to focus your paper and this is part of the writing process. If you get really stuck, consult your professor or a reference librarian at the NYPL Business branch or at York College for ideas.

7. Taking Notes Taking notes as you research is not a waste of time. In fact, careful note taking will force you to think about how you will structure your paper. Every important point you make will be backed up with evidence that you find in your research when you write your paper. So why not use the research process as the first step to designing your paper? Develop a method for writing down or collecting important information. For example, you might keep index cards with each source listed on them and cite the facts and figures, narratives, or testimonies that you plan to use in your paper with page numbers. You might keep a research notebook or file on your computer in which you record source material information and the relevant evidence for your paper. The point is to read your sources actively, thinking of what you might use as evidence for your own paper and that you carefully record your citations so as to avoid plagiarism when you begin writing.

8. Working Research into Your Paper: Paraphrasing • Quote from Article: “With its popular searches, Baidu has managed to keep far ahead of Google in China, with a search market share approaching 65 percent.” • From: Barbosa, David. (2009). Google and Music Labels Bet on Downloads in China. The New York Times. April 5, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/06/technology/companies/06music.html • Paraphrase: A: With its popular searches, Baidu’s search features are so popular in China that this company beats even Google. Its market share is almost 65% (Barbosa, 2009, p.B13). • B: According to Barbosa (2009), the search features of Baidu are far more popular in China than Google’s are. For this reason, Baidu has almost two-thirds of the search engine market share (p.B13).

9. Working Research into Your Paper: Quotation • Embedded Short Quote: As Barbosa (2009) reports, Baidu “has managed to keep far ahead of Google in China, with a search market share approaching 65 percent” (p. B13). • Direct Long Quote: In terms of our company’s probable market, the facts speak for themselves. With its popular searches, Baidu’s search features are so popular in China that this company beats even Google. Its market share is almost 65% (Barbosa, 2009, p.B13). Given the fact of Baidu’s dominance in China, United States developers will clearly see the value in our support services as they attempt to secure and negotiate deals with this Chinese company.

10. Working Data into Your Paper Top 10 Global Web Parent Companies Home & Work August 2009 Source: Nielsen Net View (http://en-us.nielsen.com/rankings/insights/rankings/internet).

11. Working Data into Your Paper • In August of 2009, Facebook was the fourth ranked net company according to Nielsen Net Ratings. • Net users spent more time on Facebook than on Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo! according to Nielsen Net Ratings.

12. APA Style For assistance with APA style, the required style guide in Marketing 483, please see http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/. It is important that you carefully follow APA style when you write the final draft of your paper to avoid plagiarism and to keep your evidence clearly separated from your own points.

13. A Word on Plagiarism If you carefully take notes and follow the APA style guide, you should avoid plagiarism in your paper. Also keep in mind that you must cite the source even when you paraphrase, or put it into your own words (see above). For more information on plagiarism, consult http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/01/.

14. Worksheet to Get You Started • Topic: • Preliminary Research: • Current Research Questions and Places to Begin: