Library Guides: MKTG 382: Consumer Behavior: In Depth Research Report: Secondary Marketing Research

Food Truck and Restaurant Research

For your assignment, you need to research, Sweet as Waffles. Sweet as Waffles is opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant after starting as a food truck.

When researching restaurants, it's important to be aware of both the type of restaurant and the type of customer. When looking for industry and competitor information, it is often broken down the type of service is offered: counter service, grad-and-go, sit-down, fast-food, delivery, etc. as well as the type of food offered. Food trucks don't always fit into the more traditional restaurant industry definitions of traditional restaurants, but they are still competitors.

NAICS (North American Industrial Classification System) codes can be a good way to wort out the type of restaurant, as they are separate classifications for different types of restaurants.

The image below give you a sampling of restaurant types defined by NAICS. Notice there are two different numbers: 722511 (Full Service Restaurants) and 722513 (Limited Service Restaurants). This means there are two different definitions.

Finding Articles
Use Business Source Complete and Academic Search Complete to find articles--including trade journal and academic articles--about food trucks and restaurants.

A search for "Food Trucks" OR "Mobile Food Services" produces more than 38,000 results.
A search "Food Trucks" AND "Restaurant" includes articles looking at similarities and differences between the two as well as how some restaurants start as food trucks.

Database search for food trucks and mobile food services

Industry Information
IBISWorld has industry reports on thousands of industries, including different types of restaurants, organized by NAICS code. They also create reports for specialized industries, like Food Trucks. You can also search by (major) company names or by the type of business.

Tip: IBISWorld reports include Major Companies in an industry along with their market share. Many companies include a link to a company profile created by IBISWorld that includes an overview, competitive analysis, and company benchmarks.

Business Source Complete [EBSCO] A database covering business and economics. Materials available include trade journal articles, scholarly articles, company reports/SWOT analysis, industry reports, country reports, and more.
IBISWorld A database of industry market reports for more than 700 U.S. industries, organized by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Reports cover several categories: key statistics, market segmentation, market characterization, industry conditions, key factors, key competitors, industry performance, and outlook.

Current Trends and Background

Business Source Complete [EBSCO]
Use Business Source Complete together with to find articles related to industry, consumer behavior, and market segmentation--among other things. Articles in Business Source Complete will have a more business and consumer viewpoint.
IBISWorld
A database of industry market reports for more than 700 U.S. industries, organized by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Reports cover several categories: key statistics, market segmentation, market characterization, industry conditions, key factors, key competitors, industry performance, and outlook.

Competitors

Mergent Online A financial database covering public and select private US and international companies, both active and inactive. Includes general company info in addition to SEC filings, reports, insider trading details, current and historical financial info going back 15 years, and more. Tip:This database is useful for locating competitors by industry and creating custom company reports. Info can be downloaded into Excel and other formats.

Tip: Mergent provides info on larger private US and international companies, both active and inactive, including general company info in addition to SEC filings, reports, insider trading details, current and historical financial info going back 15 years, and more. This database is useful for locating competitors by industry and creating custom company reports. Info can be downloaded into Excel and other formats.

Dossier [LexisNexis] A guide to corporate families in the U.S. and worldwide. Covers public and private firms, manufacturers of specific products, services, executives, net worth, sales data, and recent mergers. Tip:If you are off campus you will need to use the VPN for access.

Tip: Use Dossier to find information on local small businesses.

You can access Dossier using WWU's VPN or you can access it through Nexus UNI buy selecting it from the Menu dropdown.

Consumer Behavior

Simmons Insights [MRI-Simmons]
A database that reports on American consumer purchasing habits, viewing habits, demographics, and psychographics. Their information is based on in-person and mail-in surveys of more than 26,000 households.