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Finding Articles on Demographics and Psychographic Variables

Business Source Elite

This page will show you the steps for finding articles on demographics and psychographic variables in Business Source Elite.

Open the Business Source Elite link below:

To begin, click on "Advanced Search" (if not already selected).

Business Source Elite Advanced Search form ("Advanced Search" is circled)

Since EBSCOhost's Business Source Elite database recognizes the term "market segmentation" as a valid subject heading:

  • Type "market segmentation" in the search box
  • Change the drop-down menu adjacent to the top search box from "Select a field (optional)" to "SU Subject"

Advanced Search form: market segmentation in the search box; drop-down (circled) set to SU Subject

Since "psychographic variables" is not considered a subject term in Business Source Elite, you will need to search for different terms in combination with "market segmentation" as a subject. Here is one example: The user has typed "psychographic" into the second search box and kept the adjacent drop-down menu as "Select a Field (optional)."

Advanced Search form: psychographic in 2nd search box & Select a Field in 2nd drop-down menu

The results of the above search include citations and full text articles related to the search query.

Results list from the above search

Here are some keywords and phrases you can try using in place of using "psychographic variables":

  • psychological aspects
  • consumer behavior
  • consumer attitudes
  • psychology
  • decision making
  • attitudes
  • perceptions
  • lifestyles

Pick one of these and try searching it in combination with market segmentation as a subject.

Similarly, the term "demographics" can be searched in combination with market segmentation as a subject. In this example, the user has revised the previous search by typing "demographics" in the second search box and keeping the adjacent drop-down menu as "Select a Field (optional)."

Advanced Search form: demographics in 2nd search box & Select a Field in 2nd drop-down menu

Here are the results of this search:

Results list for the second search

Business Source Elite vs. Other Databases

Business Source Elite may retrieve a greater number of articles than other databases, such as ABI/Inform Global and Business Abstracts with Full Text. (Tens of thousands vs. a few hundred.) Using Subject Terms will decrease the overall number of results, but might retain items that are more useful than those found in the keyword search. However, other databases may provide useful articles not found in Business Source Elite.