Demographic analysis refers to analyzing the age, gender, race, religion, socioeconomic status, income, education, geographic location, marital status, and employment of a certain population group. Specifically, Wonder’s clients want to know the demographics of the customer base for an industry, company, or product for marketing purposes. Understanding the demographics allows marketers to gear their advertisements toward the audience that will most likely respond best.

Here is a brief video on demographics and their usefulness for Wonder’s clients.

<aside> ⚠️ Note: Hobbies, interests, motivation, purchase habits, attitudes, beliefs, and aspirations are psychographic factors. Do not include them in the demographic analysis.

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Minimum Requirements

• Provide 1 demographic profile per 3-hour request
• Provide the following data points at a minimum:
  • age
  • gender
  • income level
  • educational level
  • marital status
• If one of the above is not available, you may substitute with the following:
  • religion
  • race/ethnicity
  • occupation type
  • family size
• Provide a minimum of one image per 3-hour request. Add an image for each concept discussed, if possible.
• If time allows, please include any information from the substitution list as it is available.
• If the client asks for a specific demographic, include this in the analysis and ensure you have provided at least five data points.

Identifying Demographics

• Always start with a direct search using keywords and search strings. Use a variety of keywords for the best results. If you cannot find information through a general search, use more specific search strings, Boolean and X-ray searches, and filters to pull relevant results.

  <aside> 🧠 Note: Search strings and advanced search methods, e.g., X-ray and Boolean search, are tools, not strategies. Do not mention these in your research reports. Instead, note the publishers of the resources, reports, and databases consulted (e.g., International Data Group (IDG)).

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• Consult demographic databases based on the topic of your project. Some helpful databases and resources can be found below:

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  • Resources for a Demographic Analysis

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• Look into industry-specific demographic databases, e.g., health-related demographics at The DHS Program, financial demographics at FDIC, and solar power demographics at the Solar Energy Industries Association. Industry-specific databases can be found through a Google search, e.g., “<industry> AND demographics.”

• Other places to search for demographic information include media kits for publications, surveys, and studies conducted by research firms such as PwC, McKinsey, Nielsen, and Pew Research.

• If precompiled information is unavailable for one or more demographic categories, attempt to triangulate the data. For example, if one source provides the number of female luxury car buyers and another source provides the total number of luxury car buyers, you can calculate the demographic percentage by dividing the target demographic [female luxury car buyers] by the entire population [luxury car buyers] and multiplying the result by 100.

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  • Triangulating Demographic Statistics - Example

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