To obtain more accurate and more useful information on consumers in untapped markets, companies must change the kind of information that they collect, and the ways in which they collect it. For market data relating to underserved communities, visit these Web sites:
1. Initiative for a Competitive Inner City
Detailed reports from a Boston-based nonprofit that strives to build healthy economies in inner cities. Click on “Research: Our Ideas.”
A California-based economic think tank, home to the Center for Emerging Domestic Markets, supports the expansion of undervalued entrepreneurs in undervalued communities by providing educational programs and access to business networks and research databases.
At the top of the page, click on “Research,” then select “Ctr. for Emerging Domestic Markets” or a related category.
3. Selig Center for Economic Growth
An important source of economic and demographic research, the Selig Center published “The Multicultural Economy 2005,” a study of America’s minority buying power.
Click on “Studies and Forecasts,” then select “Buying Power Series.”
A Washington-based coalition of national business leaders promotes responsible investment in low-income neighborhoods and developed a highly successful business model for investment in inner cities called “Neighborhood Market DrillDown.”
Click on “Market Analysis.”
The Digital Dividend Project (www.digitaldividend.org/pdf/serving_profitably.pdf) offers information services to members of the international development community.
