1. Zip Code Lookup Market Analysis
Provide students with the worksheet to accompany this discussion.
The first page provides room for students to take notes over definitions and explanations.
The second and third page instructs students to complete a market analysis of their own.

2. What is a market analysis?
A quantitative and qualitative assessment of a market.
Quantitative – statistical, online questionnaires, on-street or telephone interviews, conclusive results leading to a final course of action
Qualitative – non-statistical, individual in-depth interviews or group discussions, exploratory leading to generalizations and an initial understanding to base further decision making. It looks at the size of the market, the various customer segments, their buying patterns, the competition, and the economic environment in terms of barrier to entry.
Objective
Prove you know your market.
Prove the market will sustain a business.

3. Demographics
Variables such as age, gender, income, and occupation hold important clues to consumer behavior.
Also includes household size, ethnicity, and education.
Age – different preferences and needs during different stages of life, purchasing power changes over time
Teenagers have enormous purchasing power and can influence an entire family but generally do not have a lot of income
Gender
Income – purchasing power and purchasing behavior is effected by income
Generally the higher the income the more is spent
Occupation – occupation effects income which effects purchasing power and behaviors, occupation also effects lifestyle
Other lifestyle demographics – pet ownership, education, single or married, single parent can also effect purchasing behaviors

4. Psychographics The motivations in a user’s life.
What are the customers’ interests, activities, and opinions or attitudes?
Includes: hobbies, buying behaviors, values, desired user experience, aspirations, etc.
Interests – the information and life experiences that occupy a customer’s mind, these change over time
Example: someone with children is interested in raising them, caring for them, their upbringing, their education so they spend time thinking about being a parent and what to do as a parent
Example: some interested in academic achievement wants to get straight As, be valedictorian, go to an Ivy League school so all they think about studying and what classes to take
Activities – also known as hobbies, what activities do they participate in
Examples: surfing, reading, hiking, gaming, painting, singing
Opinions/Attitudes – ways of thinking about a given topic, a specific thinking response to a person, a concept, a theory, a belief, a thing
Opinions reveal values and values are one of the most enduring forms of personal motivation that exists.
In order to reveal these you must ask questions…
What is your opinion on the greatest social needs?
What is your opinion on the condition of the government?
Then you can ask more focused questions…
How do you feel about the Supreme Courts decision on same-sex marriage?

5. Geographics Where are your customers?
Are there geographical characteristics?
What are the regional preferences?
Are they influenced by seasonal cycles?
Where are they? local, regional, national, international
Geographical characteristics – grits are common in the south and southeast, McDonald’s offers seasonal seafood meals including lobster and crab in the New England states
Regional preferences – sweet tea in the south, no need for a surf shop in the Midwest
Seasonal cycles – locations that experiences 4 seasons (Illinois, Pennsylvania) vs. those that see only 1 or 2 seasons (California, Florida), some have no real need for winter coats and snow boots to be stocked in stores

6. Zip Code Lookup Use the internet to complete a market analysis.
It is suggested that you show your students the websites and give them a some explanation before asking them to do their own research.
The ZIP Lookup site includes some detailed descriptions in their “tapestry”. It might be useful to discuss with your students why a company may describe their customers that way or want to see that type of description about their customers.
It may also be beneficial for you to compare two very different zip codes for your students. Perhaps choose one that is rural and on that is urban. Then encourage your students to do the same; choose one they are familiar with, like where they live or go to school and then three that are different.
The following questions are possible debrief questions that can guide your discussion after your students have completed their market analysis.
Which of those zip codes would provide the type of market that could sustain new businesses? Why?
Which type of business/product/service would be sustainable in each of those zip codes? Why?
Is this data qualitative or quantitative? If both, which is qualitative and which is quantitative? What can an entrepreneur learn from each set of data?
Use the internet to complete a market analysis.
Choose 4 different zip codes to research.