abbeyWest Research
http://abbeywestresearch.com/
This company provides consultancy services in customer relationship management. There is some free material on the website which could be useful for marketing students and researchers. eg. the customer life cycle, journal articles, white papers and industry news. It is run by Jeff Pittaway who is has many years experience in this area and is a doctoral candidate at the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University, Canada .
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Academy of Marketing Science Review
http://www.amsreview.org/
This journal site is hosted by Washington State University in Vancouver, Canada. It is produced by the Academy of Marketing Science, a North American research organisation. Articles are available free in full-text form. The Academy of Marketing Science Review contains conceptual and measurement papers in marketing and consumer behaviour, plus brief commentaries on current research in these areas. Articles cover such diverse issues as animal companionship, how social class impacts on health outcomes, marketing high-tech products and exploring water consumption. Each article has an executive summary. Detailed information is given for submission of articles, and the journal is searchable.
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Academy of Marketing Science Review
http://www.ams-web.org/index.cfm
This is a free full-text online journal, published by the Academy of Marketing Science in the USA. It is a peer reviewed journal which publishes "quality conceptual and measurement articles in the areas of marketing and consumer behavior." There are detailed guidelines on submitting articles. This is considered one of the leading journals on marketing and consumer behaviour.
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All roads lead to China
http://www.allroadsleadtochina.com/
Established with the objective of providing accurate, up-to-date information on Chinas current trends, macroeconomic development, regional differences and consumer preferences, to enhance the business intelligence of executives entering China who require a sophisticated, informed China strategy, All Roads is written by Richard Brubaker, Founder and Managing Director of China Strategic Development Partners. With almost 15 years of Asia experience (the last 5 based in mainland China), Richard assists clients (both Fortune 500 companies and SMEs) in understanding the China market, determining their own China platform and implementing effective strategies. Each week there are topical posts on key issues, such as a regulatory roundup and map of the week. There are also additional posts which cover topics such as: industry trends, logistics and distribution in China, regional dynamics within China, manufacturing trends/ quality control issues, corporate social responsibility, networking in China and cultural tips.
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American Demographics
http://adage.com/americandemographics/
American Demographics magazine discusses consumer trends and is aimed at business leaders. This website includes full-text publications of all issues since January 1995 as well as those printed in American Demographics sister publication Marketing Tools which ceased publication in June 1998. Users must register with the website to receive free emails and participate in opinion polls. To get full access to articles, a subscription must be paid.
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Archives of food-for-thought@jiscmail.ac.uk
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/food-for-thought.html
This mailing list is primarily intended to act as a forum for discussions on all aspects of food and eating across different disciplines and perspectives. The list also provides a convenient bulletin board for relevant announcements. The messages are archived by month and are available for browsing or searching from 1998 onwards.
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Association for Consumer Research
http://www.acrwebsite.org/
The Association for Consumer Research is intended to advance knowledge about consumer research and exchange ideas between academia, industry and government worldwide. US based, the ACR was founded in 1969/70 and a brief history of it is available along with its organizational structure. It holds annual conferences around the world. Other sections of the site include the Knowledge Exchange, articles, profiles of members and updates.
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Athenea Digital
http://antalya.uab.es/athenea/indice/
Athenea Digital is an "academic, peer reviewed, electronic and free access journal on social sciences", promoting interdisciplinary reflection and covering politics, sociology, business, psychology and economics. It also encourages debate on the environment, postmodernism, social conflict and organisational change. Abstracts can be freely viewed and articles are in Spanish, Portuguese or Catalan. The journal is hosted by the Department of Social Psychology at the Free University of Barcelona.
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Automotive industry: Guardian Special Report
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/automotive
This is one of the Guardian newspaper's Special Reports which offers information on the car industry. A very good way of keeping up to date with news on this subject.
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BBC news: technology 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/default.stm
This site is useful for keeping updated on developments in technology, for example, mobile phones, MP3s, Broadband, music, blogging, computers and space exploration. Each news article has related links to other BBC articles, to outside websites and top UK stories. This could be a good site for business students or researchers to follow, as it covers companies, consumer behaviour and market trends.
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Branding Asia
http://www.brandingasia.com/
"Branding Asia.com is edited by Dr Paul Temporal from Temporal Brand Consulting Rod Davies from Orient Pacific Century, providing brand strategy, research and management services to organizations operating in Asian markets." This is a useful information source for anyone researching brands in Asia, with news, an online newsletter, case studies and a regularly updated survey of Great Asian Brands.
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Branding of Polaroid, 1957-1977
http://giam.typepad.com/the_branding_of_polaroid_/
This blog, created by Paul Giambarba - who initiated Polaroid's corporate image development and product identity in 1958 - gives a fascinating overview of Polaroid and its history. The site contains subtopics such as; Polaroid Package Design, Polaroid Dealer Ads, Polaroid Sunglasses, and more. Giambarba created " ... the ubiquitous Polaroid colour stripes, one of the most widely imitated design devices of the last several decades, he designed and produced hundreds of Polaroid packages and collateral material including consumer literature."
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British Frozen Food Federation
http://www.bfff.co.uk/
The British Frozen Food Federation is the UK body for producers and retailers in the frozen food industry. This could be a useful source of information for business researchers and students. Although mainly for the industry, they provide many statistics on market shares, growth and trends. There is a short history of frozen foods in Britain. Another section of the site covers safety and technical aspects. There is also the latest news on product launches and nutritional reports on frozen versus fresh fruit and vegetables.
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British Household Panel Study
http://www.esds.ac.uk/longitudinal/access/bhps/
This site enables online access to the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS). Begun in 1991 this is a longitudinal survey which will run annually for 10 years. The aim of the BHPS is '... to further our understanding of social and economic change at the individual and household level in Britain into the next century'. The BHPS is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and is run by the ESRC Research Centre for Micro-Social Change, based at the University of Essex. The survey consists of topical questionnaires that cover "household organisation, labour market participation, education and training, income and wealth, housing and residential mobility, health and use of health services, plus opinion-type questions exploring the socioeconomic values of respondents". The site provides links to general information about the BHPS, recent news items, and access to user documentation. The BHPS is accessible in SIR-DBMS, SPSS, SAS and cross-wave flat file formats. The dataset is made available via ESDS Longitudinal. To access the BHPS, users will need to register before they can download data.
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British Retail Consortium
http://www.brc.org.uk/
The British Retail Consortium represents all types of retail trader, from one person corner shops to out-of-town hypermarkets and online retailers. It is a high-profile organisation with involvement in many issues, including food safety, e-commerce and employment law. BRC serves both retailers and consumers. The site gives key facts about retailing in the UK and lists details of its useful publications, some available in full-text (PDF format), some in paper form. These include a Quarterly Economic Monitor and Parliamentary Retail News. The News section has BRC comments on topical issues.
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BSDglobal.com
http://www.bsdglobal.com/
This website is hosted by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), a Canadian non-profit making organisation, in alliance with the Foundation for Global Responsibility. It explains how companies can incorporate the principle of sustainability into their everyday business activities. There are sections on topics of current interest such as corporate reporting, climate change and sustainable banking as well as information on business tools, training courses and news. For many of the topics links are provided to case studies arranged by country and industry sector, along with useful web resources.
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Business and Consumer Surveys (Europa)
http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/db_indicators/surveys/index_en.htm
This site can be found on the Europa website, the European Commission's official site, (under Economic and Financial Affairs: Economic databases and indicators.) It provides data on EU-wide surveys of consumer behaviour. The Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs conducts harmonised surveys for various sectors of industry across the EU and applicant countries. The User Guide explains in detail exactly how these surveys are carried out. They cover construction, industry (manufacturing), retail trade and the services sectors.There is a release calendar for the surveys and reports are available in PDF. Previous years' surveys are archived.
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Businessballs
http://www.businessballs.com
Businessballs - established and run by the Alan Chapman Consultancy of Leicester, England - is a free online training resource containing a wealth of information and training tools on " ... sales, management, motivation training and free team building games for business, organisational development, personal development and executive coaching". Materials here cover a wide range of topics (not a comprehensive list) from; Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, Mcgregor's XY Theory, Frederick Herzberg, Ruiz's The Four Agreements, Eric Berne Transactional Analysis - to project management training, performance appraisals and 360 degree appraisals tips, Just in Time (JIT), team building games, sample CV's and job description samples and templates.
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Buzz Builder: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Word of Mouth Marketing
http://buzzbuilder.typepad.com/my_weblog/
This blog is authored by Patrick Galvin, owner of Galvin Communications, a public relations and buzz marketing firm in Portland, Oregon. He seeks to galvanize sales through creative marketing techniques rather than expensive advertising, using '... buzz marketing to launch new products ranging from alcoholic iced tea to shower squeegees. Also, he has built buzz for a variety of businesses including real estate agencies, restaurants and an architectural practice.'
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Callcentre helper
http://www.callcentrehelper.com/
This is an online news and help service for anyone working in or managing call centres. However, it could be interesting for management students or researchers who are looking for data and findings on call centres, eg. company news and surveys of customer needs. Job vacancies are also advertised.
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Center on Global Brand Leadership
http://www4.gsb.columbia.edu/globalbrands
The Center on Global Brand Leadership is a research partnership based at Columbia Business School in the USA. The Center brings brand leaders from industry together with academics, to generate new ideas and stimulate research on branding. The website features case studies, articles, weblinks, and news of curriculum developments. Interested individuals are invited to join the online network.
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ClickZ Stats
http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=stats
ClickZ Stats (formerly CyberAtlas) is a USA site which provides statistics and Web marketing information on Internet usage and e-commerce. It does not conduct its own research but publishes research carried out by other companies. The home page features the latest survey results on areas like broadband take-up, home Internet use and e-retailing. To find quick statistics, eg. average Internet use or the top five searches by country, click on the Stats Toolbox link. You can find more about the company and its credentials in the About section.
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Communications Market Reports (Ofcom)
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/cm/
These free reports cover developments in the electronic communications sector in the UK, covering television, radio telecoms and online communications issues like Broadband. They appear quarterly and are available online (PDF) or in hard copy.
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Consumer Behavior and Consumer Marketing Teaching Materials
http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/
A set of teaching materials on Consumer Psychology, produced by Lars Perner, Visiting Assistant Professor at the School of Business and Public Management, The George Washington University, USA. Covers consumer psychology, consumer behaviour, international marketing, and other marketing related materials.
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Consumer Focus
http://www.consumerfocus.org.uk/
Consumer Focus is a UK statutory body to support British consumers which was formed in Ocotober 2008 from the merger of three former organisations Energywatch, Postwatch and the National Consumer Council. Its website provides information on its aims, remit, organisation and activities. It includes access to press releases, a chief executives blog, consumer advice fact sheets on how to make complaints and switch suppliers and full text statistics, papers and reports. Areas of concern include consumer protection and consumer rights, energy suppliers (gas and electricity) and the Post Office, Royal Mail and postal services.
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