Statistical Resources on the Web
Consumers

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Last updated on May 21, 2009

Comprehensive

Statistical Universe (UMich Only)
- Indexes and abstracts federal government statistics since 1974; business, association and state government data since 1980, and international agencies since 1983
- Selected data from federal, state and international statistical compendia directly available through Power Tables
- Abstracts is a fuller data base
- Both are searchable by keyword and by category (e.g. city, income, disease)
- About 15% of the abstracts link to full text
- For items not hot-linked:
  - Write down abstract number (e.g. ASI 1997 9391-7) and bring to the Documents Center for the microfiche version

Arts and Recreation

Recording Industry Association of America
- Music sales by type of music as well as sex and age of consumer
1997 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (NEA)
- Adult participation or attendance in the arts (art museums, photography, ballet, opera, etc.) by race, age, and income level
- Table 27 provides summary data for other activities (sports attendance, exercise class, amusement parks, etc.)

There are FOUR different surveys whose names are often confused: Consumer Satisfaction (UMich Business School), Consumer Confidence (Conference Board), Consumer Attitudes (UMich ICPSR), and Consumer Comfort (ABC/Washington Post.)

American Customer Satisfaction Index (UMich Business School)
- Quarterly report since 1994 on consumer satisfaction with individual companies
- Arranged by product or type of service with percent change over the previous survey and for the period
- Satisfaction with local governments by type of service and type of area
- Federal government satisfaction survey in 1999 arranged by agency, service, and type of consumer
Consumer Confidence (Conference Board)
- Current monthly consumer confidence data
- Back files are available on Statistical Reference Index Microfiche as R4105-4 (see Documents Center)
ICPSR Data Archives
- Abstracts, documentation, and compressed data of the University of Michigan's Survey of Consumer Attitudes
- Public opinion polls
- Consumer Expenditure Survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Survey of Economic Expectations (University of Wisconsin)
- Surveys between 1994 and 1998 asked about job, income, and other wealth-related expectations
- Web site has data set, codebook, and pdf report
Surveys of Consumer Attitudes (University of Michigan)
- Monthly, quarterly and archived data, some since 1961, up until the last six months
- Consumer confidence nationally and by region; some by income and age
- Personal, business, unemployment, government economic policy, price, and interest rate expectations
- Plans for buying major consumer goods, cars, and homes
- Some tables in Adobe Acrobat format; others downable in HTML, CSV or XLS format
- Includes technical documentation
- The last six months of data are only available via purchase from Reuters
- Microdata from the 1970s to 1990s is also available from ICPSR
Washington Post/ABC Consumer Comfort Index
- Consumer attitudes on the state of the economy, personal finances, and buying climate broken down by various demographic characteristics, home ownership, and politics
- Weekly report archived since January 2005

Consumer Expenditures

Consumer Expenditure Surveys(BLS)
- Annual press release on consumer expenditures
- Links to more detailed information, including the LABSTAT Selective Access Product Below
- Bibliography of related products
Consumer Expenditure Surveys Selective Access
- Detailed information by consumer characteristics and type of product
- Example: amount spent annually on entertainment by persons under 25
- Time series begins with 1987
Effect of Income on Appliances in U.S. Households
- Percent ownership of various kitchen, laundry, home entertainment, and telephone appliances by household income, divided by fifths
- Includes cell phones, wide screen TVs, refrigerators with ice makers
- Based on the Department of Energy's 2001 Residential Energy Consumption Survey
ICPSR Data Archives
- Abstracts, documentation, and compressed data of the University of Michigan's Survey of Consumer Attitudes
- Public opinion polls
- Consumer Expenditure Survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Simply Map (UMich Only)
- Displays and exports both data and maps of business and 1980-2000 Census data for states, counties, cities, zip codes, census tracts and block groups
- Business variables include Quality of Life (crime, weather), types of businesses, retail sales, consumer expenditures, consumer price index, and types of households (young, middle age, old) by income
- Create workspace; choose highest level of geography; choose variables; choose lowest level of geography; export image or data to your own workspace
- Sample search for crime

Consumer Guides

Consumers Index
- Full text on product evaluations and recalls
- MEDIA UNION LIBRARY: TS156.25 .C76
Consumer Reports (UMich Only)
- Full text with articles and brand comparisons beginning January 1988
- Access through LEXIS Academic Universe/Sources
- Type in name of magazine and your search term
- Also in Proquest with a three-month delay
Consumer's Action Handbook (GPO)
- Tips on home financing, travel, door-to-door salesmen, etc.
- Extensive directory of consumer protection agencies
Consumer Search
- Summarizes and synthesizes product reviews
- Focus on major consumer items, such as cars, washing machines, and smoke detectors
- Indicates the top choices from a number of consumer magazines

Consumer Protection

Better Business Bureau
- News reports on current scams
- Tips on common consumer issues, such as repairing VCRs, sweepstakes, and child care services
- Advice to businesses, including the handling of unruly customers
- Directory of Better Business Bureaus by region and state
Consumer.Gov
- How to stop telemarketing; sample letters and phone numbers
- Warning on major frauds, including phone switching
- Major recalls
Consumer Product Safety Commission
- Online consumder protection publications (e.g. toys, carbon monoxide)
- List of product recalls since 1994 arranged by date or searchable by subject
Federal Trade Commission
- Press releases, laws, and decisions on consumer issues
- Jurisdiction includes marketing, advertising, credit, and service industries
Household Products Database (NLM)
- Extensive listing of normal household products (cleaners, lawn care, hobbies, personal care) by brand name
- For each provides manufacturer contact information, acute and chronic health effects, ratings for flammability, health, and reactivity
- Detailed listing of ingredients an disposal procedure
Michigan Attorney General's Office
- Considerable consumer protection information automobiles, homes and rent, gifts, fraud
- Links in each section include Michigan statutes and national resources, such as the Federal Trade Commission
- Subject directory of offices for filing a consumer complaint and an on-line consumer complaint submission form
Recalls.Gov
- List of currently active federal government recalls from several agencies
- Includes consumer products, vehicles, boats, medicines, cosmetics, food and pesticides

Pets

Pet Ownership
- Brief data on pet ownership in the United States
- Full text must be purchased from the American Veterinary Medical Association
- Some data also in Documents Center on Statistical Reference Index microfiche (SRI A3100-1) and in paperbound version (not web version) of Statistical Abstract of the United States, Part 7: Recreation
Consumer Expenditure Survey (BLS)
- Gives annual total expenditures for pets, toys and playground equipment
- Does not give figures for pets as a separate category
100 Years of U.S. Consumer Spending: Data for the Nation, New York and Boston (BLS)
- Detailed analysis of consumer expenditures by type as compared to household characteristics and income, 1901-2003
- One chapter for each decade includes charts and graphs as well as population changes
- Concludes that income has risen faster than prices

Places

Best Places to Live (Money Magazine)
- Ranks 300 cities to live by economy, health, crime, housing, education, weather,leisure, transit, arts
- Arranged by ranking and alphabetically by city
- City pages include a description and relocation information as well as statistical data on the quality of life and the cost of living
- Interactive interface permits the user to create own rankings

Tourism

Economic Census: Administrative and Support and Waste Management Remediation Services
- Travel and tourism included as industry under NAICS code 5615
- National report from this census provides employment, payrolls and receipts for the industry
- 983K in pdf format
Statistical Abstract of the United States
- Access Adobe Acrobat version
- The end of the chapter on Parks, Recreation, and Travel includes numerous tables on travelers and revenues
- U.S. travellers by type of travel, transportation mode, and visits to foreign countries
- Foreign travellers to the U.S., their country of origin and expenditures
- Domestic travel expenditures for the U.S. and individual states
Survey of U.S. State and Territory Tourism Office Budgets
- Annual report by the Travel Industry Association of America
- Ranks states on their tourism budgets and expendtirues
- SRI Microfiche 2006 A9135-2
ITA Tourism Industries
- Historical and current travel to the United States by country of origin
- Total foreign national travel expenditures, cities and states of destination, and travel activities (e.g. shopping, amusement parks)
- Annual data on U.S. travel abroad by country of destination
Travel Industry Association of America
- Press Room provides statistics on travel expenditures in the U.S. and by U.S. tourists
- Employment in the travel industry
World Tourism Organization
- International agency coordinating worldwide tourist policies and improvements
- International visitors and receipts by country appears in its Statistics Service/Highlights as a pdf file
- Access to specialized data bases requires a password

Related Web Pages

Cost of Living for Consumer Price Indexes
Political Statistics for public opinion polls

Grace York, Coordinator, Documents Center
University of Michigan Library
Ankur Mehta, Documents Assistant, May 2002
Graphics by Sherry Piontek and Barbara Perles
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Statistical Resources on the WebConsumers

Comprehensive | Arts and Recreation | Consumer Confidence | Consumer Guides Consumer Expenditures | Consumer Protection Cost of Living | Pets | Places | Surveys | Tourism

Related Web Pages

Since August 5, 1997 this page has been accessed

Statistical Resources on the Web
Consumers

Comprehensive | Arts and Recreation | Consumer Confidence | Consumer Guides
Consumer Expenditures | Consumer Protection
Cost of Living | Pets | Places | Surveys | Tourism