PESTLE Analysis

Social factors, such as demographics and culture can impact the industry environment by influencing peak buying periods, purchasing habits, and lifestyle choices. Society is important as people’s culture and lifestyle can influence when, where and how they are likely to engage with products and services. Social factors can include:

• Population Growth rate
• Age of population
• Religion and ethics
• Social network
• Consumer buying patterns
• Demographics
• Health consciousness/habits
• Opinions and attitudes
• Media
• Brand preferences
• Buying/Purchasing habits
• Education and income levels
• Lifestyle, habits, hobbies

To find information on the social and cultural factors, investigate the following resources.

Factiva

• Factiva.com, from Dow Jones, includes access to a wide range of information from newspapers, newswires, industry publications, websites, company reports, and more. The broad range of content provides both local insight and global perspective on business issues and current events – especially with regard to research requiring current information on companies, industries, and financial markets.

Business Source Complete

• Business Source Complete provides coverage in business disciplines, including marketing, management, management information systems, production and operations management, accounting, finance and economics. It includes full text for over 3600 journals, including 1900 peer-reviewed titles. Also included are full-text case studies, company and industry profiles, country reports, executive and analyst interviews, market research reports and SWOT analyses.
• Search tip: Look for the Browse menu on the right side of the page and select [Country Reports]. Enter the name of a country in the All Countries search box. The results list may include:

• Country Reviews from CountryWatch (which include social and environmental overviews)
• Country Profiles from MarketLine (which include In-depth PESTLE Insights)
• Country Risk Reports from Business Monitor International (BMI). 

Statista  

• Statista is a portal for quantitative data, statistics and related information. Use the search box to find information of interest, or choose from dropdowns providing access to information about industries, digital markets, consumer markets, and topics such as media, business, and society. Statistics, charts and/or graphs may be downloaded in the following formats: Excel, PNG Graphics, PowerPoint and PDF.
• Search tip: Click on [Reports] in the top navigation bar, then select [Country Reports]. Search for a country or region. Results will usually include Country Reports and Dossiers.

Census

• U.S. Census Bureau platform that provides data on the U.S. people and economy: population, education, business, employment, health, housing, income and poverty, economy, families and living arrangements, and international trade.

Mintel Academic

• Mintel Reports offers product and industry market research reports covering US and International marketplaces. Each report combines data and analysis of the competitive landscape, supply chain, market-share size and trends, and consumer profiles. Complex demographic issues are broken into easy-to-understand sections, explaining consumer behavior and demonstrating the structure of the market.

Demographics Now  

• Demographics Now has been developed by SRC, LLC to bring you the data you need to make sound business decisions. With DemographicsNow you can analyze the demographic and market potential of any geography in the U.S.

Conference Board  

• Provides a rich array of actionable, authoritative economic data on the business cycle, labor demand and trends, and several barometers of consumer and business confidence, including the widely quoted Consumer Confidence Index and the Leading Economic Indicators. Limited data.

CQ Researcher

• This database contains reports and analysis with opposing viewpoints on current issues. Reports including background information and chronology, assessments, pro/con statements, and bibliographies.

Pew Research Center

• A nonpartisan fact tank that studies "U.S. politics and policy; journalism and media; internet, science and technology; religion and public life; Hispanic trends; global attitudes and trends; and U.S. social and demographic trends."

IPoll Roper Center

• A public opinion/polling database of 500,000+ questions and answers on a wide range of topics collected by the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research; data covers 1935-present.

CQ Researcher

• A collection of reports covering political and social issues, with regular reports on topics in health, international affairs, education, the environment, technology and the U.S. economy from 1991 to the present.

MRI Simmons Insights

• MRI-Simmons Insights (formerly University Reporter) is a consumer intelligence and discovery platform that provides information on consumer behaviors, brand consumer messaging, cross-channel marketing, and media planning tactics.