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Finding Data & Statistics: Marketing

Nielsen Registration Information

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UC San Diego subscribes to Nielsen marketing data from the Chicago Booth School of Business. The James M. Kilts Center for Marketing at Chicago Booth and the Nielsen Company have partnered to make four datasets available to US-based academic researchers.

Consumer Panel Data
The consumer Panel Data include longitudinal data beginning in 2004 with annual updates. These data track a panel of 40,000–60,000 US households and their purchases of fast-moving consumer goods from a wide range of retail outlets across all US markets. Learn more »

Retail Scanner Data
Retail Scanner Data consist of weekly pricing, volume, and store environment information generated by point-of-sale systems from more than 90 participating retail chains across all US markets. Data begin in 2006 and include annual updates. Learn more »

Ad Intel Data
Nielsen’s Ad Intel Data cover advertisement occurrences for a variety of media types across the United States, starting in 2010, with annual updates available each year. These data can be broken down by Market Code (i.e. ~200 Designated Market Areas (DMAs), which can be matched to DMAs in the Consumer Panel and Retail Scanner datasets). Learn more »

PromoData
The PromoData, 2006- some of 2012, detail manufacturer costs and allowances, introduction of new products and price changes for all major grocery wholesalers from major markets. Data comes from 12 grocery wholesalers that provide products in the US.

UC San Diego's campus agreement includes the following restrictions:

  • Only tenured and tenure-track faculty, PhD students, and post-docs are eligible to gain direct access to the Data. Researchers may not share the Data with individuals not registered and approved by the Kilts Center, including any student in an undergraduate or master’s program. 
  • Access by PhD students or post-doctoral researchers requires a subscription by the student's or post-doc's advisor. The advisor must be a full-time tenured or tenure-track professor from the same institution. The PhD student or post-doc and the faculty advisor are required to register individually. 
  • Researchers may use the data for strictly academic research projects focused on important issues of wide and general interest. Use of the data for consulting purposes of any kind, including litigation support, is strictly prohibited.
  • Every researcher must register and submit an annual status update and disclose changes to my project scope, new funding sources, coauthors, and other updates as requested.
  • Research projects commissioned, sponsored, or funded by an industry source, government organization, industry group, nonprofit organization, or private company must be reviewed and approved by Nielsen as part of the registration process. Unapproved research of this nature is strictly prohibited.
  • Data must be stored only on devices and computers owned by the subscribed institution or permissible Third Party Hosting Systems. The permissible Third Party Hosting Systems must have at least one of the following information security certifications:  (a) federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA); (b) SSAE16 SOC2; and/or (c) ISO27001 security certifications. No amount of data should ever be stored on a personal computer.
  • Researchers must not disclose any personally identifiable information about consumer panelists or details that would permit re-identification of Nielsen’s consumer panelists. Researchers must not disclose any information about specific retailers or individual stores, or details that would permit re-identification of Nielsen’s retailers or individual stores.
  • Researchers must submit of copies of all proposed papers, reports, presentations, and publications to the Kilts Center at least 30 days prior to public dissemination (including SSRN) or final publication.

More Data Policies also apply.

To request access to the Nielsen data at the Kilts Center for Marketing, please complete the online code request form below. After the local administrator approves your request for a code, you will receive an email with your registration code and instructions for how to complete the process.

The Kilts Center will review your project(s) and send you a final activation email along with steps for how to access the data. If you are a PhD student or post-doc your advisor will be required to take action before you can be activated.