Nielsen and NielsenIQ Marketing Data

The Consumer Panel Data comprise a representative panel of households that continually provide information about their purchases in a longitudinal study in which panelists stay on as long as they continue to meet NielsenIQ's criteria. NielsenIQ consumer panelists use in-home scanners to record all of their purchases (from any outlet) intended for personal, in-home use. Consumers provide information about their households and what products they buy, as well as when and where they make purchases.

Years Available: Starting with 2004 and including annual updates.

Panel Size: 40,000–60,000 active panelists (varies by year), projectable to the total United States using household projection factors.

Panelists: Household demographic, geographic, and product ownership variables are included, as well as select demographics for the heads of household and other members.

• Demographic variables include household income range, size, composition, presence and age of children, marital status, type of residence, race, and Hispanic origin. Male and female heads of household also report age range, birth date, hours employed, education, and occupation. For other family members, birth date, employment, and relationship/sex are reported.
• Geographic variables include panelist zip code, FIPS state and county codes, region (East, Central, South, West), and Scantrack Market code (assigned by NielsenIQ).
• Product Ownership variables include kitchen appliances, TV items, and internet connection.

Products: All 10 NielsenIQ food and nonfood departments (~1.4 million UPC codes). These departments are dry grocery, frozen foods, dairy, deli, packaged meat, fresh produce, nonfood grocery, alcohol, general merchandise, and health and beauty aids.

Product Characteristics: All products include UPC code and description, brand, multipack, and size, as well as NielsenIQ codes for department, product group, and product module. Some products contain additional characteristics (e.g., flavor).

Purchases: Each shopping trip contains the date, retail chain code, retail channel, first three digits of store zip code, and total amount spent. For each product purchased, the UPC code, quantity, price, and any deals/coupons are recorded. Note that retailer names are not available.

Geographies: Entire United States, divided into 52 major markets.

Retail Channels: All retail channels—grocery, drug, mass merchandise, superstores, club stores, convenience, health, and others.

Complementary to the Consumer Panel Data, the Panel Views surveys contain additional data about households and their members. Researchers must have a subscription to the consumer panel dataset to receive access to these surveys. There is no additional cost for these data.

Tax Rebate: This survey tells about how households spent the 2008 Federal government tax rebate.

Tell Us More About You: These surveys, one from 2008 and the other from 2011, contain data about where household members were born, where they live now, additional information about education (e.g. college major), occupation, and purchase behavior in certain categories.

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.

Years Available: Starting with 2006 and including annual updates.

Store Demographics: Includes store chain code, channel type, and area location. Retailer names are masked to protect identity.

Weekly Product Data: For each UPC code, participating stores report units, price, price multiplier, baseline units, baseline price, feature indicator, and display indicator.

Products: Weekly product data for 2.6-4.5* million UPCs including food, nonfood grocery items, health and beauty aids, and select general merchandise aggregated into 1,100 product categories store environment variables (i.e., feature and display indicators) from a subset of stores. The 1,100 product categories are categorized into 125 product groups and 10 departments. The structure matches that of the consumer panel data. All private-label goods have a masked UPC to protect the identity of the retailers.

Product Characteristics: All products include UPC code and description, brand, multipack, and size, as well as NielsenIQ codes for department, product group, and product module. Some products contain additional characteristics (e.g., flavor).

Geographies: Scanner Data from 35,000-50,000* participating grocery, drug, mass merchandiser, and other stores, covering more than half the total sales volume of US grocery and drug stores and more than 30 percent of all US mass merchandiser sales volume. Data cover the entire United States, divided into 52 major markets, and include the same codes as those used in the consumer panel data.

Retail Channels: Food, drug, mass merchandise, convenience, and liquor.

*As of 2018, approximately 15,000 more stores have been added.

Nielsen's Ad Intel Data cover advertising occurrences for a variety of media types across the United States, starting in 2010 and including annual updates. 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).

Specifically, the Ad Intel Dataset includes advertisement occurrences from the following media types:

• National TV: Network TV, Spanish-Language Network TV, Cable TV, Spanish-Language Cable TV, and Syndicated TV
• Local TV: Spot TV, Network Clearance Spot TV, Syndicated Clearance Spot TV, and Local/Regional Cable TV
• Radio: Network Radio, Spot Radio
• Magazine: National and Local Magazine
• Newspaper: National Newspaper, National Sunday Supplement, Local Newspaper, Local Sunday Supplement
• FSI (Free Standing Insert) Coupon
• Outdoor (e.g., billboards)
• Internet (information is limited until August 2017, then replaced by new Digital media type data): National Internet, Local Internet
• Digital (2017 forward): National Digital
• Cinema: National Cinema, Regional Cinema

The Ad Intel Dataset also includes advertisement impression and universe estimate information for the following media types (so that Gross Rating Points can be calculated):

• National TV: Network TV, Spanish-Language Network TV, Cable TV, Spanish-Language Cable TV, and Syndicated TV
• Local TV: Spot TV, Network Clearance Spot TV, Syndicated Clearance Spot TV, and Local/Regional Cable TV
• Radio: Network Radio, Spot Radio

Advertising impressions are further broken down by age and gender. For National TV, impressions can be broken down by 50 demographic classifications, called Market Breaks. Categories range from types of beverages a family consumes to household income to presence of computers or internet in the home.

A variety of reference data files are also included, such as:

• Advertisers
• Brands
• Product Categories
• Creative Descriptions
• TV Programs
• Distributors (e.g., TV station)
• Publishers