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Jetzt kostenlos anmelden[I]is futile to try to appeal to the masses of people on an intellectual or logical basis, "1
argued William Etsy. Etsy worked for a successful American advertising agency, J. Walter Thomspon, in the 1920s. At that time, advertisers realized that luring consumers works better by appealing to them on an emotional, irrational level. Advertising was an integral part of consumerism—a byproduct of capitalism that encourages buying goods and links consumption to well-being.
Fig. 1 - Lucky Strike cigarette ad, 1931.
Consumerism is a phenomenon that arose during the Second Industrial Revolution in the late 19th-early 20th century in capitalist economies and is prevalent today. This phenomenon presupposes that consumption (purchasing goods) is essential to economic prosperity and one's well-being.
Consumerism is part of an economic cycle in a capitalist or a mixed economy:
Yet consumers are not simply buyers. After all, people purchased goods throughout recorded history.
Did you know?
The oldest recorded customer complaint is from Ur (present-day Iraq), 1750 BCE. This clay tablet claims that the merchant named Ea-Nasir supplied the customer, Nanni, with the wrong copper grade.
The term "consumer" is derived from the word "consume," which describes eating, drinking, and entirely using something. There also is a negative connotation correlated with gluttony. Some historians point to the fact that this negative meaning points to using one's income on wants rather than saving in a system that promotes debt and spending.
Next, a well-made product should last for years. Yet how would companies continue making money in overproduction if consumers had already purchased their products? In the 1920s, businesses introduced planned obsolescence. Some define this term as deliberately manufacturing products that are not durable. Others suggest that companies simply manufacture better models that attract the consumer with their innovation and dissatisfaction with an older variant.
In the 1920s, Ford and General Motors (GM) competed for the American market. Ford emphasized the Model T vehicle as one of simplicity and affordability. General Motors rivaled Ford by encouraging consumers to buy newer GM models that were superior to their older counterparts.
By the late 20th century, consumers got used to having a warranty that only lasted a year or two and expecting the product to break after that date. Alternatively, the market introduces a newer model, as with smartphones today.
Fig. 2 - Ford Model T car, souvenir booklet, 1909.
Consumer culture centered around the desirability of buying first arose in the 19th and developed in the early 20th century. Using store merchandising, advertising, and even film with product placement, popular culture promoted endless consumption linking goods with material and psychological well-being.
This system enabled advertisers to hold significant financial and political power. Consumer culture combined purchasing power with moral standing and, sometimes, even patriotism—the "American dream."
Consumer advertising promotes products using different forms of mass media—from the original print format in the late 19th century to digital counterparts in the 21st. Advertising agencies that design the appropriate promotional strategies for businesses first arose in the latter part of the 19th century.
One crucial example is J. Walter Thompson. In the 20th century, this agency was responsible for campaigns for iconic American brands like Oscar Mayer and Toys "R" Us.
Did you know?
One of the early advertising precedents was the 19th-century traveling salesman who went door-to-door to sell products. Not all products were good. Some were scams generating the term "snake-oil salesman," who sold questionable medicinal items.
Fig. 3 - Clark Stanley's Snake Oil Liniment, ca. 1905.
While advertising styles have changed over time, certain aspects endure, including:
Advertisers learned early on that appeals to emotion worked better than logic.
For example, a 1925 Psychology in Advertising suggested using strong images to "'short-circuit'" the consumer's mind" and reach one's basic emotions.2
Even though women's roles changed throughout the 20th century, women remained the main shopper in the family.
As a result, advertisements often targeted female consumers and reflected their changing roles. Until the middle of the 20th century, advertisers promoted domestic products to women, such as cleaning supplies and appliances. As women spent less time at home after 1945 and more time in the workplace, advertisers lost themselves. Their solution was to create a beauty, skincare, and weight-loss market. Some feminist authors, such as Naomi Wolf, argue that this market used psychological tricks to manipulate women into thinking that they are never good enough to keep them buying:
Consumer culture is best supported by markets made up of sexual clones, men who want objects and women who want to be objects, and the object desired ever-changing, disposable, and dictated by the market.”3
Fig. 4 - Camay skincare ad, 1953.
In the 20th century, product advertisers depicted consumers in print, radio, and television advertising in different ways, including:
An essential aspect of advertising is to generate the feeling of desire in the consumer for a product regardless of its necessity. One way to do so is to create a problem where there was none before and then offer the product as a solution.
For example, the skincare and cosmetics industry continually markets new products as revolutionary solutions to aging, having first established the natural aging process as a problem.
In a capitalist economy, consumerism has both benefits and drawbacks.
The U.S. has been one of the driving forces behind consumerism. On the one hand, Americans produced many innovative, accessible products: from cars in the early 20th century to smartphones in the early 21st. On the other hand, this consumerist ideology has negatively impacted the U.S. and the world.
Even though consumerism benefits the economy, it also depends on capitalism's boom-and-bust cycle. The latter means that economies expand and contract repeatedly.
For example, after the 1929 Great Depression, many people lost their jobs and could not buy goods like they used to. Their loss of purchasing power negatively impacted the already suffering economy.
Fig. 5 - A queue of people in Louisville, KY, waits for aid during the 1937 Ohio River flood next to a billboard that reads "World's Highest Standard of Living." Photo by Margaret Bourke-White.
Historically, American consumerism displayed a connection to morality. In the early 20th century, advertisers marketed many products as the correct choice for one's family. In contrast, refusing to buy such products was seen as the equivalent of being morally wrong.
For example, a 1920s ad for Soap & Water read, "What do the neighbors think of her children?" implying harsh social judgment because the family used the wrong soap brand.4
Buying products was, therefore, linked to one's moral standing.
At one point, the idea of a new house with all new appliances was seen as the peak of American success and a moral responsibility assigned to every American.
Fig. 6 - Kuppenheimer advetisement, 1921.
Advertisers portrayed buying American-made goods, even war bonds, as a citizen's patriotic duty during wars.
Fig. 7 - “My daddy bought me a government bond of the Third Liberty Loan--Did yours?”, 1917.
In the 1920s, buying on credit became a common way to pay for almost any good or service. This new drive to purchase the latest and best products encouraged people to make payments on purchases to obtain new items quickly. Considering large purchases in payments instead of a hefty one-time fee encouraged larger purchases in parts with interest. Even small-ticket items like irons were part of this scheme. Paying for items in installments gradually encouraged some consumers to amass debt and to live beyond their means.
Ethical consumerism focuses on buying responsibly based on one's values. Sometimes, this strategy involves activism on "dollar voting"—supporting or excluding certain companies with one's purchases. This ideology centers on the power of money and the ability to impact political changes or events through purchasing.
For example, in the 21st century, many people buy ethically manufactured products that respect workers' rights and the environment.
What is consumerism?
Consumerism is a phenomenon within capitalism that encourages buying products and links them to social status and material and psychological well-being.
What is planned obsolescence?
Planned obsolescence is a phenomenon within capitalist overproduction that either manufactures goods that are not durable or encourages the consumer to purchase newer, updated models.
What happened to consumerism during the Great Depression?
Many people lost their jobs during the Great Depression which diminished their purchasing power.
What is the difference between a buyer and a consumer?
A buyer simply buys things such as basic necessities. In contrast, a consumer buys both needs and wants and links one's value, one's social status, and one's well-being to consuming products.
Whom do advertisers historically perceive as the main consumer in the family?
Women
What process gave rise to consumerism?
Industrial Revolution
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