Consumer Engineering, 1920s-1970s

In the middle of the twentieth century, a new class of marketing expert emerged beyond the familiar ad men of Madison Avenue. Working as commercial designers, consumer psychologists, sales managers, and market researchers, these professionals were self-defined "consumer engineers," and their rise heralded a new era of marketing. To what extent did these efforts to engineer consumers shape consumption practices? And to what extent was the phenomenon itself a product of broader social and cultural forces? This collection considers consumer engineering in the context of the longer history of transatlantic marketing. Contributors offer case studies on the roles of individual consumer engineers on both sides of the Atlantic, the impact of such marketing practices on European economies during World War II and after, and the conflicted relationship between consumer activists and the ideas of consumer engineering. By connecting consumer engineering to a web of social processes in the twentiethcentury, this volume contributes to a reassessment of consumer history more broadly.

Auteur
Jan Logemann is Assistant Professor of Economic and Social History at the University of Göttingen, Germany.
Gary Cross is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History at Pennsylvania State University, USA.
Ingo Köhler is Assistant Professor of Economic and Social History at the University of Göttingen, Germany.

Contenu

1. Beyond the Mad Men: Consumer Engineering and the Rise of Marketing Management, 1920s1970s: An Introduction
   I. Twentieth-Century Marketing: Aspirations and Limits, Costs, and Benefits
2. Marketing as "Consumer Engineering"? A Concept in Transatlantic Perspective, 1930s1960s
3. What Does "Fast Capitalism" Mean for Consumers? Examples of Consumer Engineering in the United States
4. A Theoretical Exploration of Consumer Engineering: Implicit Contracts and Market Making
   II. Consumer Engineers and Transatlantic Exchanges at Mid-Century
5. Shopping Malls and Social Democracy: Victor Gruen's Postwar Campaign for Conscientious Consumption in American Suburbia
6. Consumer-Based Research: Walter Landor and the Value of Packaging Design in Marketing
7. German-Style Consumer Engineering: Victor Vogt's Verkaufspraxis, 19251950
   III. Consumer Engineering Practices in Postwar Europe
   8. Consumer Credit as a Marketing Tool: The French Experience in European and Transatlantic Comparison, 1950s1960s
   9. Adidas and the Creation of a Transnational Market for German Athletic Shoes, 19481978
   10. Imagined Images, Surveyed Consumers: Market Research as a Means of Consumer Engineering, 1950s1980s
   IV. Consumer Engineering and Consumer Movements
   11. Marketing a New Society or Engineering Kitchens? IKEA and the Swedish Consumer Agency
   12. The Consumer Crusader: Hugo Schui and the German Consumers Association
   13. Consumer Engineering by Belgian Consumer Movements: From Modern Marketing with a Transnational Touch to Late-Modern Insecurities, 19572000