What was advertising like in the 1920

At the same time that the advertising industry was flourishing, a few business firms launched innovative programs in "commercial research," or what later generations called marketing. A representative of the Saturday Evening Post, a widely circulated weekly magazine, was unhappy with the way advertising space was being sold, because the magazine's space salesmen had no knowledge about their customers' needs or the effectiveness of advertisements.

The publisher hired Charles Coolidge Parlin to use socialscience techniques to study those questions, the first market research. In the nation's largest rubber firm, U. Rubber, had established a market research department, and the Swift meat-packing concern followed suit in These efforts pioneered attempts by American manufacturers to integrate systematic knowledge of markets with advertising and the design and production of goods.

In oligopolistic industries, as price competition lessened, marketing techniques and advertising messages became increasingly important ways for companies to differentiate their products and to promote sales. General Motors, for instance, led the automobile companies in instituting annual model changes that were primarily cosmetic in nature although Sloan insisted that the company improve and differentiate its products through research and technical innovation as well.

Style became increasingly important in selling goods. An incredible lack of regulation led to some of the strangest quackery our nation has seen. Breakthroughs in science were so common, that ads gleefully espousing the healing and restorative properties of expensive soaps were everywhere. One could lose weight simply by rubbing a specialty soap on fat deposits once a day! The flapper style was a mix of the formal designs and carefree, radical attitudes. Men tried to look dapper but remain comfortable, and society as a whole seemed to have a dress code.

Factories that had been used years before to create tanks and airplanes were put to good use pumping out automobiles for a populace eager to spend and put the conservatism of the previous decade behind them. A car was like a personal chariot, and the special relationship between Americans and their cars truly began to appear. Candy was everywhere, and it was healthy too! These were then reinvested into the economy through the buying of more goods, creating the cycle of consumerism that led to the economic boom of the s.

Describe the key features of advertising in the USA in the s? Answered by Laura H. Need help with History? One to one online tuition can be a great way to brush up on your History knowledge.