Post WWII Consumerism Research from 'An All Consuming Century'

Research from 'An All Consuming Century: Why Commercialism Won in Modern America' - Gary Cross 

The Depression consuming America’s psyche, as well as WWII. ‘Held tight to old consuming habits and dreams.’. Longed for their luxuries. After the war they exceeded their original purchasing levels, post-war period saw massive increase in prosperity.

Mid 1930s

The depression was an opportunity for more aggressive marketing, going into that the American people truly wanted to buy, but couldn’t afford.
During the depression companies were looking more towards the future of their products, using this as a selling point. Expensive brands saw large decline in purchasing and suffered as a consequence.

Post WWII – 1960s

it was predicted that post war America would spend more money on personal activities such as holidays, cars and meals out. The idea of ‘enjoy now, pay later’ arose. Frustrating for brands.

By 1970s Advertisers began to be more sophisticated about reaching the target audience. Would advertise on TV at particular times to appeal to that audience. E.g. Products for adults would be advertised in the evenings when children weren’t around. For children the prime time was Saturday morning tv. With increased knowledge into who was watching TV when, brands could place their ads more strategically with little fear of “wasting a commercial”, so more money was put into advertising.

TV had reached 28% of households by 1981, increase in digital ads starts here (digital age?)

Growth of suburbs in the US as a result of younger families moving to the suburbs = suburban growth (rapid). Chains in the centre were losing their customers to the suburban shopping strip (1960). To compete main street ‘dime-store’ chains had opened up whole new discount marts in the suburbs, provided free parking and bought in bulk to save costs. This impacted other larger companies/brand to do the same so they didn’t fall behind.

The relationship of a product to a person began to form in the 60s/70s, people began to develop a sense of individualism, so brand and companies has to rear away from the idea of creating something that suited the ‘nuclear family’ advertised in most 1950s ads. Possessions started to link people to a message, present a lifestyle to the audience.