Era Of Consumerism

From 1800 to 1920, the United States market was production oriented and no mass production existed (Dictionary of American History, 2003). The goods produced were those which were needed by the manufacturer’s family or neighbours. Farmers grew different crops for their own consumption and sold the surplus to the nearest market. Durable goods were produced in towns but in small quantities and had to be handmade as no tools were available for mass production. Producer oriented markets gave Americans advantage of imposing more and more taxes on goods from British merchants. This led to Americans making their own goods which introduced competition in the markets and also introduced mass productions. This brought the concept of self service in 1916 …show more content…
Before world war 2 marketers started focussing more and more on advertising. This made the consumers more eager. After the world war 2 was over it lead to the increase in the demand of general appliances as the economy shifted to peaceful manufacturing. This was the era of advertising as TV was getting more and more popular during this era. Marketers used radios and newspapers as their main source of advertising but little focus was on TV. By the end of 1953 TV had gained its popularity and focus was shifted towards visual advertising which brought about a boom in the U.S. economy. This new trend of advertising started in Madison Avenue, New York. This era was a period of acute consumption anxiety. Post war years also saw a significant increase in the population which lead to more people needing more necessities which gave rise to the modern consumerism and marketers like William Safire took this opportunity and the name Madison Avenue became a synonym for advertising. Due to excessive advertising and more and more products being consumed, the consumers became more aware about the advertising industry. TV played a very important role in shaping …show more content…
With the increase in technology and internet, retailing transformed from traditional to high tech. Use of online tools and social media sparked a new debate between the marketers and the consumers about the safeguard of the consumers’ interest. Retailing was no longer from the same retailer or the retailer from the same country or region, now consumers can buy products from all around the world with the use of internet. This made necessary to protect the consumer rights. The New Zealand government take initiative to protect consumers by passing the law that misleading advertisement on the internet is