Gary Cross

Jan Logemann

Ingo Köhler

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 twentieth century, this volume contributes to a reassessment of consumer history more broadly.

Marketing between Expert Planning and Consumer Responsiveness

Consumer Engineering, 1920s–1970s

Christian Kleinschmidt

Das Handbuch betrachtet soziale und wirtschaftliche Aspekte des Konsums in der Breite, setzt dabei starke Akzente im Bereich der Wirtschafts- und Unternehmensgeschichte und berücksichtigt auch transnationale Bezüge. Dabei wird die Entwicklung der Konsumgesellschaft seit der Industrious Revolution ebenso in den Blick genommen wie der Konsum der Hochmoderne und ,,nach dem Boom".

Konsum im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert

Hartmut Berghoff

Felix Rõmer

The term 'home front' gained currency during the First World War and was closely associated with the idea of 'total war' - it encapsulated the blurred lines between the armies fighting in the field and the civilian societies at home. It became one of the most consequential elements in Second World War strategic thinking, entailing an unparalleled degree of civilian mobilization. And the legacies of the home fronts reached far beyond 1945: the war became a crucial catalyst for broader social developments, including the emergence of mass consumer societies in the twentieth century. This volume explores the history of the home fronts in the Second World War from a comparative and transnational perspective, focusing on the role of the consumer and civilian morale in Nazi Germany, Japan, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. The volume covers a wide range of aspects. It compares the belligerents' efforts in securing civilian food and nutrition. It analyses the role of advertising and commercial entertainment in creating 'virtual consumption' to compensate for wartime hardships. It highlights fashion as a means of offering distraction and promoting promises of future consumption. And it enquires into the impact of the wartime consumer regimes on the post-war period and long-term developments. This collection of ground-breaking international research will advance scholarship at various levels. It will contribute to our understanding of the entanglements between war and society in the twentieth century. And it will introduce a more holistic transnational perspective that aims to integrate the Second World War into the thriving historiography on mass consumption.

Jan Logemann

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