Satisfaction Guaranteed Chapter Summary

The three chapters assigned to be read out of Satisfaction Guaranteed: The Making of the American Mass Market, a novel by Susan Strasser, outline the consumer culture of the United States around the end of 19th century, following the conclusion of the civil war. The chapters work chronologically and describe the rapid evolution of companies’ production, advertising and branding techniques. The reading also hits some of the main goods introduced at the time, most of which we still use today, and the troubles that companies faced convincing the public to invest in (purchase) their product for the first time. The problem with introducing thousands of products that no one had ever heard of? Most people will naturally pick the safe bet when spending

Beginning in the 1880’s companies began instituting new technologies and methods to replace their manual labor counterparts. In factories where meats were packed, vegetables were canned, and cereal was boxed, conveyors and other intricate systems began to form the common yet efficient “continuous-process” (similar to the modern assembly line). The introduction of flow process assisted in the development of our entire economy. With factories lowering operation costs and developing more efficient machines, mass amounts of raw material could now be produced like never before. Materials like iron could be produced at such a low rate that the railroad infrastructure of the United States boomed. Strasser introduces the emergence of the mass market through a Proctor and Gamble anecdote, delving into the interesting world of cooking fats (i.e. Crisco). Through the use of this Crisco example, Strasser highlights a major shift in consumer culture. Companies had the daunting task of introducing and marketing hundreds of thousands of new products, many of which people had no need for in the past. Along with new iterations like chewing gum and the flashlight, “People who had never heard of toothpaste had to be told that they need it...” (Strasser, 6). This quote essentially ties in with the psychological aspect of marketing and how many industries faced difficulties in

These connections between brands led to an increase in consumer trust and therefor an increase in overall demand. Advertisers also were looking for more effective methods of information distribution at this time (1870’s) and the newspaper just happened to be gaining major national popularity. According to page 91, the “Lady’s Home Journal” was the first major publication to market goods for housewives/ women in 1883, and in less than two decades by 1900, most major newspapers had completely switched focus to heavy advertising. The availability of a cheap, fixed rate on ad space meant that business owners would buy out multiple pages sometimes, turning the newspaper into a hub of not only national and local information, but also consumer news and countless advertisements. In order to introduce all of these revolutionary goods to the first waves of consumers, marketers of the late 19th century focused on getting mass amounts of information across to consumers rather than trying to gain attention or interest. Strasser highlights that this is why many 19th century ads, compared to their siblings of the 20th century, are much more wordy and descriptive- explaining uses, giving quality assurances, and sometimes included product background and development (illus.