The Industrial Revolution was characterized by two intrinsically linked social phenomena. Firstly, a social shift in the transformation of a traditionally agricultural society into an industrial and increasingly urban mass society; secondly, a technological shift resulting in the virtual explosion of the mass production of consumer goods. Towards the end of the nineteenth century these two events, large-scale changes in social structure and mass production, became the basis for the rise of consumer capitalism.
This newly generated consumer market was made possible by a steady increase in mass production, characterized by large numbers of diversified goods, often with a built-in obsolescence, which stimulated the process of ongoing consumption. The need for a frequent replacement of commodities, in combination with the striving of urbanised individuals to fill the gaping void within his or her existence that resulted from the demotion of labour productivity in the framework of modern society, gave rise to consumer culture.
Table of Contents
1. The Rise of Consumer Culture and the Making of the Individual
2. The Shaping of the Modern Consumer Culture
3. Creating a Life-Style: “Born to Buy”
4. Psychology in Advertising: Establishing and Maintaining the Social Self
5. The Role of Photography in Advertising
6. The Role of Cinema in Advertising
7. Celebrity Endorsement Advertising
8. Branding as a Marketing Strategy
9. Ideology in Advertising
Research Objectives and Themes
This work explores the historical development of consumer culture from the late 19th century through the early 20th century, specifically examining how advertising, photography, and cinema were utilized to reshape individual identity and reinforce capitalist ideologies through mass consumption.
- The influence of the Industrial Revolution on social structure and mass consumption.
- The role of psychological theories in targeting consumer self-image.
- The use of visual media, including photography and cinema, to manufacture desire.
- Celebrity endorsement as a tool for creating aspirational lifestyles.
- The function of advertising as an ideological apparatus in maintaining the social status quo.
Excerpt from the Book
5. The Role of Photography in Advertising
In the 1920s, advertising played a significant role in industry's attempt to develop a continually responsive consumer market. Advertisers were beginning to think in terms of how to affect consumers through more visceral, less intellectual or rational means and photographic representation was used as one of the primary means for the promotion of goods. The belief in the objectivity of the photographic process was the prerequisite to photography's eventual success in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, which “was a period of remarkable transition for photography. Not only was there the continued development and growth of existing modes of photography but also the rapid proliferation of entirely new applications and uses of the photographic image."
As advertising had become a central component of consumer societies, photography quickly followed as a professional application dedicated to manufacturing consumer desire in the new era of capitalism when “the technologies of mechanical reproduction, print and photography, became sufficiently developed to permit mass produced advertising images to be nationally circulated” (Walter Benjamin in Goldman). The shift to a preference for visual depictions had already started in the last half of the nineteenth century. The staging of a number of Great Exhibitions had brought the world’s diversity of cultures and goods before the eyes of a novelty-craving crowd. From the ensuing improvements to the technology for reproducing photographs – in the first decade of the twentieth century – a new world of images emerged, one which, according to Marshall McLuhan, moved contemporary society from a ‘print’ culture to a ‘visual’ one.
Summary of Chapters
1. The Rise of Consumer Culture and the Making of the Individual: This chapter analyzes how urbanization and industrialization fragmented rural social bonds, leading the individual to seek identity and belonging through the consumption of commodities.
2. The Shaping of the Modern Consumer Culture: This chapter discusses the 1920s boom in mass production and how new household technologies were marketed as liberating tools to stimulate consumer desire.
3. Creating a Life-Style: “Born to Buy”: This chapter examines how the advertising industry transformed consumption into a "life-style choice," effectively tying personal worth and social status to the possession of goods.
4. Psychology in Advertising: Establishing and Maintaining the Social Self: This chapter explains the integration of psychological theories, specifically those of Floyd Henry Allport, to manipulate consumers into self-critical states that drive perpetual purchasing.
5. The Role of Photography in Advertising: This chapter details how photography transitioned from an objective medium to a strategic tool for manufacturing fantasies and promoting mass-produced goods.
6. The Role of Cinema in Advertising: This chapter explores how cinema evolved from an entertainment medium for the working classes into a powerful tool for marketing escapism and product desire.
7. Celebrity Endorsement Advertising: This chapter highlights the development of the star system and how associating commodities with glamorous figures created a "Democracy of Goods" that obscured class divisions.
8. Branding as a Marketing Strategy: This chapter analyzes how branding was used to create artificial distinctions between products, allowing companies to target specific social segments and diffuse consumerism across all economic levels.
9. Ideology in Advertising: This chapter concludes the theoretical exploration by identifying advertising as part of the Ideological State Apparatus, used to interpellate subjects and reinforce the dominance of capitalist values.
Keywords
Consumer culture, advertising industry, mass production, capitalism, identity, commodity fetishism, psychology, social status, photography, cinema, celebrity endorsement, branding, ideology, interpellation, escapism.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this work?
The work examines the origins of modern consumer culture in the early twentieth century and the role of mass media in shaping consumer behavior.
What are the core themes addressed?
Key themes include the rise of capitalist mass production, the use of psychological manipulation in advertising, and the ideological function of visual media.
What is the author's primary research question?
The author investigates how media developments in the early twentieth century interacted with the advertising industry to influence society and promote specific consumption patterns.
What methodology does the author employ?
The work uses a cultural and historical analysis, drawing on critical theories from authors like Marx, Althusser, and McLuhan to examine advertisements as social artifacts.
What does the main body of the text discuss?
It covers the historical transition from industrial production to consumerism, the evolution of advertising media (photography and film), and the creation of the "social self."
Which keywords best characterize this work?
Relevant keywords include consumer culture, mass media, capitalism, commodity fetishism, and ideology.
How does the author define the "social self" in an advertising context?
It is defined as a projection of how an individual believes they are perceived by their peers, which advertisers exploit to encourage consumption as a means of social validation.
What role did the "Democracy of Goods" play in marketing?
It was an ideological strategy used to make lower-income consumers feel equal to the wealthy by purchasing identical products endorsed by celebrities, thus minimizing perceived class differences.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Dr. Sabine Mercer (Autor:in), 2006, The Role of Photography and Cinema in the Rise of Mass Consumer Culture in the Early Twentieth Century, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/300164
