A New Brand of Business: Charles Coolidge Parlin, Curtis Publishing Company, and the Origins of Market Research

Charles Coolidge Parlin was considered by many to be the founder of market research. Working for the dominant Curtis Publishing Company, he revolutionized the industry by providing added value to advertisers through information about the racial, ethnic, and regional biases of readers and consumers. By maintaining contact with both businesses and customers, Parlin and Curtis publications were able to turn consumer wants into corporate profits.

In A New Brand of Business, Douglas Ward provides an intriguing business history that explains how and why Curtis developed its market research division. He reveals the evolution and impact of Parlin’s work, which understood how readers and advertisers in the emerging consumer economy looked at magazines and advertisements. Ward also examines the cultural and social reasons for the development and use of market research—particularly in regard to Curtis' readership of upper-income elites. The result weaves the stories of Parlin and Curtis into the changes taking place in American business and advertising in the early twentieth century.

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A New Brand of Business: Charles Coolidge Parlin, Curtis Publishing Company, and the Origins of Market Research

Charles Coolidge Parlin was considered by many to be the founder of market research. Working for the dominant Curtis Publishing Company, he revolutionized the industry by providing added value to advertisers through information about the racial, ethnic, and regional biases of readers and consumers. By maintaining contact with both businesses and customers, Parlin and Curtis publications were able to turn consumer wants into corporate profits.

In A New Brand of Business, Douglas Ward provides an intriguing business history that explains how and why Curtis developed its market research division. He reveals the evolution and impact of Parlin’s work, which understood how readers and advertisers in the emerging consumer economy looked at magazines and advertisements. Ward also examines the cultural and social reasons for the development and use of market research—particularly in regard to Curtis' readership of upper-income elites. The result weaves the stories of Parlin and Curtis into the changes taking place in American business and advertising in the early twentieth century.

61.5 In Stock
A New Brand of Business: Charles Coolidge Parlin, Curtis Publishing Company, and the Origins of Market Research

A New Brand of Business: Charles Coolidge Parlin, Curtis Publishing Company, and the Origins of Market Research

by Douglas Ward
A New Brand of Business: Charles Coolidge Parlin, Curtis Publishing Company, and the Origins of Market Research

A New Brand of Business: Charles Coolidge Parlin, Curtis Publishing Company, and the Origins of Market Research

by Douglas Ward

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Overview

Charles Coolidge Parlin was considered by many to be the founder of market research. Working for the dominant Curtis Publishing Company, he revolutionized the industry by providing added value to advertisers through information about the racial, ethnic, and regional biases of readers and consumers. By maintaining contact with both businesses and customers, Parlin and Curtis publications were able to turn consumer wants into corporate profits.

In A New Brand of Business, Douglas Ward provides an intriguing business history that explains how and why Curtis developed its market research division. He reveals the evolution and impact of Parlin’s work, which understood how readers and advertisers in the emerging consumer economy looked at magazines and advertisements. Ward also examines the cultural and social reasons for the development and use of market research—particularly in regard to Curtis' readership of upper-income elites. The result weaves the stories of Parlin and Curtis into the changes taking place in American business and advertising in the early twentieth century.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781439900178
Publisher: Temple University Press
Publication date: 11/11/2009
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 240
File size: 2 MB

About the Author

Douglas B. Ward is Assistant Professor in the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. A New Era of Business
2. An Unlikely Leader
3. What Was Commercial Research?
4. Winning over the Skeptics
5. Barbarians, Farmers, and Consumers
6. Readers as Consumers
7. Chasing the Consumer, Protecting the Company
8. The Legacy of Commercial Research
Epilogue
Notes
Index

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