“Ward expertly weaves magazine publishing, advertising, business and marketing, and cultural history together to show that mass communication history does not happen by itself. He keeps readers turning the page. A New Brand of Businessis a highly interesting book featuring extensive use of primary sources particularly the Curtis Publishing Company papers and his grasp of history during the years of his study is exceptional."—Patrick S. Washburn, Ohio University
Douglas Wardis an Assistant Professor in the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas.
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
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.
InA 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-inlƒY
![A New Brand of Business: Charles Coolidge Parlin, Curtis Publishing Company, and the Origins of Market Research [Hardcover]](/itemImage/2/3/1/9/2_5353919.jpg "A New Brand of Business: Charles Coolidge Parlin, Curtis Publishing Company, and the Origins of Market Research [Hardcover]")