Advertising’s stated purpose was to manufacture needs, not merely inform

Evidence

Dichter was just as blunt about the purpose of advertising. It was never merely to inform but existed to “manipulate human motivations and desires and develop a need for goods with which the public has at one time been unfamiliar—perhaps even un-desirous of purchasing.” His research was conducted through intense, psychotherapy-like sessions with consumers—usually housewives—sometimes several together, which he was the first to call a “focus group.” His analysis rarely failed to uncover deep associations, sexual or otherwise, explaining why consumers bought the things they did. — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 468

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader history of propaganda/PR techniques; Dichter’s motivational research parallels Freudian-influenced advertising discussed in earlier chapters of this book. — connects to: Advertising budgets, not product merit, determine what consumers buy — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 175; Advertising compels consumers to identify with and demand the products imposed on them — Theodor W. Adorno, The Culture Industry: Selected Essays…, 98; Advertising could sell solutions to problems consumers did not know they had — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 189 (+5 more)
• DEFINE: Dichter is credited as the originator of both the term ‘focus group’ and motivational research — useful definitional grounding.

Broader Connections

• Advertising compels consumers to identify with and demand the products imposed on them #corroborates (0.95) — Theodor W. Adorno, The Culture Industry, 98
• Advertising could sell solutions to problems consumers did not know they had #exemplifies (0.92) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 189
• Advertising manipulates consumers into wanting what they are made to want. #corroborates (0.90) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 258
• Predetermined needs reduce the consumer to the eternal object of the industry #expands (0.88) — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 110
• Advertising’s power to create demand is contested partly by definition #complicates (0.85) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 284
• Mass production forced advertising to both create demand and manufacture brand reputation #expands (0.82) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 201
• Brand advertising aims to convert consumers rather than persuade them #expands (0.75) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 273