what is mass consumption
Answers
Answered by
0
Mass Production" was a term invented by Henry Ford, the auto maker, in 1926. Before that, his system of assembly-line manufacturing was called "Fordism".
The genius of the 19th Century Industrial economy was its ability to boost production, to maximise output. In the early 20th Century Henry Ford and others like him used the assembly line to maximise production to the point where the economy could simply out-produce the ability of consumers to buy the product. Even if you made it cheaply (and Henry Ford did) there was still more than people wanted to buy or could afford.
So the cutting edge of the 20th century industrial economy was built around boosting consumption. You had to get people to buy things. Increase their wages, so they could spend more, and tempt them to buy stuff they didn't really need. Manufacturers even went so far as to purposely make a product so that it wore out quickly or seemed outdated when it was still fairly new. Hence the fashion industry and "planned obsolescence" (invented by Alfred P Sloan, boss of General Motors, in 1926). Manufcaturers found that if they promoted mass-consumption, they boosted profits. Mass-consumption had to be developed to accompany Mass-production.
The genius of the 19th Century Industrial economy was its ability to boost production, to maximise output. In the early 20th Century Henry Ford and others like him used the assembly line to maximise production to the point where the economy could simply out-produce the ability of consumers to buy the product. Even if you made it cheaply (and Henry Ford did) there was still more than people wanted to buy or could afford.
So the cutting edge of the 20th century industrial economy was built around boosting consumption. You had to get people to buy things. Increase their wages, so they could spend more, and tempt them to buy stuff they didn't really need. Manufacturers even went so far as to purposely make a product so that it wore out quickly or seemed outdated when it was still fairly new. Hence the fashion industry and "planned obsolescence" (invented by Alfred P Sloan, boss of General Motors, in 1926). Manufcaturers found that if they promoted mass-consumption, they boosted profits. Mass-consumption had to be developed to accompany Mass-production.
Similar questions