Lizabeth Cohen’s “Segmenting the Masses”

Lizabeth Cohen’s “Segmenting the Masses” brings up the topic of the rise of consumerism after World War II. She talks about how the shift in marketing and advertising during the 1950s away from mass marketing, and is instead moving towards market segmentation. Consumerism is believed to be the ‘antidote’ that would eventually result in widespread prosperity and egalitarian within the American society.

“What resulted was a new commercial culture that reified-at-times even exaggerated social difference in the pursuit of profits, often reincorporating disaffected groups into the commercial marketplace” (pg. 308), which basically highlights the growing role of the dollar in the American society. Spending over saving is encouraged amongst seniors and brand indoctrination of children would hence result in greater economic growth.

Sociology increasingly took on a greater role during America’s shift towards consumerism, as when coupled together with the use of computers, it allowed for more precision in identifying the products to sell to each segment. As such, this further split the division between Americans along racial, class and gender. Such forms of market segmentation eventually paved the way for deeper social and cultural differences amongst most Americans.

Cohen consults a vast range of sources comprising of both primary and secondary, with a few renowned experts namely being: Pierre Martineau (sociologist and marketing director at a leading firm in market research) and Wendell Smith (marketing expert), both of which propagated the idea of how the behavioral patterns of people within the same market segment were the same, and would be different across different market segments.

However, an American historian, David Shi, debunks this theory of having to spend in order to lay the foundations for a better tomorrow. Shi asserts that the idea of “plain living and high thinking” presents itself as an ideal stepping stone for the society to move forward, describing how the concept of the simple but good life “has remained an enduring–and elusive–ideal. . . . Its primary attributes include a hostility toward luxury and a suspicion of riches, a reverence for nature and a preference for rural over urban ways of life and work, a desire for personal self-reliance through frugality and diligence, a nostalgia for the past, a commitment to conscientious rather than conspicuous consumption, a privileging of contemplation and creativity, an aesthetic preference for the plain and functional, and a sense of both religious and ecological responsibility for the just uses of the world’s resources” (Shi, 2007). Hence, Cohen could be perceived to have been one-sided in her argument that consumerism was the “way to go” back then for American policymakers.

In all, the age of consumerism did manage to achieve its primary aim of promoting economic growth by encouraging spending through a myriad of social means, and was so effective that these were later used in politics as well. Despite economic growth, it eventually came at a cost as it had divisive impacts on the Americans due to the segmentation of them according to race, gender and class.

Reference list

1. Shi, D. (2007). “The Simple Life: Plain Living and High Thinking in American Culture.”

Cecilia Chiang’s Oral History

Chiang’s Oral History by Victor Geraci represents a verbal recollection of the setting up of her restaurant back in the past. This oral recount depicts the portrait of a penniless lady who has set up a Chinese restaurant in America under the most fortuitous of encounters. With her initial intention in coming to America was to visit her sister, it eventually culminated in her setting up the restaurant. Despite the number of obstacles present from the start, she managed to pull through eventually and hence her business became a success.

Oral history is usually regarded as the collection of oral tradition, a summary of personal experiences for us to find out about the past. The effect of presenting the interview in the form of a transcript rather than a biography of her personal recount is to retain the original ‘flavor’ of the interview. Through the use of a transcript, Geraci effectively creates a sense of engagement with the readers, encapsulating the Chinese heritage and culture.

Certain emotions that are shown during the interview at different intervals could be integral in displaying the importance of certain parts of the interview as well. Presenting in the form of written history would be akin to taking the human factor out of the interview as the emotions displayed would not be written down. The use of written history also effectively means that the author is able to input his own personal point of view through the affordance of writing privileges. As such, the reliability of the written history (biography) might be called into question over the possibility that it could have been tainted with the author’s point of views.

Geraci succinctly makes the past real by seemingly putting a human face on the past. This provides readers with a direct access into Chiang’s thoughts, emotions, reactions and etc. By establishing such a focal point of connection with the readers, they are hence able to generate insights into Chiang’s inner thoughts; to understand her better and understand why certain decisions such as tailoring the Chinese menu to suit local American tastes are made.

As mentioned earlier on, Geraci successfully encapsulates the essence of the Chinese heritage and community through the presentation of Chiang’s life story in the form of an oral history. This promotes a sense of community, heritage and how uniqueness of each community can be preserved. This is particularly evident in the part whereby despite dropping dishes such as ‘egg foo yung’, ‘chow mien’ and ‘chop suey’, she still stuck to her Chinese heritage by introducing different flavors such as ‘Sichuan’, ‘Shanghai’ and ‘Hunan’ delicacies, dishes that the local Westerners have never tried before.

To sum it up, Chiang’s Oral History is essential in allowing one to understand the trials and tribulations of a Chinese lady who did not allow her surroundings to bring her down. Instead, she worked her way around it and eventually pulled through. Definitely a success story for one to draw inspiration from.