Consumers' Research

Last updated

Consumers' Research is an American conservative 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Established in 1929, it was a founding organization in the consumer protection movement. It turned to the right after its sale in 1981 to a conservative publisher. [1]

Contents

The organization was established by Stuart Chase and F. J. Schlink after the success of their book Your Money's Worth galvanized interest in testing products on behalf of consumers. It published a monthly magazine called Consumers' Research Bulletin. Leading staff from this organization, thwarted in their efforts to establish a collective bargaining unit of a labor union, protested and left to form Consumers Union in 1936. The magazine published by Consumers Union, initially Consumers Union Reports and now called Consumer Reports , gained popularity and market share over the Bulletin and largely supplanted its relevance.

The organization stopped assessing products in the 1980s after its acquisition by M. Stanton Evans and was mostly dormant by the early 2000s. It was resuscitated in the 2020s as a Republican-aligned group. [2] It has launched campaigns targeting "wokeness", including "woke capitalism" and environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) initiatives in corporate America. [3]

Early history

Consumers' Research published comparative test results on brand-name products and publicized deceptive advertising claims. [4]

Founding

Bowerstown offices of Consumers' Research, built 1934-35 89 Bowerstown Road, Bowerstown, NJ.jpg
Bowerstown offices of Consumers' Research, built 1934–35

In 1927 Schlink and Chase, encouraged by the public response to the publishing of their book Your Money's Worth, solicited financial, editorial, and technical support from patrons of other activist magazines to support the creation of an organization to offer consumers the unbiased services of "an economist, a scientist, an accountant, and goodness knows what more." [5] Schlink founded this organization, Consumers' Research, and migrated the existing subscriber base of a White Plains, New York organization's Consumer's Club Commodity List to support the Consumers' Research Bulletin published by his new organization. [6] This was a publication with the mission to "investigate, test and report reliably … hundreds of common commodities purchased." [5] This magazine would "accept no money or compensation of any kind from manufacturers, dealers, advertising agencies or other commercial enterprises." [5] In 1927 the circulation of the bulletin was 565; by 1932 there were 42,000 subscribers. [5] In addition to the magazine the organization also published books, pamphlets, and reports. [5]

Research laboratory, built 1939-40 Bowerstown Road, Bowerstown, NJ - former research laboratory.jpg
Research laboratory, built 1939–40

In 1933, Schlink and Arthur Kallet, a board member of Consumers' Research and former colleague of Schlink at the American Standards Association, published 100,000,000 Guinea Pigs . [5] The book was to become one of the best-selling books of the decade and the metaphor of consumers being guinea pigs exploited by commercial enterprises moved readers as an appropriate description of the public during the Depression. [4] [5] Consumers' Research moved in 1933 to Washington, New Jersey and later the Bowerstown in Washington Township, New Jersey. [7] [8] After the move Schlink began to take more control over the management of the organization and rapidly hired and fired many staff. [7] When Schlink established Consumers’ Research he appointed his wife and close friends to compose the majority of seats on the board of directors, and staff noted that he held control of hiring, firing, and the organization's editorial and budget decisions. When the organization grew the staff began to question its mission. [6]

Schlink's control and resulting protests

In 1927 at the start of publication Consumers' Research Bulletin discussed conceptual issues, but by 1934 ratings of products and guidance for purchases filled more than 75% of each issue. [7] Around this time Chase left the organization to pursue other interests, and Schlink began to take more control over management. [7] By 1935 Consumers’ Research had a staff of 50, used 200 consultants, and was sponsored by such respected and established journalists such as Alexander Crosby of The Nation , Arthur Kellog of The Survey , and George Soule of The New Republic . [7] Each of these also wrote in their own magazines about consumer activism. [7]

In the spring of 1935, the workers began to openly complain about management practices. [9] In August 1935 many workers formed a chapter of the Technical, Editorial, and Office Assistant's Union. [9] In response to this, Schlink fired John Heasty, the appointed president of the union, and the union organizers responded with a strike at Consumers Research. [9] Schlink counter-responded to the strike by hiring strikebreakers and armed security and by filing legal grievances against protestors. The negative publicity this dispute attracted pleased Consumers' Research critics. [10]

Kallet seeks a solution

The positions between Consumers' Research and the strikers became more entrenched and less reconcilable, and the strikers began to have more discussions about the working conditions of employees. [10] Arthur Kallet emerged as a leader who proposed the creation of a new organization which would evaluate products and take into account the working conditions under which those products were created. [10] The organization proposed would also engage in and promote boycotts, educational campaigns, and have alliances with other organizations, which were activities Consumers Research avoided. [10]

At the end of 1935, the protesters called for mediation. [9] Reinhold Niebuhr, a religious philosopher, chaired an arbitration group which included the American Civil Liberties Union's Roger Nash Baldwin, the educator George Counts, and the socialist Norman Thomas. [9] Schlink rejected this arbitration and the Consumers' Research board of directors accused the strikers of being communists. [11]

The new organization, Consumers Union, which was founded by Kallet and an Amherst College professor Colston Warne, published its first magazine Consumers Union Reports in May 1936. [12] The previous strike was very successful at drawing attention to the protesters and the magazine was founded with public attention and support. [12] Within two years the circulation of this new magazine surpassed the subscriptions to Consumers' Research Bulletin, which the organization continued to publish. [12] As of 1987 it had less than 1% of the subscribers which Consumers Union's magazine had. [10]

Accomplishments

From its New Jersey location, Consumers' Research continually organized petitions to Franklin D. Roosevelt urging him to establish a federal Department of the Consumer. [13] This department would organize all consumer protection agencies and have as goals the prevention of monopoly and prevention of fraud to consumers. [13] Because of Consumers' Research, and women's groups, and home economics activists, there were a Consumer Advisory Board, a labor advisory committee, and a business advisory committee in the National Recovery Administration. [14] In 1933 Roosevelt appointed Mary Harriman Rumsey to head the Consumer Advisory Board. [14] Caroline F. Ware, Paul Douglas, Walton Hale Hamilton, and Dexter Keezer were other consumer representatives involved in this effort. [14]

Legacy

Consumers' Research was a founding organization in the consumer protection movement.

The establishment of Consumers Union, directly resulting from the staff dismissals and walkouts from Consumers' Research, was one of the major events influencing the consumer movement after World War I. [10] Other important organizations formed in the same era were the New Deal programs aimed at promoting economic recovery after the Great Depression by increasing consumer representation in the market, with the Consumer Advisory Board within the National Recovery Administration and the Consumers' Counsel within the United States Department of Agriculture being notable among them. [10]

Later history

1980s sale and turn to conservatism

In 1981, Consumers' Research was sold to conservative commentator M. Stanton Evans. Evans had chaired the American Conservative Union, led the National Journalism Center, and served as editor for National Review and Human Events . The organization moved its headquarters to Washington, D.C., and abandoned assessing products, closing its New Jersey testing laboratories by 1983. The organization relied on reports from the government for its articles and saw a decrease in readership for its magazine. Evans held the role of editor at the magazine until 2002. [15] [1]

In March 2020, Will Hild became the organization's executive director. From 2020 to 2021, the annual budget of Consumers' Research budget increased from $800,000 to $8 million, with significant funding coming from Donors Trust, which as a donor advised fund allows for donor anonymity. The organization has become a key actor in conservative efforts to limit socially responsible investing, particularly environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) initiatives by corporations. Consumers' Research is the main donor to the Republican-led State Financial Officers Foundation. [1]

In December 2022, Consumers' Research and 13 state attorneys general called for an investigation of the investment management firm The Vanguard Group. The investment firm caved, withdrawing its pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions and leaving the Net Zero Asset Managers Alliance coalition. Consumers' Research has also levied attacks against companies it alleges promote liberal agendas. [1]

Targeting "wokeness"

In 2021, Consumers' Research launched an ad campaign to combat "wokeness" in corporate America, targeting companies by name, including Major League Baseball, Ticketmaster, Coca-Cola, American Airlines and Nike. [16] In 2023, Consumers' Research launched a "woke alerts" digital advertising campaign that has targeted companies including Target, Bank of America, Disney, BlackRock, and Anheuser-Busch, which was the subject of a consumer boycott of Bud Light in 2023 in which Consumers' Research played a central role. [17]

In 2022, insurance company State Farm partnered with GenderCool, a group whose mission is to present positive stories about transgender and nonbinary youth, to support a program providing LGBTQ-themed children's books to teachers and libraries in Florida. Consumers' Research ran an advertising campaign calling State Farm "a creepy neighbor" and accusing the insurance company of targeting children with books about gender identity. After an online uproar, State Farm dropped its support of the GenderCool partnership. [18] [19]

In 2022, Consumers' Research launched a multi-million dollar advertising campaign targeting BlackRock and Larry Fink over environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) investments. [20] In 2023, Consumers' Research gave congressional leaders "a detailed roadmap for dismantling the environmental, social and governance (ESG) movement," calling ESG "an existential threat to our liberty." The report alleged that "some of the largest asset managers in the world have leveraged Americans' savings to coerce corporations to adopt critical race theory, boycott states with Republican governments, fund employees' abortions, and divest from investment in drilling for oil and natural gas, among a wide range of other left-wing causes." [21]

Related Research Articles

Consumer Reports (CR), formerly Consumers Union (CU), is an American nonprofit consumer organization dedicated to independent product testing, investigative journalism, consumer-oriented research, public education, and consumer advocacy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenwashing</span> Use of the aesthetic of conservationism for promotion

Greenwashing, also called green sheen, is a form of advertising or marketing spin that deceptively uses green PR and green marketing to persuade the public that an organization's products, goals, or policies are environmentally friendly. Companies that intentionally adopt greenwashing communication strategies often do so to distance themselves from their environmental lapses or those of their suppliers. Firms engage in greenwashing for two primary reasons: to appear legitimate and to project an image of environmental responsibility to the public.

Disinvestment refers to the use of a concerted economic boycott to pressure a government, industry, or company towards a change in policy, or in the case of governments, even regime change. The term was first used in the 1980s, most commonly in the United States, to refer to the use of a concerted economic boycott designed to pressure the government of South Africa into abolishing its apartheid regime. The term has also been applied to actions targeting Iran, Sudan, Northern Ireland, Myanmar, Israel, China and Russia.

A boycott was launched in the United States on July 4, 1977, against the Swiss-based multinational food and drink processing corporation Nestlé. The boycott expanded into Europe in the early 1980s and was prompted by concerns about Nestlé's aggressive marketing of infant formulas, particularly in underdeveloped countries. The boycott has been cancelled and renewed because of the business practices of Nestlé and other substitute manufacturers monitored by the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN). Organizers of the boycott as well as public health researchers and experts consider breast milk to be the best nutrition source for infants. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends infants to be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of their lives, nevertheless, sometimes nutritional gaps need to be filled if breastfeeding is not possible.

Consumer organizations are advocacy groups that seek to protect people from corporate abuse like unsafe products, predatory lending, false advertising, astroturfing and pollution.

Arthur Kallet was an American consumer advocate.

Consumers International is the membership organization for consumer groups around the world. Founded on 1 April 1960, it has over 250 member organizations in 120 countries. Its head office is situated in London, England, and has numerous regional offices in Latin America, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBTQ marketing</span>

LGBTQ marketing is the act of marketing to LGBTQ customers, either with dedicated ads or general ads, or through sponsorships of LGBTQ organizations and events, or the targeted use of any other element of the marketing mix.

Sustainability advertising is communications geared towards promoting social, economic and environmental benefits (sustainability) of products, services or actions through paid advertising in media in order to encourage responsible behavior of consumers.

Frederick J. Schlink was an American consumer rights activist. He co-wrote the book 100,000,000 Guinea Pigs with Arthur Kallet, and co-founded the watchdog group Consumers' Research.

<i>100,000,000 Guinea Pigs</i> 1933 book by Arthur Kallet and F. J. Schlink

100,000,000 Guinea Pigs: Dangers in Everyday Foods, Drugs, and Cosmetics is a book written by Arthur Kallet and F. J. Schlink first released in 1933 by the Vanguard Press and manufactured in the United States of America. Its central argument propounds that the American population is being used as guinea pigs in a giant experiment undertaken by the American producers of food stuffs and patent medicines and the like. Kallet and Schlink premise the book as being "written in the interest of the consumer, who does not yet realize that he is being used as a guinea pig..."

A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict some economic loss on the target, or to indicate a moral outrage, usually to try to compel the target to alter an objectionable behavior.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Consumer activism</span> Type of activist behavior

Consumer activism is a process by which activists seek to influence the way in which goods or services are produced or delivered. Kozinets and Handelman define it as any social movement that uses society's drive for consumption to the detriment of business interests. For Eleftheria Lekakis, author of Consumer Activism: Promotional Culture and Resistance, it includes a variety of consumer practices that range from boycotting and ‘buycotting’ to alternative economic practices, lobbying businesses or governments, practising minimal or mindful consumption, or addressing the complicity of advertising in climate change. Consumer activism includes both activism on behalf of consumers for consumer protection and activism by consumers themselves. Consumerism is made up of the behaviors, institutions, and ideologies created from the interaction between people and the materials and services they consume. Consumer activism has several aims:

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) is shorthand for an investing principle that prioritizes environmental issues, social issues, and corporate governance. Investing with ESG considerations is sometimes referred to as responsible investing or, in more proactive cases, impact investing.

Your Money's Worth: A study in the waste of the consumer's dollar is a 1927 nonfiction book on consumerism written by Stuart Chase and Frederick J. Schlink. It is notable for becoming popular enough to initiate a consumer protection movement. Soon after publication, its authors founded Consumers' Research, the organization that employed the founders of Consumers Union/Consumer Reports.

The consumer movement is an effort to promote consumer protection through an organized social movement, which is in many places led by consumer organizations. It advocates for the rights of consumers, especially when those rights are actively breached by the actions of corporations, governments, and other organizations that provide products and services to consumers. Consumer movements also commonly advocate for increased health and safety standards, honest information about products in advertising, and consumer representation in political bodies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Product testing</span> Line of work testing consumer products

Product testing, also called consumer testing or comparative testing, is a process of measuring the properties or performance of products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Best Men Can Be</span> Controversial Gillette advert campaign

"The Best Men Can Be" was a corporate social responsibility advertising campaign from the safety razor and personal care brand Gillette of Procter & Gamble. The campaign launched on January 13, 2019, with the digital release of a short film entitled We Believe: The Best Men Can Be.

Mary Catherine Phillips (1903–1981) was an American consumer advocate, author, and member of the Board of Directors of Consumers' Research in Bowerstown, New Jersey. She tested consumer beauty products, promoted safety for cosmetics, and wrote Skin Deep. The Truth About Beauty Aids – Safe and Harmful.

Corporate sociopolitical activism (CSA) refers to a firm's public demonstration of support or opposition to a partisan sociopolitical issue. CSA has become increasingly prominent in recent years, as firms have taken stances on issues such as climate change, racial justice, reproductive rights, gun control, immigration, LGBTQ+ rights, and gender equality.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Mufson, Steven (January 30, 2023). "This group is sharpening the GOP attack on 'woke' Wall Street". The Washington Post .
  2. ↑ Vogel, Kenneth P. (12 October 2022). "Leonard Leo Pushed the Courts Right. Now He's Aiming at American Society". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  3. ↑ Nichols, Hans (April 16, 2023). "Conservatives plot text warnings on "woke" products". Axios. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  4. 1 2 McGovern, Charles (2004). "Consumption". In Whitfield, Stephen J. (ed.). A Companion to 20th-Century America. Blackwell. pp.  346. ISBN   0-631-21100-4.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Silber 1983, p. 18.
  6. 1 2 Mayer 1989, p. 21.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Silber 1983, p. 19.
  8. ↑ Williams, Gregory L. (January 1995). "An Inventory to the Records of Consumers' Research, Inc., 1910–1983, bulk 1928–1980". Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries. Archived from the original on 2007-12-02. Retrieved 2007-11-27.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Silber 1983, p. 20.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Mayer 1989, p. 22.
  11. ↑ Silber 1983, p. 21.
  12. 1 2 3 Silber 1983, p. 23.
  13. 1 2 Warne 1993, p. 118.
  14. 1 2 3 Warne 1993, p. 119.
  15. ↑ Applegate, Edd (2015). "Consumers' Research". The Advertising Age Encyclopedia of Advertising. Routledge. p. 390. ISBN   978-1-135-94906-8.
  16. ↑ "New Campaign Against 'Woke Companies' Slams Them for Not Being Woke Enough". Reason.com . 19 May 2021. Archived from the original on 23 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  17. ↑ Pengelly, Martin (2024-07-18). "Rightwinger Leonard Leo helped fuel Bud Light boycott, tax filings show". The Guardian . ISSN   0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2024-07-18. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  18. ↑ Bella, Timothy (May 24, 2022). "State Farm drops support of LGBTQ kids books after conservative furor". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  19. ↑ Wang, Amy (25 May 2022). "Portland publisher caught in controversy as State Farm drops LGBTQ kids books program in Florida". oregonlive. The Oregonian. Archived from the original on 16 June 2022. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  20. ↑ Treene, Alayna (August 17, 2022). "Conservatives' war on BlackRock". Axios. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  21. ↑ Nichols, Hans (March 8, 2023). "Scoop: GOP's "existential" attack plan on ESG". Axios. Retrieved 30 May 2024.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.