Consumers Research

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Consumers' Research is a now defunct^{[citation needed]} non-profit organization established in 1929 by Stuart Chase (1888-1985) and F.J. Schlink (1891-1995), after the success of their book Your Money's Worth: A study in the waste of the Consumer's Dollar galvanized interest in testing products on behalf of consumers. It published a monthly magazine of the same name.

Consumers' Research published comparative test results on brand-name products and publicized deceptive advertising claims.^[1] F. J. Schlink published a book with Arthur Kallet entitled 100,000,000 Guinea Pigs,^[2] which helped popularize the use of the word "guinea pig" as a subject of experimentation, and which became a national bestseller as concerns over the potentially adverse effects of commercial products increased.^[3]

In 1936, Arthur Kallet and others seeking a more aggressive stance broke with Consumers' Research to found Consumers Union and its magazine Consumer Reports.

Consumers Union grew strongly while Consumers' Research languished. In its later years, Consumers' Research stopped testing products, and instead focused on providing consumer advice and covering policy issues, from health and safety issues to cable TV competition.

[edit] External links

• Text of Your Money's Worth,at Library of Congress website
• Detailed history of Consumers' Research and an extensive archive of materials housed at Rutgers University.
• Consumers' Research. sourcewatch.org. Retrieved on 2007-12-05.

[edit] References

1. ^ McGovern, Charles (2004), “Consumption”, in Whitfield, Stephen J., A Companion to 20th-Century America, Blackwell, pp. 346, ISBN 0-631-21100-4 
2. ^ Kallet, Arthur (1933). 100,000,000 Guinea Pigs:Dangers in Everyday Foods, Drugs, and Cosmetics. Vanguard Press. ISBN 978-0405080258. 
3. ^ McGovern, Charles (2004), “Consumption”, in Whitfield, Stephen J., A Companion to 20th-Century America, Blackwell, pp. 346, ISBN 0-631-21100-4