Abstract
This paper analyzes the information contained in the articles carried by the magazine “Consumer Reports” (1945-1949) with a view to making best use of information on the part of consumers. The articles selected for this purpose were divided into “goods and services” and “social and current events.” The former was further classified into eleven categories and the latter into four. The findings are as follows : 1) Sixty percent of the articles are related to “goods and services, ” of which the categories of “pastime” and “furniture and household utensils” were the majority.2) Most of the goods in the articles were analyzed by the magazine by product testing, where “function” and “economy” were of prime focus. 3) Forty percent of the articles dealt with “social and current events, ” one third of which were in the categories of “social issues” and “social welfare.” 4) The articles related to “social issues” and “economic issues” explained the current social and economic situation, whereas the articles related to “social welfare” usually offered solutions for current problems.5) As for the information flow, the articles on “goods and services” were directed to consumers on the basis of news from various publications offering consumer information. In the case of “social and current events, ” the magazine positively supplied information related to the administrative policies and business news. 6) From the standpoint of the lifecycle of “goods and services, ” many of the articles were information on “utilization.” There was no articles dealing with information on “disposal.”
