Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1923-04-08
STUDY OF ADVERTISING
TO SELL FARM PRODUCE
Department Of Agriculture Looks to
Stabilizing Prices and Reducing
Cost of Living.

y. case CONSUMPTION through doNer-
There is no direct proof OF that.
the Department of Agriculture spe-
| cialists insist. They have been in
vestigating because they want to
know what influence this advertising
is having on shifting the demand or
consumption and just how much.
In other words. they are out to de-
termine the influence of advertising
on the consumer demand; does it in
it simply shift the demand from one
product to another.
A particularly good opportunity
was afforded to start out with study
officials were interested and all
branches Of the business were we'll
organized. A great deal Of adver
Using was done. The school and
health authorities co-operated in the
campaign by advocating more milk
for school children. They were among
the first in the country to get milk
distributed to children in school at
recess. which has spread generally
to other cities. This distribution OF
small bottles of milk in the school
led to supplying strawS through which
to suck it out of the bottle, because
the children were more interested In
drinking milk that way.
widened Market for Milk.
ing campaign in Boston, particular
ly in the newspapers. The Depart
ment of Agriculture had four or five
men there to measure the results.
They made studies of various groups
of people to see what form of adj
vertising influenced the people to
consume more milk, who was the
most effective form of selling talk.
whether the appeal Of health. cheap
ness, cleanliness. etc. Then these
agents of the federal department
made study as to whether the in
creased consumption continued after
the campaign was over-tn other
words, whether it was at all perma-
nent.
The results of that preliminary
survey have not yet been published,
because the department. officials have
been using ii to develop method
of checking up. But that survey did
discloae that the federal officials can
get very accurate scientific check
On tbs value of advertising. 1t also
perman SNtly increased without cut
ting down the consumption OF other
foods.
So. advertising has apparently in
creased the consumption OF milk very
materially and permanently and not
foodstuffs in consequence.
Inquiry to he Extended.
The advertising studies of the De-
partment of Agriculture this year are
to be spread out to cover the effect
on demand for a good many special
products, including raisins, citrus
fruits and cranberries, because these
have been advertised extensively and
there is q background of figures for
comparison. This advertising has
already been done for a number OF
years. This is not experimenting with
method of advertising. but to learn
the effects of advertising. Later the
department may turn its attention to
the methods of advertising, but is not
so concerning itself just yet awhile.
The government specialists are in
very close cooperation with the CO.
operative marketing associations. and
have access to their books, so that
there is very reliable basis of fact
from which to draw conclusions.
The department is trying to get a
line on the usefulness Of advertising
TO get people to consume foodstuns
that are plentiful in some particular
wear. az. for example. to use freely
NAL crop and they are cheap, thus
letting the producer get rid of them
at reasonable price instead of al
lowing them to rot in the fields or in
storage because there is not sufficient
demand. Then the next year to shift
again to something else that is more
plentiful.
To Change Eating Habits.
The Department of Agriculture is
also studying the effect Of advertis-
ing in another way-as a means OF
getting the people to eat the right
things at the right time. Take a
product like strawberries. which be-
gin to move from the south in. Janu-
airy. This year, about February 1, you
could buy good southern berries in
Washington for about As cents a box.
They were just about as good straw
berries as could be had for 45 cents in
May OF June, but the people were shy
of them because they thought them a
luxury. whereas. used for dessert,
they would have been just as cheap
as pudding, pie, cake, or most any
thing else.
Ali of this fits in with the general
problem to stabilize prices through
more orderly marketing; Of eQualiz-
n
ing for economy in marketing. This
is brought about by preventing losses
through gluts. at which time the pro-
Queer loses and the consumer gains
nothing. and in the long run having
the consumer cooperate with the pro-
Queer in meeting changes due to
providence.
The new idea is to use straight
away methods of paid advertising to
get the consumers attention. This
was started during the war, when
there were broad-gauged advertising
campaigns. with everybody helping
through patriotic motives to regulate
the food supply and consumption.
IT has been shown that advertising
is legitimate cost factor in market
mig cranberries and other perishable
food crops The Department of Agri-
culture is seeking to determine
whether 1t is a cost that is properly
safeguarded-then it will see about
better methods Of advertising to i'm
prove the situation.