Talk:Louis Cheskin

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[edit] Appears to undervalue the collaborative development of Market Research in the 1940s and 1950s.

Cheskin was no doubt a bright guy, but this Wiki overplays his influence - while underplaying the degree of collaboration (and the motivating power of rivalry!) in the world of marketing and motivaitonal research in the 1940s and 1950s. Cheskin was part of the Chicago school (the SRI unit) - at least indirectly - and he was surrounded by a vibrant team of academic who worked at the nexus of consumer research and social science. These people include Lloyd Warner (SRI's founder) Burleigh Gardner, William Henry, Harriet Moore, and later (1950+) Lee Rainwater, among others.

The birth of market research is a fascinating subject, and today's profession owes its shape and make-up to many champions including the charismatic leaders; Lazarsfeld, Dichter and Cheskin. But the vibrancy and development of market research in the Post-War years is bigger than the story of a few individuals. Marketing companies, the birth of new media, and the changing dynamics of the marketplace itself were all part of the rich chemistry.

My references to SRI come from: http://magazine.uchicago.edu/0108/features/

Duncan Stuart duncan@kudos-dynamics.com

[edit] Bias vs. Information

Biased? Obviously so. Nonetheless it gave me, a layman, valuable information on the development of market analysis. Needs more research. Shir-El too 23:21, 27 August 2007 (UTC) (edit)

[edit] Neutrality

This article clearly promotes Cheskin at the expense of Ernest Dichter and Edward Bernays, and does not provide any references for these judgments. For example:

The approach of Dichter and Bernays was based on untested dogma and ungrounded assessments.

Says who, actually? -- IslandGyrl 16:39, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

Though he was a psychoanalyst, Bernays applied Freudian theory directly to market research without actually testing it scientifically. I have not found evidence of a scientific method used by Bernays in his marketing and PR work.