The Changing Language of a Consumer Society: Brand Name Usage in Popular American Novels in the Postwar Era

Abstract

This study seeks to understand the impact of commercial practices on American popular language by examining the usage made since World War II of brand names and generic names in the texts of a selected set of bestselling American novels. The various study findings lend support to the charges made by critics of increasing commercial influence in the American popular language of the postwar era. The findings also point to the emergence of a promotional practice, called “word-of-author advertising,” with important implications for marketers, consumers, and consumer researchers.