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Selling empire: a historical perspective on selling foreign products in domestic markets

Selling empire: a historical perspective on selling foreign products in domestic markets PurposeThe purpose of this article is to explore how the Empire Marketing Board utilized enhanced marketing tools and approaches to reduce British consumer bias against foreign products. The article asks: "How have marketers historically increased foreign exports to domestic markets?"Design/methodology/approachThe article comprises an historical account of the Empire Marketing Board during the 1920s and 1930s. Applying a qualitative approach, it relies on: archival materials gathered by the author in the United Kingdom – including official and personal papers; newspaper and poster advertisements of the Board; and existing scholarship for its information. FindingsThe Board Employed three strategies in its advertisements: collaboration, showing how domestic and overseas markets were linked in mutually beneficial ways; globalization, emphasizing the expansive “home” market and the benefits of removing borders; and producer profiles, narrating the producers of imperial products in order to create the desire to benefit producers. Practical implicationsThe strategies of the Board are not dissimilar to fair trade campaigns utilized by the private sector today, notably in coffee. Looking forward, these approaches could be valid ways for companies today to reduce consumer bias against foreign goods, and this article hopes to be a stepping-stone for future research.Originality/valueAnalyzing underutilized archival sources, the article illuminates the complex processes and ideologies embedded within the Board’s campaigns. The Empire Marketing Board played an important role in the interwar British consumer conceptualization of the relationship between Britain and her Empire, construction of a global British “home” market, and the familiarization of imperial producers. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Historical Research in Marketing Emerald Publishing

Selling empire: a historical perspective on selling foreign products in domestic markets

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Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © Emerald Group Publishing Limited
ISSN
1755-750X
DOI
10.1108/JHRM-07-2015-0023
Publisher site
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Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to explore how the Empire Marketing Board utilized enhanced marketing tools and approaches to reduce British consumer bias against foreign products. The article asks: "How have marketers historically increased foreign exports to domestic markets?"Design/methodology/approachThe article comprises an historical account of the Empire Marketing Board during the 1920s and 1930s. Applying a qualitative approach, it relies on: archival materials gathered by the author in the United Kingdom – including official and personal papers; newspaper and poster advertisements of the Board; and existing scholarship for its information. FindingsThe Board Employed three strategies in its advertisements: collaboration, showing how domestic and overseas markets were linked in mutually beneficial ways; globalization, emphasizing the expansive “home” market and the benefits of removing borders; and producer profiles, narrating the producers of imperial products in order to create the desire to benefit producers. Practical implicationsThe strategies of the Board are not dissimilar to fair trade campaigns utilized by the private sector today, notably in coffee. Looking forward, these approaches could be valid ways for companies today to reduce consumer bias against foreign goods, and this article hopes to be a stepping-stone for future research.Originality/valueAnalyzing underutilized archival sources, the article illuminates the complex processes and ideologies embedded within the Board’s campaigns. The Empire Marketing Board played an important role in the interwar British consumer conceptualization of the relationship between Britain and her Empire, construction of a global British “home” market, and the familiarization of imperial producers.

Journal

Journal of Historical Research in Marketing – Emerald Publishing

Published: May 16, 2016

References

  • A re-examination of the 1929 colonial development act