The Mind of the Buyer

(^190) T HE M IN D O F THE BUY E R
of th e new orde r c onsist i n th e p rac tic e of
sta mping t h e p ric e of sh oe s o n th e sol e ; t h e
p ublishing of st anda rd p ri c e s fo r h a t s, tire s,
a nd th e like ; th e a gi ta ti on fo r l egi slati on re
quiri ng th e ma nufac tu rer’s pric e to be
sta mp e d upon th e good s b efore th ey reach th e
re tail m a rket.
(^2). Anoth e r f orm of subj ec tivi sm i n th e Ol d
regime wa s th e amount o f en tertainin g an d
sub sidizing th a t th e sell e r c a rri ed on. H e
wa s exp ect e d to t rea t th e b uye r with ci ga rs,
wine s, dinne r a n d th ea te r. TO on e a c quainte d
with m ode rn selli ng p rac tic es no p ro of is
n ee de d o f th e ob sol e scenc e of thi s c ust om.
O n e ch ara c t eris tic fea ture of th e new era i s
th e ris e o f th e p rofe ssional p urch asing- a gen t
who owe s hi s j o b to th e skill with which h e
c a n ke ep himself cl ea r o f enta ngling allia nce s
a n d c an b uy i n th e ope n ma rke t wi th Oh
j ectively dem onst rabl e a dvan ta ge.
3. Oth e r evi denc e s o f th e growing te nd
en cy t owa rd Obj ectivi sm m ay b e disc ove re d
by c ompa ring th e t ac tic s o f salesman ship em
ploye d during th e two era s. Th e difference s
i n a dvertising are str ikingly brough t out in
thes e two a dve rtise me nt s. Th e fi rst app ea re d
( wi th nam e ch anged ) in Co l lier’s fo r^1900 :