64 T HE M I N D O F THE BUY E R
cl uding advertisem ents ). Classify th e c onten t s
u nde r such h eadings a s P oli tics, Financ e, R e
l igio n, Lit e ra ry C ri ticism, S cienc e, S ports,
et c. Th en ch art th e re sul ts so a s to sh ow th e
p ropo rti ona t e am ounts of spac e devote d to
m at eri al o f ea ch cl a ss.
S uch a st udy o f two magazines ( poole d
m ea sure s of four issue s each , sa m e month s )
gave resul ts as sh own i n Tabl e I I I. By th us
st a tistically studyi ng vari ous p e riod ical s th e
selle r m ay p repa re a tabl e ( se e Tabl e IV )
sh owing th e am oun t o f spac e in ea ch p e rio dical
devot ed to th e subj ec t n ea re s t to hi s pa rtien
la r c omm odity ; a nd from i t may infer th e
degre e of i n te res t h el d by a p ublic towa rd ea ch
fiel d. F or su rely, in the l ong r un, th ere i s a
cl o se relatio n be tween th e ta stes of th e rea ders
of a pe ri odical an d th e am oun t o f sp ac e de
vote d to va rious t opic s.
Th e amoun t of spac e devote d to a dverti se
ment s of vari ous kinds of comm odi ty migh t
n ex t b e sta tistic ally examined. An d th e sell e r,
u sing our histo rical c ri te ri on se t fo rth o np age^21 , migh t se t tl e on th o se m ediums th a t
devot e a certain pe r cen t of sp ac e to ma te
ri al s rel a ting direc tly to hi s c omm o di ty. F o r
example, a markete r of tenni s p araphe rnalia