Major Articles
An analysis of 6 decades of hygiene-related advertising: 1940-2000*

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Abstract

Objectives: To describe and analyze trends in hygiene-related advertisements and examine potential social and regulatory changes that might be associated with these trends. Methods: From 1940 to 2000, advertisements in January issues of 2 widely read magazines were analyzed every fifth year, and 2 additional magazines only available from 1960 to 2000 were also analyzed every fifth year. In a content analysis, the total number of advertisements were determined and specific advertisements were grouped into categories (personal hygiene, dishwashing, laundry, and house cleaning) and further examined for the presence of 4 key claims (aesthetics, health effects, time-saving, and microbial effects). Results: From 1940 to 2000 for all magazines combined, 10.4% of the advertisements were devoted to hygiene products. After 1960 there were significantly fewer hygiene advertisements as compared with 1940 to 1955, and there was a significant increase after 1980 (P < .00001). Throughout all 6 decades, most advertisements related to personal hygiene. There were no significant differences over time in the proportion of advertisements that made claims related to health, microbial effects, or aesthetics, but significantly more advertisements before 1960 made time-savings claims (P = .009). Conclusions: This content analysis reflects a cyclical attention in consumer advertising to personal and home hygiene products during the past 6 decades, with a waning of interest in the decades from 1960 to 1980 and an apparent resurgence of advertisements from 1985 to 2000. The potential contributions of federal regulatory bodies and societal changes (eg, new marketing strategies and options, product development, new and re-emerging infectious diseases, increasing concern about antimicrobial resistance, and increasing recognition that infectious diseases are unlikely to be eradicated) to these marketing trends are discussed. (Am J Infect Control 2001;29:383-8.)

Section snippets

Sample

Four magazines (Ladies' Home Journal , Good Housekeeping , Family Circle , and Reader's Digest ) were selected for analysis because they have been published for several decades and are widely read by individuals likely to be involved in home hygiene practices, such as homemakers. For convenience, data were collected from the January issues every fifth year (eg, 1940, 1945, 1950) based on the availability of the magazine. Advertisements in Good Housekeeping and Ladies' Home Journal were analyzed

Results

Numbers of advertisements by journal are summarized in Table 1.

. Hygiene-related advertisements by journal

PeriodPercentage (No. hygiene ads/total ads)
LHJGHFCRDTotal
1940-195513.9 (56/402)21.5 (61/284)9.3 (17/182)Not available15.5 (134/868)
1960-19756.6 (19/290)13.6 (38/279)3.4 (10/295)6.5 (14/215)7.5 (81/1079)
1980-20009.1 (31/341)11.1 (58/524)8.9 (25/281)6.4 (13/204)9.4 (127/1350)
Totals10.3 (106/1033)14.4 (157/1087)6.9 (52/758)6.4 (27/419)10.4 (342/3297)

LHJ , Ladies' Home Journal; GH, Good

Social changes and hygiene marketing

The marketing of sanitary goods began in the late 1800s before wide acceptance of the germ theory of disease. As the germ theory attained greater acceptance, methods to identify microorganisms were developed, and aggressive public health campaigns to reduce infectious diseases such as tuberculosis fueled advertising campaigns for new and improved hygiene-related products during 1885 to 1915.10 By the early 1900s products such as ammonia, borax, and laundry and toilet soap were being heavily

Summary

Many have called for more scholarly attention to the role of advertising in transmitting public health messages.2, 5, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 Marketing campaigns, for example, have successfully contributed to combating tobacco consumption.27, 28, 29 It has been suggested that communication and collaboration between manufacturers and media are needed to inform consumers adequately about the benefits and risks of home hygiene products and for developing regulations concerning the definition of

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    Reprint requests: Elaine L. Larson, RN, PhD, FAAN, CIC, Columbia University, School of Nursing, 630 W 168 St, Mailbox 6, New York, NY 10032.

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