Radio Broadcast (May 1929-Apr 1930)

Can Radio Become a Style Product? Hadio receivers are sold to two classes of purchasers: first, new prospects who have not previously possessed radio receivers, comprising new families, older families that have reached an unproved economic status or become approachable through lowered prices, and those converted to radio because of improved performance, better available broadcasting programs, and simplified operation and maintenance; second, the replacement market, consisting of enthusiastic radio followers who appreciate the improvement in modern radio receivers as to performance, appearance, and ease of maintenance, effected since their own was purchased. Both of these markets are now at a peak and sales resist Eq3 w ance in them is at a minimum. Ten million out of our twentyfour million families have been sold radio and we are doubtless at the steepest part of the increase-of-listeners' curve. The group which are out of reach of the radio market for economic reasons, those not reached by good broadcasting, and those who object inherently to the artificial character of radio entertainment, are becoming a larger and larger percentage of the unsold market, so that, as in the automobile field, the new prospect market is becoming a smaller factor and sales resistance is increasing. Investigation in major cities, where good broadcasting has been available for a period of years, reveals the astounding fact that over 80 per cent, of the sales made by certain highclass stores, concentrating on the more expensive market, are replacement sales, and the average in such centers is well above 60 per cent, for all classes of stores. Unquestionably, the replacement market is becoming the mainstay of the industry, although there will always be new prospects by reason of the formation of new families or improved economic position of older ones. The factor which determines the turnover of the replacement market is the percentage of existing owners who renew their radio investment each year. The replacement market, like the new sale market, is also at its major rate of increase. We cannot continue to expect as radical improvements so definitely obsolescing existing radio receiving sets in future years as the parade of fundamental improvements which we have had for successive years in the past. It is obvious that the improvements of the more recent seasons, such as push-pull amplification and electrodynamic reproducers, already represent a marked diminution in sales power over those of the earlier years. They are, in fact, engineering styles rather than fundamental improvements because their performance could probably now be equalled by the devices which they displace. They are not new or recently invented; they have simply been well exploited as radical improvements and have been adopted as essential to good performance. From an engineering standpoint, the expectancy of replacement due to engineering improvement alone may soon fall from two years to five years within a relatively short time, unless visual reception becomes an influence tending to replace broadcast receivers, and that represents a sixty per cent, reduction in the replacement market! Unless radio becomes a style product, therefore, we will soon face increased sales resistance in the new purchaser market and a diminishing rate of replacement. Style in outward appearance must fortify the advantages of each new season's products so that owners of serviceable but oldstyle receivers will be tempted to turn in their equipment long before it is rendered hopelessly obsolete by engineering improvements. The style factor has become the main reliance for maintained turnover in the automobile market. Substantial price reductions ha,ve tapped new economic strata and broadened the field of prospects, but these reductions have required huge increases in production to maintain substantial profits. It is the pride appeal of modernity rather than real improvement in performance which stimulates the replacement trade of the automotive market; the effect of wear on performance provides the excuse for discarding a car before its service life is exhausted. Thus, the style appeal is supported and encouraged to the point that saturation is no threat to continued sales. The motor car is the symbol of the owner's economic and social status. It stands as a living advertisement in front of his door. is. Can radio adopt the pride appeal and make the owners of old receivers replace them, even though the performance of the sets they purchase is only superficially superior to that of the sets they discard? Perhaps engineering improvement cannot continue to be sufficiently radical to force resale turnover at the present rate. Style, therefore, must be definitely introduced to lend support to engineering improvement. To build up the pride appeal is much more difficult for the radio industry than for the automobile trade, because wear is not an aiding factor and the radio receiver doesnot advertise its owner's financial status as effectively as does the automobile. Instead, the receiver has a modest place in the living room and is subject to about the same style influence as is the living room furniture. We have had but one non-engineering style change since radio began; the substitution of the unit console for the table-type receiver. While the radio industry grows at its present rate, with both new customer and replacement markets at their peak, it may advantageously lay the foundation for maintained rate of replacement sales. The radio receiver is only moderately well adapted to becoming a style product but unless 72 • • JUNK 192 9 •