IF it is true that we produce in order that our wants may be satisfied, then the future of our production will turn upon the trend of these wants. Some say that we are living in a period of overproduction. Others say that it is a time of under-consumption. In any event there is no doubt that the consumer is in the saddle and that he is having more to say about the nature and the quality of the articles that he accepts, than ever before. He is becoming much harder to please. For example, it was not so very long ago that the qualities of a could all be summed up in the virtue of wearing ability. Today, a shoe is not good unless it offers, in addition, comfort, flexibility, distinctiveness, style, and other advantages. Finally, the buyer is getting to be a change-loving individual. He wants this today and that tomorrow. IHe looks forward to the new and he expects improvement. There is the writing on the wall. If production is to satisfy, it must become increasingly sensitive to consumer desires, either present or potential, and increasingly flexible in adjusting itself to changes in consumer predilections.
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Erwin Haskell Schell (1930) studied this question.