Consumer Advertising in Soviet Newspapers in the Second Half of the 1940s

Abstract

Тhe research featured the advertising discourse of Soviet newspapers published in the second half of the 1940s. The analysis included central press and six local newspapers from various regions of the RSFSR. The research objective was to reconstruct the standards of consumer behavior and reveal the regional peculiarities of advertising discourse. The research owes its novelty to the fact that it took into account the territorial features of the newspaper advertising discourse: North-Western regions, the Urals, Siberia, and the Far East. The author also revealed the quantitative dynamics of advertising stories within the period in question. The newspaper advertising discourse proved to reflect the realities of the post-war socio-economic development of the country. In the first post-war years, the range of advertised goods and services was quite narrow, but it gradually expanded in 1948–1949. The Ural-Siberian region demonstrated a greater number of advertisements, as well as a wider range of products and services offered. In the Urals and Siberia, the level of infrastructure development was higher, including trade, catering, and services. In addition, the area was mostly urban, and city dwellers had greater purchasing opportunities.