Peddling the Bicycle in the 1890s: Mass Marketing Shifts into High Gear

Abstract

While the bicycle industry has been recognized for its contribution to mass production in the late 1800s, it has not been generally recognized for developing mass marketing techniques to sell its products. The bicycle advanced the practice of advertising by developing competitive content, using images in posters, developing research techniques to determine effectiveness, and supporting a new media, magazines. The industry also developed new promotional techniques, including sponsoring racing teams and obtaining celebrity endorsements. It perfected the trade show and annual model changes. Most significantly, the bicycle of the late 1800s was marketed using segmentation techniques that have been thought to be of more recent origin.