Vance Packard

After its closing by the end of the year, he devoted his full attention to developing book-length projects of his own.

[1] Halfway into the next year,[3] his The Hidden Persuaders was published to national attention, launching him into a career as a full-time social critic, lecturing and developing further books.

[5] In July 2020, an academic description reported on the nature and rise of the "robot prosumer", derived from modern-day technology and related participatory culture, that, in turn, had been predicted substantially by science fiction writers, as well as Packard.

He identified eight "compelling needs" that advertisers promise products will fulfill (Emotional Security, Reassurance of worth, Ego gratification, Creative outlets, Love objects, Sense of power, Roots, Immortality).

[9] While the book was a top-seller among middle-class audiences, it was widely criticised by marketing researchers and advertising executives as carrying a sensationalist tone and containing unsubstantiated assertions[which?].

[10] In his 1964 book called The Naked Society, Packard criticized advertisers' unfettered use of private information to create marketing schemes.