Consumer research began in 1926 with F.J. Schlink after a series of articles in the New Republic underscored concerns with reliability and value. Schlink promoted scientific testing and published rankings for a wide range of products; his employees left after labor disputes in 1936 to found the Consumer’s Union and the magazine Consumer Reports, published monthly for 4.5 million subscribers. Consumer Reports accepts no advertising and promises rigorous objective testing of automobiles, appliances and other products.

Their dominance has been challenged since 1971 by J.D. Powers and Associates, a private firm that bases ranking on user surveys and also has closer ties with corporations who may buy their data for advertising. Issues of consumer safety as well as perceptions of unreliable manufacturing have made both sources important to educated consumers beyond everyday evaluations based on personal knowledge or brand name loyalty. This competition also suggests American cultural divisions between elite scientific observation and popular choice, as well as the complexities of a consumerism that promotes its own commercial self-evaluation.