Burleigh B. Gardner

Burleigh Bradford Gardner (December 4, 1902 Winnetka, Illinois January 12, 1985) was an early American anthropologist, and co-founding chairman of Social Research Inc.,[1] known for his pioneering work in the field of motivation research[2] and quantitative marketing research.[3]

Biography

Gardner, who considered himself "a country boy" from Texas,[4] had obtained his MA in Anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin.[5] On a scholarship he went to Harvard University, where he obtained his PhD in Social Anthropology [6] under supervision of W. Lloyd Warner.

In the late 1920s, Garner started his academic career as a field worker for Warner's Department of Industrial Research at the Harvard Graduate School of Business. In 1933 he started his study of the social organization of a rural Mississippi community, together with Allison Davis and Mary R. Gardner. This resulted in the 1941 book Deep South.[6]

In 1946, he founded the consulting firm Social Research Inc. where he worked with psychologist Carl Rogers, sociologist W. Lloyd Warner and psychometrician Benjamin Drake Wright among others. He chaired the Institute from 1972 to 1984.[1]

Furthermore, Gardner was Assistant Professor of Industrial Relations at the University of Chicago, board-member of the Duncan YMCA in Chicago and member of the American Marketing Association.[1]

Work

Social Research Inc.

In 1946, Social Research Inc. (SCI) was founded by the anthropologist W. Lloyd Warner, two of his former students Gardner and William Henry.[5] All three lectured at the University of Chicago. The institute was founded to apply social science techniques to create new solutions for business problems.

Selected publications

Books:

Articles, a selection:

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Burleigh B. Gardner" in: Chicago Tribune News, January 14, 1988
  2. Collins, Leslie, and Caroline Montgomery. "The origins of motivational research." European Journal of Marketing 3.2 (1969): 103-113.
  3. M. G. Parameswaran (2006) Building Brand Value: Five Steps to Building Powerful Brands. p. 5
  4. John Easton. Consuming Interests in University of Chicago Magazine, October 2001.
  5. 1 2 Karesh, Michael A. "The social scientific origins of symbolic consumer research: Social Research, Inc." Proceedings of the 7th Conference on Historical Research in Marketing and Management Thought. 1995.
  6. 1 2 Personnel Series. nr 71-90 (1943). p.33

External links

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