Editing Telemarketing (section)

== History ==
The term ''telemarketing'' was first used extensively in the late 1970s to describe [[Bell System]] communications which related to new uses for the outbound [[Wide Area Telephone Service|WATS]] and inbound [[Toll-free telephone number|Toll-free]] services.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://adage.com/article/adage-encyclopedia/telemarketing-overview/98900|title=Telemarketing: Overview|date=September 15, 2003|access-date=2018-03-21|language=en}}</ref> However, the practice of contacting potential customers by telephone originated in the late 19th century.

A 1903 report documented using the telephone for local marketing by a dry goods store, which reported that it was more effective than "sending clerks or errand boys" to inform potential clients about buying opportunities.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433018878268&seq=1015 "Advertising by Telephone"], ''Dry Goods Reporter'', March 14, 1903, page 77.</ref> In 1909, a department store's "general solicitation", made by telephone to over 1,000 prospective customers, promoted "a carnival of values... an offering of exceptional qualities at prices we have never before been able to make".<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hnt57p&seq=295 "Retailing by Wire"] by Lynn Sumner, ''System'', March 1909, pages 279-280.</ref> A year later, an electric power company's practice of calling potential customers at home, noted that "Regarding time of calling it is suggested that between 8 and 9 is preferable, owing to the fact that the head of the house is generally in at that time and a sufficient length of time has elapsed after the evening meal".<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015023540944&seq=1214 "Canvassing by Telephone"], ''Electrical Review and Western Electrician'', December 10, 1910, page 1192.</ref> By 1912, the practice was  established to the degree that a reviewer outlined fourteen specific ideas for soliciting and securing orders by telephone.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=iau.31858034273296&seq=404 "Selling by Telephone"] by Marshall Jewell Bailey, ''System'', April 1912, pages 396-402.</ref> Telephone solicitation also developed political uses, including in 1908 "get out the vote" calls,<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435063043483&seq=383 "Telephone Help Election Day"], ''Telephony'', June 1908, pages 373-374.</ref> and recorded political speeches played for prospective voters.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435063043434&seq=358 "Campaign Speeches by Telephone"], ''Telephony'', October 3, 1908, pages 338-339.</ref> 

=== Telephonists ===
Telephonists, or [[switchboard operator]]s, were a trans-cultural hiring of switchboard operators (mostly women) which became especially popular in North America throughout the 20th century, partially due to popularity gained through advertising.{{r|rakow|p=183–184}} After the shift from [[public switched telephone network]] to computer-based [[electronic switching system]], the job of switchboard operators gradually diminished. However, with the rise of advertising and with the popularity of the telephone use, new jobs, including telemarketing jobs, were created.

=== Women in telemarketing ===
Telemarketing, as was the case with telephone operators, is one of the fields known to be occupied mostly by women.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1080/13691180051033315 |title=Women's Work in the Information Economy | volume=3 |issue=3 | journal=Information, Communication |pages=366–385|year=2000 |last1=Belt |first1=Vicki |last2=Richardson |first2=Ranald |last3=Webster |first3=Juliet |s2cid=144267029 }}</ref> The central reason for hiring women operators lay in the fact that women's work was considered a form of cheap labor: female telemarketers earned about one-half to one-quarter of men's wages.{{r|rakow|p=183}} Women were also considered as more polite and well mannered than male operators.{{r|rakow|p=183}} Moreover, the calming, more delicate nature of a woman's voice was considered to be women's natural quality, although no scientific evidence supports this statement.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dykema, Diloreto, Price, White, Cate Schaeffer|first=Jennifer, Kerryann, Jessica L., Eric, Nora|date=Jul 2012|title=ACASI Gender-of-Interviewer Voice Effects on Reports to Questions about Sensitive Behaviors Among Young Adults|journal=Public Opin Q|volume=76|issue=2|pages=311–325|pmc=4079084|pmid=24991062|doi=10.1093/poq/nfs021}}</ref> This naturalization led to normalizing the perception of women as telephone operators and consultants, which is currently reflected in the telemarketing industry.