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The purpose of this paper is to numerically determine the distribution of electric fields registered by a personal exposimeter (PEM) used for the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) around 900 MHz (GSM900) downlink (DL) band and compare these with calibration measurements of PEMs worn by real human subjects.

Numerical simulations using the Virtual Family Male (VFM) are carried out at 950 MHz in order to determine the electric fields surrounding the phantom in realistic, far-field environments. These electric fields can be used to determine the distribution of a PEM’s response when worn by the VFM. Simultaneously, calibration measurements in an anechoic chamber are carried out using a real PEM worn by two different subjects, in order to determine the PEM’s response experimentally.

Both the numerical simulations and the measurements show that a PEM will on average underestimate the incident electric fields in the GSM900 DL band and that the variation (expressed in terms of the 95 percent confidence interval and the interquartile distance) on its response is relatively large: a 95 percent confidence interval of 22 dB and an interquartile distance of 7.3 dB are found in a realistic environment using numerical simulations, while the calibration measurements show interquartile distances up to 12 dB. In terms of variation there is an excellent agreement between simulations and measurements.

This paper proves that numerical simulations may be used as a replacement for the more time- and work-consuming calibration measurements if the variation of a PEM’s response is studied.

In the annals of marketing history and the history of marketing thought, there is a key figure whose influence from the mid‐twentieth century through to the present day is worthy of note, Dr Ernest Dichter. The purpose of this paper is to place Dichter's writings in appropriate context and posit that arguably more insight into this charismatic figure can be discerned by taking greater account of the Cold War (1946‐1991) climate in which he was working and writing.

This paper is best thought of as an example of biographically inflected research. The paper focuses on the “socially progressive” aspect of his writings in order to display Dichter's support for the American economic system in the Cold War climate of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. The author highlights how Dichter came to the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the mid‐1950s. What this paper underscores above and beyond all those that have explored aspects of Dichter's life is that his character was interpreted by respondents to FBI questioning in ways that reflected geopolitical circumstance.

Some of those interviewed by the Bureau praised him highly, whilst others labelled him a Communist, and accused his organisation of employing people with similar leanings. While Dichter may have had some limited associations with socialist doctrines in his early youth, such accusations were misplaced. But, overall, what this paper highlights is a highly malleable practitioner whose practices and writings both contributed to the society in which they were disseminated, but also shifted with the circumstances in which they circulated.

This paper adds an important dimension to the biography of Ernest Dichter which has not previously been explored.