How did the Cold War and economic opportunities during it increase conformity and consensus in the 1950s?

The Cold War against the Soviet Union gave Americans in the 1950s a common cause around which to rally. It also contributed to the economic boom, as the U.S.entered what some have called a "permanent war economy" meant to ensure the U.S. was prepared to go to "hot" war at any moment—and prepared to step in to prevent the spread of communism into other regions.
The Cold War led to McCarthyism. Although McCarthy's hunt to weed out communists and communist sympathizers ended in 1954, the effects of this campaign lingered through the 1950s. Many leftwing intellectuals and artists had seen their careers destroyed and many were not able to bounce back. People who had been threatened with McCarthy's purges but escaped tended to take home the following lesson: conformity was a good way to survive.
The growing economic prosperity fostered conformity. Radicalism had been encouraged in the 1930s by the economic crisis of the Depression. Many people were desperate because of lack of work and felt a revolution was the only way to improve the country. In the 1940s, a war had captured people's attention. Now, with the economy working at full throttle, people had jobs and could purchase consumer goods again. Society seemed to be delivering on its promises. Life was good. Going to work was rewarded with raises and a rising standard of living. People had no reason not to conform and were more interested in success than challenging norms. 
Prosperity also meant more people could buy televisions. Television sitcoms and dramas of the 1950s fostered conformity. By watching this almost exclusively white, middle-class world, people across the country learned what was expected behavior. Social norms were taught by televisions show  such as Ozzie and Harriet, Leave it to Beaver, and Perry Mason. Television advertising also enforced conformity. People were exposed to continuing messages about what foods to eat, what cars to buy, and what standards of bodily and household cleanliness were acceptable.
Between fears of communism uniting people, suspected communists being silenced, a growing, prospering consumer society satisfying people's material desires after a long period of deprivation, and television enforcing norms, it is not surprising that the 1950s was characterized by a high degree of conformity.