Social Class

BY: ANSHUL GUPTA KANWAR SINGH MANSI GUPTA PRERIT PRERI TA SHARMA ROHIT JAITLY SACHIN GOYAL

The division of members of a society into a hierarchy of distinct status classes, so that members of each class have either higher or lower status than members of other classes.

Is hierarchical  Is a natural form of segmentation  Provides a frame of reference for consumer behaviour 

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Reflects a person’s relative social status

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Status is frequently thought of as the relative rankings of members of each social class  wealth  power  prestige

Subjective Measures: individuals are asked to estimate their own social-class positions  Reputational Measures: informants make judgments concerning the socialclass membership of others within the community  Objective Measures: individuals answer specific socioeconomic questions and then are categorized according to answers 

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Single-variable indexes    

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Occupation Education Income Other Variables

Composite-variable indexes  

Index of Status Characteristics Socioeconomic Status Score

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UPPER-UPPER CLASS

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LOWER-UPPER CLASS

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UPPER-MIDDLE CLASS

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LOWER-MIDDLE CLASS

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UPPER-LOWER CLASS

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LOWER-LOWER CLASS

THE UPPER-UPPER CLASS—COUNTRY CLUB  Small number of well-established families  Belong to best country clubs and sponsor major charity events.  Serve as trustees for local colleges and hospitals  Prominent physicians and lawyers  May be heads of major financial institutions, owners of major long-established firms  Accustomed to wealth, so do not spend money conspicuosuly

THE LOWER-UPPER CLASS—NEW WEALTH 

Not quite acceptable by the upper crust of society

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Represent “new money”

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Successful business executive

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Conspicuous users of their new wealth

THE UPPER-MIDDLE CLASS—ACHIEVING PROFESSIONALS Have neither family status nor unusual wealth  Career oriented  Young, successful professionals, corporate managers, and business owners  Most are college graduates, many with advanced degrees.  Active in professional, community , and social activities  Consumption is often conspicuous  Very child oriented 

THE LOWER-MIDDLE CLASS FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS  Primary non-managerial white-collar workers and highly paid blue-collar workers  Want to achieve “respectability” and be accepted as good citizens  Want their children to be well behaved  Prefer neat and clean appearance  Constitute a major market do-it yourself products

THE LOWER-LOWER CLASS—ROCK BOTTOM  Poorly educated, unskilled laborers  Often out of work  Children are often poorly treated  Tend to live a day-to-day existence

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Social class can have a profound effect on consumer spending habits.

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Perhaps the most obvious effect is the level of disposable income of each social class. Generally, the rich have the ability to purchase more consumer goods than those with less income, and those goods are of higher quality.

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There is also a distinction in the type of goods purchased. For example, the upper class tend to be the primary buyers of fine jewelry and often shop at exclusive retailers. The lower class, in contrast, are much more concerned with simply getting by; they focus more on necessities.

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Conspicuous Consumption -acquisition and display of goods to show off one’s status

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Conspicuous Waste-Visibly buying products that one never uses

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Compensatory Consumption-Buying products to offset frustrations or difficulties in life

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Clothing, Fashion, and Shopping  

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The Pursuit of Leisure 

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Where one shops External point of identification Type of leisure activities differ

Saving, Spending, and Credit 

Level of immediate gratification sought varies

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Responses to marketing communication 

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Upper classes have a broader and more general view of the world Regional variations in language rise as we move down the social ladder Exposure to media varies by social class

Social class is more difficult to measure than income  Many purchase behaviours are related more to income than social class  Consumers often use expected social class for their consumption patterns  Dual incomes have changed consumption patterns  Individual dimensions of social class are sometimes better predictors of consumer behaviour 