Republic of the Philippines

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY– LIPA

Marawoy, Lipa City

College of Accountancy, Business and Economics

MKT. 102- Consumer Behavior

Chapter 4. Demographics and Social Stratification

Lesson No. 1. Demographics Segmentation

Demographics describe a population in terms of its size, distribution, and structure. Size:
Distribution: Structure:
What Is Demographics in Marketing?
Demographics are statistics that companies keep on business clients and consumers. These
marketing statistics may include the sizes of businesses so companies can better differentiate
between small, mid-sized or large companies. But they are more commonly used to identify
differences in personal attributes among consumers. There are many different types of
demographics companies use for various purposes.

Identification
Common demographics include age, gender, race and ethnic origin. Companies also track
demographics like education, household size and occupation. Most demographics are defined
or delineated by specific ranges. For example, the age demographic may divided into ranges
such as 18 to 24; 25 to 34; 35 to 54; and 55 years and over. People within these age groups
have different values. Their preferences for certain products or services may vary as well.
Similarly, statisticians may divide income statistics into groups to differentiate those in the
lower middle, middle and upper class.

Obtaining the Data

Companies can obtain demographic information from the U.S. Census Bureau. They usually
list various demographics by state and city. Marketers can also obtain more localized
demographic information from area or county Chambers of Commerce. These entities typically
break data down by various census tracts or smaller regions in metropolitan areas. Companies
that want demographic data related to their industry often purchase reports from marketing
research companies like Nielsen, Forrester Research or The NPD Group. These companies
usually conduct regular surveys to garner this information. For example, a consumer products
company may want age breakdowns on the heaviest buyers or users of laundry detergents.
Businesses can obtain more company-specific data by conducting their own phone or Internet
surveys. Warranty cards are another tool that can be used for collecting demographic data.
Local Uses of Data
Companies use local demographic data to better define their key customers. Certain data are
more relevant to various businesses. For example, a high-end woman's specialty retailer, which
offers premium or higher-priced clothing, may focus on women over 35 with incomes above
$75,000 per year. A fast food restaurant offering children's meals may be interested in learning
the percentage of families in their area who have kids. Hence, it may start by studying
household size data along with age breakouts of kids 12 and under.

Market Segmentation
Companies also use demographic data to identify key buying groups on a regional or national
basis. For example, a small financial management firm may be interested in expanding to
markets with large populations of people over 55. Hence, top management may study available
data in contiguous markets first to determine where to locate the new offices.

What is demographic segmentation?

Demographic segmentation divides the market into smaller categories based on
demographic factors, such as age, gender, and income. Instead of reaching an entire market,
a brand uses this method to focus resources into a defined group within that market.
Dividing the market into smaller segments, each with a common variable, allows companies
to use their time and resources more efficiently. They can better understand the prospective
market, and use advertising personalization to ensure the needs of the targeted group are
fulfilled:

This customer segmentation method is one of the most commonly used because it’s  easy to
acquire through census data, analytics software, consumer insights, and more. It’s also
considered by many businesses to be the cheapest way to divide a target market.

Why is demographic segmentation in marketing so important?

Companies reduce the risk of running campaigns to uninterested consumers, which quickly
increases ROI. In fact, email marketers have witnessed a 760% increase in revenue by
segmenting their email campaigns. Conversely, 85% of new product launches in the US fail
to generate desired revenue due to poor segmentation.
In addition to better ROI, demographic segmentation allows you to:
Build long-lasting customer relationships
Reaching your customers on a more human level with demographic-based  personalized
marketing creates deeper customer loyalty. It allows them to identify with your brand and
feel like you are an advocate for their needs, which makes them more likely to do business
with you over longer periods.

Improve your products and services

Having loyal customer relationships encourages you to look at your products and services in
a new way. When you have a deeper understanding of your target audience, you can put
yourself in their shoes to better serve them. If you develop fitness programs and know that a
majority of your clients prefer the same type of program to be released, you’re more likely
to make that happen.

Optimize your marketing strategies

Demographic segmentation allows you to get more specific with your marketing strategies.
It helps clarify your vision, have more direction with future advertising plans, and optimize
your resources, time, and budget. If 85% of your clients range from 20-35 years old, this is
the segment you’re going to target. Spending your time and money on seniors would be a
waste.

Demographic segmentation variables

1. Age
Age is the most basic variable of them all, albeit the most important because consumer
preferences continually change with age. Almost all marketing campaigns target age-
specific audiences.
This variable can be viewed regarding specific age ranges or life cycle stages: babies,
children, adolescents, adults, middle-age, and seniors. For example, many famous fashion
designers have different collections to target other age groups. They aim certain clothing
lines at specific age ranges, such as a chic fashion line at younger prospects and a more
formal and elegant line at older individuals.
Age segmentation is also generation-based: baby boomers, gen X, millennials, etc. Since
members within each of these individual groups were born around the same time and grew
up with similar experiences, they often share similar characteristics and thought processes.
Targeting baby boomers and gen X with the same offer and marketing strategy is likely to
produce undesirable results because they think and act differently.
Not only do age groups and generations differ in their buying habits, but also in  how they
respond to advertising. They tend to have distinct ways of speaking and often spend their
time on separate platforms. For example, millennials may spend most of their time on
Instagram and Facebook, while seniors prefer their email inboxes.
2. Gender
Men and women generally have different likes, dislikes, needs, and thought processes. For
instance, few men apply makeup, and most women don’t wear boxers. Also, women
typically do most of the household grocery shopping and are  more likely than men to
donate to charitable causes. These are all key factors to consider when creating a campaign.

They created this ad specifically for women (hence the women’s swimsuits and the “for
women” in the description). They purposely targeted them on Facebook for the most
engagement and click-throughs.
Be careful not to assume gender stereotypes, such as considering pink a feminine color and
blue a masculine color. Advertising with gender stereotypes like this could easily make your
brand look sexist and cause you to miss out on or anger your target audience.

3. Income and occupation

If people can’t afford your product or service, there is no point in targeting them. After all,
you wouldn’t promote a Mercedes or Ferrari to someone who can’t afford a used vehicle
with more than 100,000 miles.

Income targeting lets you measure the buying power of your audience. When you know the
income range of consumers, you can usually find data to support how people spend money
on both the higher and lower end of the spectrum. Many companies use this data to sell
different tiers of the same product, based on income level. For instance, airlines have three
classes: economy, business class, and first-class.

Job titles are especially necessary with an account-based advertising campaign . In

comparison to traditional demand gen, account-based marketing  is often described as a
flipped funnel approach because it inverts the process. Rather than targeting individual
leads, it targets the account level. The intent is to reach highly-relevant accounts with the
most revenue potential, so knowing occupation is integral.

4. Ethnicity and religion

With the tremendous increase in international business and global advertising brings an increase
in segmentation based on ethnicity, race, nationality, and religion. These groups have many
individual cultures that come with conflicting interests, preferences, attitudes, and beliefs. This
could impact both their response to marketing and their buying habits.
Consider Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Both companies advertise globally, but localize their campaigns
for each country, too. The messages are entirely different, based on local customs, religions,
nationality, etc.
5. Family structure
Family makeup can be instrumental in segmentation because when a family’s dynamic changes,
its needs and desires often do too. This strongly affects their buying habits and your sales
process.
Single individuals tend to prioritize themselves, while newly married couples are likely
prioritizing each other and their homes. Couples with several children have different needs than
those who just had their first child. Large families might be more interested in low-cost
household products, as compared to a couple with the same income, but without any children.
Basic Examples of Demographic Factors
Breaking information up into measurable characteristics can make it easier to understand. This is
especially true of demographics. Find out what demographics are using simple terms and explore
some examples of common demographics you might encounter in your community or the world
at large.

Demographics: Breaking Down a Population

When you look at demographics of a population, you’re looking at statistics. These statistics can
help you to break down the common characteristics of the population into digestible segments.
This can include age, race, family size and much more. You might look at demographics for your
area, the world as a whole, or even just a random sampling.
For example, demographics can give you specifics like how many 20-year-olds live in Chicago
or the number of married couples in Manhattan. You might be able to find out the racial diversity
of Louisiana by exploring racial demographics or learn how many children are in your area
through family size demographics.
What Are Demographics Used For?
Demographics have vast uses in society.

Politics and Government

Demographic factors and data are oftentimes used in the context of politics and government. For
example, a Democratic politician might look at the political affiliation of an area to assess if their
campaign will be successful. Similarly, a local government might use the income level of an area
to justify building more low income housing.

Customer Segmentation
One of the largest uses of demographics is for customer segmentation in business. Understanding
demographic data can make or break a business. This is because businesses need to understand
their customer base when creating new products or marketing, expanding their stores, and even
when starting a new business in the first place.
If a business fails to understand their customer base, this is a surefire recipe for disaster.
For example, an online education company might use sitedemographics and traffic of a famous
blogger with a reader demographic of 80% women to justify paying her to promote an online
campaign. A hot arcade might look at the student demographics of a particular area when
deciding to open a new store in an area or where to market their hottest game.

Common Demographic Examples

Just like people, demographics come in all shapes and sizes. Some corporations, governments or
nonprofits might look for unique or specific demographic data like income level, while others
might explore several demographics at once.
Common demographics that you might encounter, including examples of each, include:
 Age: Under 12, 12 to 17, 18 to 24, 25 to 34... (these typically go on at 10-year
increments)
 Sex (gender): Male, female, other nonbinary identities
 Income level: Under $15,000, $15,000 to $24,999, $25,000 to $34,999... (distribution
brackets will vary based on who is being sampled)
 Race: Caucasian, African American, American Indian, Latino, Asian, Pacific islander
 Ethnicity: Jewish, Arab, Irish, Dutch, Russian, Swedish
 Employment status: Employed, unemployed, self-employed, retired, disabled
 Education level: High school, some college, undergraduate degree, graduate degree
 Number of children: None, 1 to 2, 3 to 5, 5 or more...
 Living status: Own, rent, lease, other
 Location (geographical data): Zip code, city, county, state, country
 Political affiliation: Republican, Democrat, independent
 Marital status: Single, married, separated, widowed
 Religious affiliation: Muslim, Buddhist, Hindi, Catholic, Jewish
 Social class: Lower class, middle class, upper class
 Nationality: American, Mexican, German, Swiss, Finnish, French

While these are some of the most common, you will find other demographics that might cover
birth and death rates, marriage rates and more. If a population can be grouped, it likely will be.
Why Are Demographics Important?
The importance of demographics lies in the fact that these factors can turn a population into
something that you can measure. You can measure and compare the age of your customers. You
can measure the proportion of families in need in your neighborhood. When a population
becomes measurable, you can make changes to improve your company, government or
community.
 For a business, this means you know who your customers are. Therefore, you can better
meet their needs. This will allow you to spend your marketing budget more effectively or
discover new markets.
 For a government, you know how to tailor your programs, budgets, and resources to best
meet the needs of your town, city or state. Demographics can help a government
understand the need for a community center or to get a grant for a new park.
 Educational professionals can use demographics to better meet the needs of students in
school.
  Scientists can look to demographic factors as a meaningful way to organize data and to
better understand the dynamics of a given population.
Measuring a Population
Demographics allow a company, government and even scientific institute to group people based
on specific characteristics like race, gender and location. Since you’ve got demographics down
to a science, give a look into stereotypes and the impact they have.

Lesson No. 2. Social stratification in consumer Behaviour

Broadly defined, social stratification is an important part of many areas of study in sociology, but
it also constitutes a distinct field on its own. Simply put, social stratification is the allocation of
individuals and groups according to various social hierarchies of differing power, status, or
prestige. Although divisions are often based on gender, religion, or race and ethnicity, the present
entry focuses largely on socioeconomic inequalities, for the most part leaving other forms of
social inequality to other entries. In this regard, social stratification is found in every society,
even if it takes on slightly different forms. Uncovering what accounts for differences in social
stratification—among societies and within particular societies over time—is a long-standing goal
of the field. The classic works of early stratification sociologists—spurred by the work of Marx,
Weber, and Durkheim—tended to be concerned with the question of “why” and “how”
stratification arose in the first place. Although this debate continues to be an underlying
motivation for much research on stratification, empirical research typically tackles questions for
which evidence is more tangible. By the 1950s, stratification research was increasingly
concerned with social mobility, though mostly within individual countries. By the 1980s,
explaining cross-national differences in stratification became an important goal of the field. By
now, stratification research is characterized by several debates. Although it has received
somewhat less attention in the past decade or so, a classic debate centers on how socioeconomic
position should be measured. Emphasis here has been on the applicability of measures of social
class, status, and prestige. Although there are certainly important exceptions, differences in
approach generally fall along territorial lines. European sociologists have tended to focus on
relevance of occupation-based measures of social class, while North American sociologists have
tended to rely on measures of socioeconomic status, which incorporate education as well as
occupation. There have also been debates regarding the most effective ways to measure class and
socioeconomic status. Yet other debates center on the importance of incorporating race and
gender in studies of stratification. Finally, in recent decades emphasis has moved to the
importance of education, both as a source of stratification on its own, and how it affects
economic inequalities.
 What Is A Social Class - Consumer Behaviour

 The relative standing of members of a society.

This means:

 Higher positions imply higher status We can say that Social class is more of a continuum, i.e.,
a rangeof social positions, on which each member of society can beplace. But, social
researchers have divided this continuum into asmall number of specific classes. Thus, we go
by this frame-work, social class is used to assign individuals or families to asocial-class
category.We can now define social class as The division of members of a society into a
hierarchy of distinct status classes, so that members of each class haverelatively the same
status and the members of all other classeshave either more or less status.
All countries and societies have variations in social standing many countries, includingChina,
tried to have a classless society but not with great success. Social stratification isthus a reality of
life. As shown in Figure: Shared behaviour, the behaviour of all social classes are unique within
themselves.

By unique behaviour we mean that each social class has its own pattern of purchase, education,
occupation, recreation, etc. This is important to marketeers, in order to understand the needs of
the consumer, and accordingly to frame a marketing strategy. There are many behaviours, that
are common between social classes, and all social classes behave in a similar manner without
much difference. This is shared behaviour. Excluded behaviour is one which the social classes do
not indulge in. They try to avoid that behaviour, as it is against their standards and norms. These
could be eating behaviour, i.e., the choice of the eating place. Buying behaviour: The places one
avoids going to, like discount stores, etc. for the upper class. Social classes usually meet the
following five criterion:
Bounded
The social classes are bound by certain tacit restrictions which include or exclude certain
individuals, places or objects. These are tacit rules they follow by themselves. They restrict
behaviour as they share similar educational background, occupation lifestyle etc.
Ordered
All social classes have a hierarchy or stratification in terms of income, prestige and status that
distinguishes them from the others.

Mutually Exclusive

The individual only belongs to one class and behaves and acts accordingly. However, the
movement from one class to another is possible and goes on with time. We have a new rich class
which has moved upward with the time. They are upwardly mobile and belong to the open
system. Those in closed system have inherited and inscribed status. They cannot leave their
social class.

Exhaustive
That every member of a social class must fit into some class and be identified with it.

Influential
There must be behavioural variations between classes or they may be expected to behave
differently.
Based on the above criteria, it is clear that a strict and tightly-defined social class system does
not exist. Social classes are basically divided into three major categories upper, middle and
lower. For the great spread, we have further classified them into four classes by bringing the
working class in between the middle and lower.

Warner’s index uses 4 variables as an index of social class. These are occupation, income, house
and dwelling area. Warner has categorised the social class into 6 categories. This helps the
marketeers in deciding their target group and the marketing strategy for each. For instance, the
concept of mass marketing can be more successfully applied to middle or the lower classes,
rather than the upper class. The upper class is a target for speciality goods and rare commodities
which depict their social status.

Social Classes and their Buying Patterns

The buying behaviour of individuals and groups are strongly influenced by the social class to
which they belong, or aspire to belong. Social class is also linked to demographic and geographic
data. These classes are found living in clusters and have relatively homogeneous
geodemographicsegments in terms of housing, urbanisation and other, viz. class difference in
status is symbolic for food, housing, clothing, purchases, lifestyle.

Social Class in Consumer Behaviour

In a social class, people try to make the same kind of purchases as are expected by their peers.
Marketeers try to target their products on class-based market segments.

Upper Upper Class

Upper-Uppers are the social elite who live on inherited wealth and have well-known families.
They maintain more than one home and send their children tothe best schools. They are in the
market for jewelry, antiques, homes, and foreignvacations. While small as group they serve as a
reference group to others tothe extent that other social classes imitate their consumption
decisions.

Lower Upper Class

Lower Uppers are persons who have earned high income or wealth through exceptional ability in
their profession or business. They usually come from the middle-class. They tend to be active in
social and civic affairs and seek to buy the symbols of social status for themselves and their
children, such as expensive cars, homes and schooling. Their ambition is to be accepted and the
upper-upper status, a status that is more likely to be achieved by their children than themselves.
Upper Middle Class
Upper Middles possess neither family status nor unusual wealth. The primarily concerned with
“career”. They have attained positions as professionals, independent businesspersons, and
corporate managers. They believe in education and want their children to develop professional or
administrative skills so that they will not drop into the lower stratum. They are civic minded and
are a quality market for good clothes, homes, furniture and appliances.

Lower Middle Class

The common man represents this group. Some are highly paid workers and small business
owners and may not have a very high education.This class aspires for respectability. They wish
to have well maintained houses in good neighbourhoods. Marketeers sell products, to this group,
which have respectability and social acceptance in the society.

Upper Lower Class

Upper Lowers are working, though their living standard is just above the poverty line. They
perform unskilled work and are poorly paid. Often they are educationally deficient. Although
they fall near the poverty line, they manage to maintain some level of cleanliness

Lower Lower Class

Lower Lowers are visibly poverty-stricken and usually out of work. Some are not interested in
finding permanent jobs and most are dependent in charity for income. Their homes and
possessions are “dirty, ragged, and broken-down”.

Marketing Strategy and the Social Classes

Marketeers are interested in supplying the right products to the right customer (target segment)at
the right price at the right time and with the right promotion. For this, first the target segment is
selected and this can be done on the basis of social class, which is a better prediction of a
consumer’s lifestyle than income. Reasons for shopping and purchases also differ among the
social classes. The upper classes shop for pleasure, and tend to visit stores which are exclusive
and sophisticated. The situation of stores are also important. They visit boutiques and are
particular where they go shopping. The upper and middle classes indulge in greater information
search and get information through the TV, magazines, newspapers, and from groups and
individuals of their social status.
The lower classes are involved in buying less costly products and have much less information.
They are more concerned with social relationship and respond to products and promotion of a
different nature.

Marketeers thus find that a combination of social class and income are superior for product
classes that are visible. These products require moderate expenditure and are symbols of social
status like TV sets, cars, clothing, etc.

In designing a market strategy using social stratification, a process is followed in which

(a) The marketeer relates the status of the group to the product.
(b) Data is collected as the targeted social strata.
(c) Positions the product according to social status.
(d) Develops a proper marketing mix.

While relating a product to the status of the group or individual, one has to understand that the
product or brand consumed varies according to income, which may restrict the purchase of
expensive items like cars. Education influences the consumption of fine arts, of imported goods
and varies with social class. Credit cards, etc. are also used by different social classes for
different purposes. This provides a motivation for purchase. Some use it for convenienceand
safety, orboth, others use it to pay the monthly bills. Some products are used forsymbols of
prosperity, and to project their social class. Products are offered for different use
situations, i.e., parties, marriages gifts, daily use, etc.
The next step is to gather data on the lifestyles of people and how they want to become upwardly
mobile by aspiring to have a desired lifestyle. To promote the product to their lifestyle, proper
media must be chosen and used effectively. The shopping habits of buyers and their patterns of
buying are also to be studied carefully.

In the third step, the product is positioned. It is positioned according to different income groups
and social classes, e.g., Maruti-800 is an economy car; Zen is a world car; Esteem is more
spacious and expensive.
Consumable products can also be positioned as a health drink Bournvita, economical drink
(Rasna), fizz drinks, etc. The products can be positioned according to the needs of the social
classes.

The last step is to find out and offer, a proper marketing mix to the social class. This consists of
product, price, promotion and distribution, which have many alternatives and have to be juggled
to suit the target market. The after sales service is also very important and must be given due
emphasis to satisfy the customer, and ensure repeat sales.
Lesson No. 3. Social Differentiation and Social Stratification

Structured Inequalities

Social divisions often result in structured inequalities between groups in society

in terms of their access to material or symbolic rewards.

Social divisions have several functions in a society. Division of labor is a

principal driver of social division. Modern societies need groups of people to
attend to the different types of labor required to run the society. Types of labor
include basic social requirements such as procuring food, providing protection,
and raising children, as well as more complex requirements such as contributing
to the growth of the economy and providing a legal and governmental structure
for society. This division of labor is necessary for a society to function. However,
division of labor also contributes to different roles, expectations, and
opportunities for members of different social divisions. Thus, while social
division contributes to a society being able to function effectively and efficiently,
it also creates the potential for structured inequalities—inequalities built into the
larger social system giving unequal access and opportunities to different groups.
For instance, in the United States structured inequalities impact people who are
not fluent in English. Many of these individuals provide socially and
economically valuable labor in fields such as agriculture, construction, food
service, child care, and household services. They provide this labor at a low cost,
benefitting society. However, these individuals often do not have access to
education and employment opportunities that other groups have.

Members of different social divisions do not have the same access to material
rewards, such as wealth and property, or symbolic rewards, such as status and
respect. One potential result is that social divisions are repeated over generations,
with the children of people who hold low status jobs having limited pathways to
achieve higher status. Structured inequalities relating to racial divisions result in
some racial groups having greater access to good education, good jobs, health
care, more social and cultural prestige, and better treatment by the justice system.
Other racial groups without this same access face barriers to achieving material
and symbolic rewards. This may serve a social function—providing society with
groups of people who are available to perform low-status jobs. In this way,
structured inequality can be seen as an efficient way to organize a society.
However, structured inequality also can lead to conflict and social problems,
including poverty.
Social Stratification

Stratification refers to the hierarchical organization of a society, with

different social groups occupying different positions within the broad structure of
a society.

Social stratification is the hierarchical ranking of social groups based on

unequal levels of wealth, power, and social status. Stratification means there are
layers, or strata, of people in society. Every society has some form of social
stratification. There are four major forms of stratification: estate systems, caste
systems, class systems, and status hierarchy systems. Estate systems were found
throughout Europe and Asia from the Middle Ages through the Industrial
Revolution. In an estate system, a wealthy class of aristocrats owned large tracts
of land and held power in these societies. Serfs, or workers, provided labor. They
usually were tied to a particular aristocrat or noble family by legal ties and by
tradition and a sense of loyalty or duty. While estate systems were common in the
past, other systems of social stratification exist in the modern world. A caste
system is a system of social division in which people are born into a certain class
that determines their life trajectory. The caste system in India is a well-known
example of this form of stratification. In a class system, individuals are born into
a certain social position, but some people are able to move up or down in the
social structure over the course of their lives. Some class systems are more open,
allowing for more social mobility, while others are more closed. In the United
States, the class system is considered open and includes the potential for upward
or downward mobility. A status hierarchy system is based on degrees of social
prestige, tied to factors including wealth, occupation, lifestyle, and membership
in respected groups. This type of system also exists in the United States. For
example, a working class individual with a low income who becomes famous or
a respected leader might hold a fairly high status position. César Chávez (1927–
93) was a farmworker who became a leader in the labor rights and civil rights
movements of the mid-20th century. By the late-20th century, he held a very high
status because of the respect and recognition many people had for his work. In
addition to these four types of stratification, slavery is also considered a system
of stratification. It is a completely closed system; those who are enslaved have no
social power and virtually no possibility of moving out of their social position.

Social stratification exists in many forms. The concept of social stratification

provides a framework to understand the ways that people are divided into social
categories, primarily by levels of wealth, income, power, and other forms
of social capital—resources that allow individuals to acquire wealth, power, and
other forms of social standing. All socially stratified systems have certain
characteristics:

 People belong to social categories, based on a shared characteristic such

as race, ethnicity, or gender.
 These social categories are ranked.
 Stratification exists and is imposed by social institutions.
 The opportunities and experiences available to individuals are tied to their
social category.
 The ranking of social categories is relatively stable; change only occurs
very slowly.
 Effects of stratification carry over from generation to generation.

Stratification is not related to differences among individuals. It is tied to socially

constructed understandings of the identities of particular social groups.
Justification for the particular stratification of a society is provided by the belief
system of the society. In other words, most members of the society essentially
buy into the system of stratification.

Stratification results in power differences between different social groups. This

means that inequalities are embedded in the structure of society. Several theories
of stratification inform how sociologists think about structured inequalities.
Arguments developed by Karl Marx and Max Weber, developed in the 19th and
20th centuries, continue to be influential. Other sociologists have since expanded
upon their work, proposing theoretical frameworks for understanding and
analyzing social stratification.

Major Theories of Social Stratification

Karl Marx  Two primary classes: bourgeoisie and proletariat

 Stratification is a result of oppression

Max Weber  Wealth, power, and prestige are key factors in stratification.
 Prestige can lead to wealth and power

Davis and  Functionalist perspective, understanding society as a system of parts that

Moore work together
 Stratification helps society function as a whole

Karl Marx
German philosopher and economist Karl Marx (1818–83) criticized capitalism
for its effect on society. Marx and collaborator Friedrich Engels (1820–95)
argued that every society is divided into two groups: the bourgeoisie, or capitalist
ruling class, who owns the means of production, and the proletariat, or the
working class, whose labor is exploited by the bourgeoisie. The two groups are
marked by conflict and competition. The bourgeoisie is determined to keep its
position in the 1 percent at the top of society, while the proletariat is working for
survival. Marx and Engels argued that capitalism, by its very nature, created
inequality. The main goal of capitalism is to create profit, and the bourgeoisie has
an interest in increasing its profit. In order to do this, the bourgeoisie keeps
wages for its workers, the proletariat, as low as possible. Because wages are
minimal and working conditions are strained, Marx argued that members of the
proletariat would band together in class consciousness, or awareness of their
exploitation, and lead a revolution in which they overthrow the bourgeoisie. In
this future revolution, capitalism would be replaced with socialism.

Max Weber
Whereas Marx thought stratification was principally the result of one class
owning property and the means of production, German sociologist Max Weber
(1864–1920) argued that other aspects were also critical. Weber agreed with
Marx that class and property are important, but he also stressed that the
consequences of class are important in one's life chances and opportunities. For
instance, access to housing, food, education, and health care gives an individual
more chances to climb the social and economic ladder. The type of resources, as
well as the abundance or scarcity of those resources, affects life chances and
opportunities. Weber also argued that wealth (economic assets, including income
and property), power, and prestige played an important role in social
stratification. Power is the ability to make one's own concerns count, including
the ability to impose one's will on others (to get someone to do something they
do not want to do). People in positions of power can use it to their own
advantage. Political leaders can use their power to advance their business
interests. Supervisors with power can make employees work during certain
hours, even when the employees do not want to work. However, not all people in
positions of power have wealth or prestige. Police officers have a good deal of
power in society, but often they are not wealthy. Being a police officer is not
necessarily prestigious. Prestige indicates respect and admiration for a social
status. It is based on values and norms and is defined by society. Teachers have
prestige in some societies but lack prestige in other societies. In some societies,
royalty or titles confer prestige. Often, fame or talent bestows prestige. Higher
rankings of prestige often go alongside positions with wealth and power. Weber
noted that gaining prestige often leads to the acquisition of wealth and power. For
example, a sports figure who gains prestige through performance and
accomplishment often becomes wealthy as a result and may gain power within
the world of sports and in other areas, such as business and culture.
 Davis and Moore
The functionalist perspective of stratification was popularized by American
theorists Kingsley Davis (1908–97) and Wilbert Moore (1914–87). They
developed a hypothesis, based on functionalism, that all societies are stratified
because stratification is necessary for a society to function. According to the
Davis-Moore hypothesis, in every society certain jobs must be carried out for the
society to run smoothly. All jobs are important in some way. Parents, farmers,
fast food workers, teachers, janitors, nurses, government employees, and any
other type of worker all have a role to play in society. To explain stratification,
Davis and Moore asked how a society distributes jobs and roles in ways that are
beneficial to society. They argue that some jobs are more important than others,
to society as a whole. Just as some organs are more essential to the functioning of
the human body, some jobs are more important to the functioning of society. The
more important jobs require more schooling and training, as well as more money
and time. These jobs have a higher status and more rewards, including wealth.
This explains why surgeons, for example, have high status and earn high salaries.
Not every individual in a society has the talent, money, or time to devote to
acquire the skills for high status positions. The ones who do can earn more
money, power, and prestige. These higher social rewards incentivize some
members of society to work hard and take on the most important positions: those
that most benefit society.

ELVIS B. LUMANGLAS, MDM

Course Instructor

ACADEMIC INFRASTRUCTURE
Textbook
T1 : Phillips, Jean M., Organizational Behavior Tools for Success,
International Edition, 2014 Wadsworth, Cengage Learning

References:
R1 : Newstrom, John W., 2007. Organizational Behavior; Human
Behavior at Work, McGraw Hill International Edition,
R2 : Medina, Roberto G. 2011. Human Behavior in Organization.
Quezon City: Rex Bookstore, Inc.
Online References:
https://www.coursehero.com/sg/introduction-to-sociology/social-differentiation-and-social-
stratification/
https://www.wisdomjobs.com/e-university/consumer-behaviour-tutorial-94/what-is-a-social-
class-10500.html