Social Class

Social Class
 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.
What are the typical factors that
differentiate the social classes?
– Occupation
– Education attained
– Behavioral standards – taste culture
– Source of Income
– Level of Income; wealth
– Dwelling area
– Power
– Religious Affiliation; Associations
– lifestyles, buying patterns, motivations and
values
Characteristics of Social Class

 Is hierarchical
 Is a natural form of segmentation
 Social class conveys perception of inferior
or superior position.
 Reflects a person’s relative social status
 Class may be indicated by cluster of
variables (occupation , income and wealth).
 Social Class and Social Status
 Status - our social ranking.
 Status is frequently thought of as the
relative rankings of members of each social
class
– wealth
– power
– prestige
 Social Comparison Theory

 statesthat individuals compare their

own possessions against those of
others to determine their relative social
standing.
 Social Class Categories

Most early studies in the United States

divided specific communities into five
or six social class structures.
 What is Upper Class?
 The upper class of most societies is a
varied group of individuals who
include the new social elite.
Aristocracy consists of traditional old
money families who acquired great
wealth and power and whose
members live on inherited wealth
such as maharajas and business
families.
 Such families represent a very small
percentage of the population.
 What is Middle Class?
 The “middle” 50% of household
incomes Households made up of
college-educated adults who use
computers, and are involved in
children’s education.
 This class is also composed of
workers at managerial levels who
likely to reach occupational status.
The people focus on achieving higher
income levels, success in their careers.
 What is Lower Class?

 There are poorly

educated unskilled
laborers, revolving
around.
 And are out of
work.
 Categories of Social Class
CLASS DESCRIPTION

•UPPER-UPPER Elite, wealth inherited. Gracious living. Value family

reputation. Socially responsible.
•LOWER-UPPER Wealth of first generation. Choose good schools for
children .future generation have chance to move to top
class. Class of top corporate executive, successful
professionals , & proprietors of large business.
•UPPER-MIDDLE Well-off financially. income above average. Moderate
successful professionals & businessman.
•LOWER-MIDDLE A large class. supervisors, non-managerial staff , traders.
Clerical staff , salespeople. Respectable living. Value
education.
• UPPER- Larger class. Wage earners. working class. strive for
LOWER respectability
•LOWER-LOWER Lowest income unemployment. underdevelopment.
Uneducated. Daily wage earners. Low occupation.
 Social Class Measurement
 Subjective Measures: individuals are asked
to estimate their own social-class positions
 Reputational Measures: informants make
judgments concerning the social-class
membership of others within the community
 Objective Measures: individuals answer
specific socioeconomic questions and then
are categorized according to answers
 Objective Measures
 Single-variable  Composite-
indexes variable indexes
– Occupation – Index of Status
Characteristics
– Education
– Socioeconomic
– Income
Status Score
– Other Variables
 Index of Status Characteristics
(ISC)

 A composite measure of social class that

combines occupation, source of income (not
amount), house type / dwelling area into a
single weighted index of social class
standing.
Socioeconomic Status Score (SES)

 A multivariable social class measure used by the

United States Bureau of the Census that combines
occupational status, family income, and
educational attainment into a single measure of
social class standing.
 The Importance of Class
What sort of things does social class affect
 Lifestyles and Interests
 Tastes
 Language
 Self Image
 Values
 Political orientation
 Access to such resources as education, health care,
housing and consumer goods.
 How long you will live & how healthy you will be
I.e. Consumption behaviour
who spends how much and on what
 Dress: white collar vs. blue collar
 Form of recreation: upper-class people are
expected to play golf rather than shoot pool down
at the pool hall - but they can do it at home.
 Residential location: upper-class people do not
ordinarily live in slums
 Material Possessions: Kind of car: Rolex watch,
how many bathrooms a house has
How Much Money Will Be Spent

How Money Will Be Spent

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 How Do the Lower and Upper Classes Differ in Their
Consumption Tastes?

Lower classes generally

focus on more
immediate and more
utilitarian needs

Upper classes
are often likely to
approach consumption
from a more aesthetic
perspective
 Selected consumer behaviour
applications of social class
 Clothing, Fashion, and Shopping
– Where one shops
– External point of identification such as the name of a brand .
 The Pursuit of Leisure
– Attend the theater and concerts, to play bridge, and to attend college
football games
– Be avid TV watchers and fishing enthusiasts, and enjoy drive-in movies
and baseball games.
– Furthermore lower class consumer spends more time on bowling, etc. and
craft activities(reading, visiting museums)

» continued
 Social Class and Marketing
Strategy
 Saving, Spending, and Credit
– Upper class are more future-oriented and are
more willing to invest. In comparison, lower
class consumers are primarily concerned with
 Limitations of 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