2. Chapter 15: Social class
1. Concept of social class
2. How social classes are measured
3. Measurement problems marketing
managers face
4. The effect of social position on the
consumption process
5. How marketing managers can use their
knowledge of social stratification to develop
marketing strategies
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3. Social Stratification
We are all familiar with the concept of social class, but
most of us would have difficulty explaining our class
system to a foreigner.
Social rank is one’s position relative to others on one or
more dimensions valued by society, also referred to as
social class and social standing.
A social class system is a hierarchical division of a society
into relatively distinct and homogeneous groups with
respect to attitudes, values, and lifestyles. "Pure” social
classes do not exist in the U.S. or most other
industrialized societies.
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4. Social class
• Social class and consumption
• Social class
– Cultural differences
– Components of social class
– Measurements of social class
• Social class and consumption differences
– Global similarities
– Segmenting the affluent
• Status symbols
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6. Concept of social class
Traditional viewpoint assumes that
social classes must meet the following
criteria:
• Bounded
• Ordered
• Mutually exclusive
• Exhaustive
• Influential
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8. Behavior and social class
• Unique behaviors
– Product: fine china
– Situation: entertainment
e.g. Opera subscription
• Not all behaviors are unique:
• Shared behaviors
– Situation: entertainment
e.g. Football match
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9. Status crystallization
• Degree of consistency on status
dimensions
– Occupation
– Education
– Income
– Ownership
• Status crystallization is low in
Australasia
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10. Social class in Australia*
• Upper class
– 10% of population
• Middle class
– 60%
• Lower class
– 30%
*Source: ABS
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15. Ad aimed at repositioning the meat pie to a
different social class
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16. The Measurement of Social Class
There are two basic approaches to measuring social status:
- Single-item index
Single-
- Multi-item index
Multi-
Since an individual’s overall status is influenced by several
dimensions, single-item indexes are generally less accurate
single-
than are well-developed multi-item indexes
multi- indexes.
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17. Measurement of social class
• Single-item indexes
– E.g. education
– E.g. occupation
• Multiple-item indexes
– E.g. Hollingshead Index of Social Position
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18. The Measurement of Social Class
• Single-Item Index
Single-
Education
Occupation
Income
• Marketers generally think of these as direct
influencers of consumption behavior rather than
determinants of status that then influence behavior.
21. Measurement of social class and its
application to marketing strategy
• Uses:
– Differences in product consumption
instant coffee
snack foods
imported wine
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22. Income
Income has been used as a measure of status
• Poses a number of measurement problems
– Individual or family income?
– Income before or after taxes and allowances?
– Salary or total income?
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23. Multiple-item indexes
e.g. Hollingshead's Index
• Two-item index using occupation and
education
• Designed or measure overall a family’s
overall position in society
Exceptions could arise from someone with:
– Only secondary schooling and running a
successful small-medium business
– Doctor or lawyer working with charities
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25. The Measurement of Social Class
Demographics or Social Status?
Social status is largely derived from demographics; that is,
demographics
one’s income, education, and occupation go a long way
toward determining one's social class or status.
Should marketers use an overall measure of social status
(a multi-item index) or a demographic variable such as
income?
Unless the marketer is interested social standing per se,
he/she will most likely focus on demographic
characteristics as direct influencers on consumer
behavior!
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26. Which scale to use?
• No one scale is suitable for measuring all
status dimensions
Hollingshead’s multi-item index could be
used for measuring personal status in a
study of opinion leadership
Studies of intellectually oriented
activities, e.g. magazine subscription &
TV viewing could consider using
education
Occupation could be used for studies on
leisure-time pursuits
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27. Social Stratification and Marketing Strategy
While social stratification does not explain all consumption
behaviors, it is certainly relevant for some product
categories.
You can clearly see this by visiting a furniture store in a
working-class neighborhood and then an upper-class
furniture store.
A product or brand may have different meanings to
members of different social strata, for example, a watch.
Likewise, different purchase motivations for the same
product may exist between social strata.
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28. Social class and marketing strategy
• Relate status variables to product
consumption
– Usage, motivation, symbolic meaning
• Target social status
– Actual lifestyle, desired lifestyle, media, etc.
• Develop product position
– Select desired position (based on actual/desired
lifestyle)
• Marketing mix decisions
– Develop mix
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