CHAPTER 10

The Family and Its Social Class Standing

1. Key Concepts Family Socialization of children Family decision making Family life cycle Traditional and nontraditional families y How does the family influence the socialization of children? What role does television play in consumer socialization? As a marketing consultant, you were retained by the Walt Disney Company to design a study investigating how families make vacation decisions. Who, within the family, would you interview? What kind of questions would you ask? How would you assess the relative power of each family member in making vacation-related decisions? Which of the five stages of the traditional family life cycle constitute the most lucrative segment(s) for the following products and services: (a) telephone party lines, (b) a Club Med vacation, (c) Dominos pizza, (d) compact disc players, (e) mutual funds, and (f) motor homes? Explain your answers. Identify one traditional family and one nontraditional family (or household) featured in a TV sitcom or series. (The two families/households can be featured in the same or in different television shows). Classify the traditional group into one stage of the traditional FLC. Classify the nontraditional group into one of the categories described in Table 10-6. Select two characters of the same gender and approximate age, one from each group, and compare their consumption behavior (such as clothes, furniture, stated or implied attitudes toward spending money). Key Concepts Measuring social class: Objective methods Subjective methods Reputational methods Income Social class

2.

Marketing researchers generally use the objective method to measure social class rather than the subjective or reputational methods. Why is the objective method preferred by researchers? Under what circumstances would you expect income to be a better predictor of consumer behavior than a composite measure of social class (e.g., based on income, education, and occupation)? When would you expect the composite social class measure to be superior?

3.

Key Concepts Segmentation variables Status Income Occupation Education y Which status related variableoccupation, education or incomeis the most appropriate segmentation base for: (a) expensive vacations, (b) opera subscriptions, (c) People magazine subscriptions, (d) fat-free foods, (e) personal computers, (f) pocket-size cellular telephones, and (g) health clubs? Under what circumstances would you expect income to be a better predictor of consumer behavior than a composite measure of social class (e.g., based on income, education, and occupation)? When would you expect the composite social-class measure to be superior?

4.

Key Concepts Social class Upper-middle class Lower class y You are the owner of two furniture stores, one catering to upper-middle class consumers and the other to lower class consumers. How do social class differences influence each stores: (a) product lines and styles, (b) advertising media selection, (c) the copy and communication style used in the ads, and (d) payment policies? Select two households featured in two different TV series or sitcoms. Classify each household into one of the social classes discussed in the text, and analyze its lifestyle and consumption behavior.