Lecture 10

Social Class and Lifestyles

10-1

Learning Outcomes
When you finish this chapter, you should
understand:

Both personal and social conditions

influence how we spend our money.
We group consumers into social classes
that say a lot about where they stand in
society.

10-2

Learning Outcomes

A persons desire to make a statement

about his social class, or the class to
which he hopes to belong, influences the
products he likes and dislikes.
Consumers lifestyles are key to many
marketing strategies.
Identifying patterns of consumption can be
more useful than knowing about individual
purchases when organizations craft a
lifestyle marketing strategy.
10-3

Introduction

Both personal and

social conditions
influence how we
spend our money

Economic conditions
affect the ways we
allocate money

10-4

Discretionary Income

The money available to a

household over and above what it
requires to have a comfortable
standard of living

How we spend varies based in part

on our attitudes toward money
Tightwads hate spending
Spendthrifts enjoy spending
10-5

Consumer Confidence

Behavioral economics
Consumer confidence
Factors affecting the overall
savings rate:
Pessimism/optimism about
personal circumstances
World events
Cultural differences in attitudes
toward savings
10-6

Social Class

We group consumers into social classes

that say a lot about where they stand in
society.

10-7

Social Class

We use the term social class to describe

generally the overall rank of people in a
society.

People who belong to the same social

class have approximately equal social
standing in the community.

10-8

Social Class Structure

Haves versus have-nots

Social class is determined by income,
family background, and occupation

Universal pecking order: relative standing

in society

Social class affects access to resources

10-9

Picking a Pecking Order

Social stratification creation

of artificial divisions among
people by their relative
standing, power or control

Scarce/valuable resources are

distributed unequally to status
positions/status hierarchy

10-10

Picking a Pecking Order

Types of Social Status

Achieved Status resources

are earned through hard
work

Ascribed Status resources

are obtained because of who
they are

10-11

Social Mobility

Horizontal Mobility
Upward Mobility

Downward Mobility

10-12

Social Mobility

Horizontal Mobility occurs when a

person moves from one position to
another in the same status

e.g. from a nurse to a teacher

10-13

Social Mobility

Upward Mobility occurs

when a person moves to a
higher status

e.g. from a factory worker

to a manager

10-14

Social Mobility

Downward Mobility when

a person is losing social
status

e.g. from an investment

broker to a taxi driver

10-15

Social Class

Individuals desire to make a statement

about their social class, or the class to
which they hope to belong, influences the
products they like and dislike.

10-16

Components of Social Class

Occupational prestige
Is stable over time and
similar across cultures
Single best indicator of
social class
Strongly linked to use
of leisure time and
allocation of family
resources.
10-17

Components of Social Class

Income
Wealth not distributed
evenly across classes
Distribution of wealth
determines which
groups have the
greatest buying power
and market potential

10-18

Predicting Consumer Behavior

Social class is better predictor

of lower to moderately priced
symbolic purchases

Income is better predictor of

major non-status/non-symbolic
expenditures

Need both social class and

income to predict expensive,
symbolic products

10-19

Consumer View of Luxury Goods

Luxury is functional
Consumers who use their
money to buy things that will
last and have enduring value
They conduct extensive prepurchase research and
make logical decisions
e.g. antique watch
10-20

Consumer View of Luxury Goods

Luxury is a reward
Consumers use luxury
goods to say Ive made it
They desire to be
successful and to
demonstrate their success
to others
e.g. automobiles
10-21

Consumer View of Luxury Goods

Luxury is indulgence
Consumers use luxury
goods to show their
individuality
They have a more emotional
approach to luxury spending
and are more likely to make
impulse purchases
e.g. jewelry
10-22

Taste Cultures

Taste culture differentiates

people in terms of their aesthetic
and intellectual preferences

Upper- and upper-middle-class

are more likely to visit museums
and attend concerts

Middle-class is more likely to go

to movies and coffee shops

10-23

Status Symbols

What matters is having more

wealth/fame than others

Status-seeking: motivation
to obtain products that will
let others know that you
have made it

10-24

Consumer Lifestyles

Lifestyle refers to a
pattern of consumption
reflecting a persons
choices of how he or she
spends time and money.
It is (in an economic
sense) how one elects to
allocate income.

10-25

Consumer Lifestyles

Consumers lifestyles are key to many

marketing strategies.

People sort themselves into groups

based on what they like to do, how they
spend their leisure time and disposable
income

10-26

Consumer Lifestyles

An important part of lifestyle marketing is

to identify the set of products and services
that consumers associate with a specific
lifestyle.

Marketers may pursue co-branding

strategies where they team up with other
companies to promote two or more items.

10-27

Consumption Patterns

Identifying patterns of
consumption can be
more useful than
knowing about individual
purchases when
organizations craft a
lifestyle marketing
strategy.

10-28

Summary

Both personal and social conditions

influence how we spend our money.
We group consumers into social classes
that say a lot about where they stand in
society.
A persons desire to make a statement
about his social class, or the class to
which he hopes to belong, influences the
products he likes and dislikes.
10-29

Summary

Consumers lifestyles are key to many

marketing strategies.
Identifying patterns of consumption can be
more useful than knowing about individual
purchases when organizations craft a
lifestyle marketing strategy.

10-30