10/18/2011

Social Class
Social class: relatively permanent and homogeneous divisions in a society into which individuals or families sharing similar values, lifestyles, interests, wealth, status, education, economic positions, and behavior can be categorized

Social Class Microcultures

Concrete variables that define social classes include occupation, education, friendships, ways of speaking, and possessions Perceived variables that define social class include power, and prestige Social class, in part, determines the mix of goods consumers will buy

Social Class Microcultures

What determines social class? Economic Variables Interaction Variables Political Variables
Occupation Income Wealth

Personal Prestige Association Socialization Power Class consciousness Mobility

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Social Class Microcultures

Occupation: best single indicator of social class Personal performance: a persons success relative to that of others (often in the same occupation) Interactions: the people with whom one associates and socializes Possessions: symbols of class membership

Social Class Microcultures

Value orientations: values are indicators of our social class In some countries, values are more important than possessions and social class is determined more by achievements than by possessions Class consciousness: the degree to which people in a social class are aware of themselves as a distinctive group

Social Class Microcultures

Social stratification: perceived hierarchies in which consumers rate others as higher or lower in social status Achieved status: earn a higher status due to work or study Ascribed status: lucky to be born wealthy or beautiful Status inconsistency: when a person rates high on one variable and low in another (some athletes or musicians)

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Social Class Microcultures

Social mobility: process of passing from one social class to another Parody display: the mockery of status symbols and behavior Some consumers rebel against their social class by becoming part of a counterculture (perhaps by body piercing or tattooing)

The theory of class conflict explains the human social history between two classes, the exploiting and the exploited. According to Karl Marx (1818-1883), "the history (1818of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles"

Marx and Engels through the book, The Communist Manifesto (1848). They pointed out that classes, such as, freeman and slave, lord and serf, guild-master and journeyman, opposed guildeach other. Moreover, their society was obviously divided by classes There are two classes. classes defined by the ownership of property in the society, one is "the bourgeoisie, who own bourgeoisie, the factories and corporations and form the ruling class" and another one is "the proletariat, proletariat, the mass of workers, who [are] exploited by this ruling class

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Group Exercise
Form a group of four people Develop a scale of measurement for social status Be bl t B able to answer th f ll i the following:
SingleSingle-Item or Multi-Item? MultiWhat is the main effect (most important factor)of the index? What are the strengths and weaknesses? What products or services would be the best application of your index?

SingleSingle-Item Indexes

Measuring Social Status

Education Occupation (Socioeconomic Index: SEI) Income
Relative Occupational Class Income Subjective Discretionary Income

MultiMulti-Item Indexes
Hollingshead Index of Social Position Warners Index of Status Characteristics Census Bureaus Index of Socioeconomic Status

SingleSingle-Item Indexes

Measuring Social Status

Education Occupation (Socioeconomic Index: SEI) Income
Relative Occupational Class Income Subjective Discretionary Income

MultiMulti-Item Indexes
Hollingshead Index of Social Position Warners Index of Status Characteristics Census Bureaus Index of Socioeconomic Status

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Hollingshead Index of Social Position (ISP)

Occupation Scale (Weight of 7) Description
Higher executives of large concerns, proprietors, and major professionals g ,p p , Business managers, proprietors of medium-sized businesses, and lesser professionals Administrative personnel, owners of small businesses, and minor professionals Clerical and sales workers, technicians, and owners of little businesses Skilled manual employees Machine operators and semiskilled employees Unskilled employees

Score
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Hollingshead Index of Social Position (ISP)

Education Scale (Weight of 4) Description
Professional (MA, MS, ME, MD, PhD, LLD, and the like) Four-year college graduate (BA, BS, BM) One to three years college (also business schools) High school graduate Ten to 11 years of school (part high school) Seven to nine years of school Less than seven years of school

Score
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Hollingshead Index of Social Position (ISP)

ISP score = (Occupation score X 7) + (Education score X 4)

Description D

Classification System Range of Scores S

11-17 18-31 32-47 48-63 64-77

Upper Upper-middle Middle Lower-middle Lower

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Warners Index of Status Characteristics (ISC)

Score Occupation
1 2 3 Professionals and proprietors of large businesses Semiprofessionals & officials of large businesses Clerks and kindred l k d ki d d workers Skilled workers Proprietors of small businesses Semiskilled workers Unskilled workers

Characteristics Source of House Income Type

Inherited wealth Earned wealth Profits & fi fees Salary Wages Private relief Public relief & nonrespectable income Excellent houses Very good Good h d houses

Dwelling Area
Very high: Gold Coast, North Shore, etc. High: better suburbs & apartment house areas Above average: areas all residential, b ll id i l space around houses, apartments in good condition Average: residential neighborhoods, houses no deterioration Below average: area beginning to deteriorate, business entering Low: considerably deteriorated, run down and semi-slum Very low: slum

4 5 6 7

Average Fair houses Poor houses Very poor houses

Warners Index of Status Characteristics (ISC)

ISC score = (Occupation X 4) + (Income source X 3) + (House type X 3) + (Dwelling area X 2)
Classification System Range of Scores Population Breakdown

Social Strata

Upper-upper Lower-upper Upper-middle Lower-middle Upper-lower Lower-lower

12-17 18-24 25-37 38-50 51-62 63-84

1.4% 1.6 10.2 28.8 33.0 25.5

Census Bureau Index of Socioeconomic Status (SES)

Income Category* Score Education Category Score Occupation Category Score

Under $3,000 $ , $3,000-$4,999 $ , $5,000-$7,999 $8,000-$9,999 $10,000-$14,999 $15,000-$19,999 $20,000-$29,999

15 31 62 84 94 97 99

Some grade school Some high school High school graduate Some college College graduate Graduate school

10 42 67 86 93 98

Laborers Students Service workers Operators Craftsmen Clerical sales Managers Professionals

20 33 34 58 58 71 81 90

Grade school graduate 23 g

$30,000 and over 100

*Note: Income levels should be adjusted by consumer price index before using. Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Methodology and Scores of the Socioeconomic Status, Working Paper No. 15 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1963).

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Census Bureau Index of Socioeconomic Status (SES)

SES score = (Income) + (Education) + (Occupation) 3 Classification System Social Strata Upper Upper-middle Middle Lower-middle Range of Scores 90-99 80-89 45-79 0-44 Population Breakdown 15.1% 34.5 34.1 16.3

*Note: Income levels should be adjusted by consumer price index before using. Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Methodology and Scores of the Socioeconomic Status, Working Paper No. 15 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1963).

Market Segmentation
Identification of social class usage of the product Description of social class characteristics identified in target markets Development of marketing program to maximize effectiveness of marketing mix based on consistency with social-class attributes

Positioning Based on Social Class

Understanding social class helps marketers create perceptions about products or organizations in consumers minds Appeal t th A l to those who are in a social h i i l class and those who aspire to be there

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Positioning and Social Class Segments

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