1. Social class is a social hierarchy based on factors like wealth, power, and prestige that influences consumer behavior. 2. Higher social classes seek to demonstrate their status through conspicuous consumption of luxury goods and experiences. 3. Marketers use knowledge of social class differences in spending patterns, media consumption, and values to segment markets and tailor marketing strategies.

1. Social Classes and Consumer
Behaviour
Fahim akhtar

3. Social ClassSocial 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.

4. Karl Marx
German philosopher and
revolutionary socialist Karl Marx
published The Communist
Manifesto and Das Kapital,
anticapitalist works that form the
basis of Marxism.

5. Ruling Class
owns and controls the forces of production, the
social class in power uses the non-economic institutions to
uphold its authority and position.

6. The Oppressed
Hampered by the ideological dominance of the elite.

7. Characteristics of Social Class
 Is hierarchical
 Is a natural form of segmentation
 Provides a frame of reference for consumer behaviour
 Reflects a person’s relative social status

8. Social Class and Social Status
Status is frequently thought of as the relative rankings
of members of each social class
 wealth
 power
 prestige

9. Social Comparison Theory
States that individuals compare their own possessions
against those of others to determine their relative social
standing.

10. To determine how good an artist I am, I will compare
myself with a competent friend rather than a famous artist
11-10

11. Status Consumption
The process by which consumers actively increase
their social standing through higher consumption or better
possessions

12. 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

13. Objective Measures
variable
 Occupation
 Education
 Income
 Other Variables

14. Index of Status Characteristics (ISC)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.

15. Socioeconomic Status Score (SES)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.

17. 11-17

18. Elite class
 Less than 1% in number
 Control resources and have inherited wealth
 Travel frequently
 Educate their wards taking international platform
 Live in networked environment
 Difficult to be convinced in marketing

19. Upper class
 Less than 10 % in number
 Assertive, skilled and motivated
 Travel on need and for business support
 Spending well balanced
 Keen to grow more and enter in elite class
 Often work out their edge when subject to marketing

20. Upper Middle class
 More than 10 % in number
 White coloured and managing their live style depicting the
best
 Spend more on dress, living and social status maintenance
 Spending well balanced
 In touch with technology and development
 Calculative in spending other than mentioned earlier
 Own good living conditions and mobility means

21. Lower Middle Class
 Own reasonable living conditions
 Dependent on community mobility means
 Job and employment is their basic concern
 Spend more on education of their children
 Do multiple jobs or over time employment
 Easy target for marketer

22. Working class
 Live in rented accommodation
 Larger families internal structure
 Employment not permanent
 Spending aggressive
 Spend some portion on education

23. Poor class
 No living owned
 Unemployed mostly
 uneducated
 Spending pattern not supported by rational
 Live in fallacies

24. Social Class and Marketing Strategy
 Clothing, Fashion, and Shopping
 Where one shops
 External point of identification
 The Pursuit of Leisure
 Type of leisure activities differ

26. Social Class and Marketing Strategy
 Saving, Spending, and Credit
– Level of immediate gratification sought varies
 Responses to marketing communication
– Upper classes have a broader and more general view of
the world
– Regional variations in language rise as we move down
the social ladder
– Exposure to media varies by social class

27. 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

28. Group Activity
 Assume you are a travel agent selling vacation packages to different
social classes.
 Discuss and create a plan for:
– (1) vacation packages to offer (destination, accommodations, food,
etc.)
– (2) advertising and appeals used
– (3) media location
 Do this for (a) upper class, (b) middle class, and (c) working class.
 Discuss if YOUR product is better suited for upper, middle, or
working class and why.
 Write down your ideas and be prepared to share with the class.