MKT 3505: Consumer Behavior, Ch. 12

Homogamy

the tendency of people to marry people of a similar education level

Codes

the way consumers express and interpret meanings allows marketers to communicate to markets using concepts and terms consumers are most likely to understand and appreciate

Habitus

the way we classify experiences as a result of our socialization processes status marking force such as taste that causes consumption preferences to cluster together

Value- price shoppers

those who like low prices and cannot afford much more

Parody display

to deliberately avoid status symbols to seek status by mocking it (i.e., ripped jeans)

Price- sensitive affluents

wealthier shoppers who love deals

Upward mobility

when you move from a lower social class to a higher social class

Downward mobility

when you move from an upper social class to a lower class

Horizontal mobility

when you move positions within your social class

Chavs

young, lower- class men and women who mix flashy brands and accessories from big names, such as Burberry, with track suits

The _____ depend on their own labor for survival, and have the most to gain if they change the system.

"have-nots"

The ____ control resources, and use the labor of others to preserve their privileged positions.

"haves"

Occupational prestige

- is stable over time and similar across cultures - single best indicator of social class

Factors leading up to improving standard of living

- working women (women with kids are the fastest growing segment) - increases in educational attainment (earn 50% more as a college grad)

Indian class structure

...

Japanese class structure

...

Middle Eastern class structure

...

Problems with measures of social class

...

UK class structure

...

American social classes

1. Upper upper 2. Lower upper 3. Upper middle 4. Lower middle 5. Upper lower 6. Lower lower

3 groups of shoppers

1. brand aspirationals 2. price- sensitive affluents 3. value- price shoppers

Factors affecting the overall savings rate:

1. pessimism/ optimism about personal circumstances (such as sudden increase in personal wealth as the result of an inheritance) 2. world events (such as the recession) 3. cultural differences in attitudes toward savings (e.g., the Japanese have a much higher savings rate than do Americans

BRIC

Brazil, Russia, India, China biggest emerging markets accounting for 15% of global economy and will overtake Europe and American economies in the next 20 years

Plutonomy

Citigroup strategists coined this term to describe an economy that's driven by a fairly small number of rich people

Microloans

Grameen Bank loans small sums to entrepreneurs in developing companies

Problems with social class segmentation

Ignores status inconsistencies Ignores intergenerational mobility Ignores subjective social class Ignores consumers' aspirations to change class standing Ignores the social status of working wives

Overpriviledged

a condition we define as an income that is at least 25- 30% greater than the median for one's class

Consumer confidence

a measure that reflects how optimistic or pessimistic consumers are about the future health of the economy and subsequently influences their decisions when people are optimistic about the future, they tend to reduce their savings rate. In addition, world events and culture affect overall savings rates.

Means of production

a person's relationship to the means of production deterred his position in a society (Karl Marx)

Invidious distinction

buying things to create envy in others through their display of wealth or power

Status crystallization

concept used to assess the impact of social class inconsistency

Attitudes towards luxury

consumers are divided into three groups based on their attitudes toward luxury: 1. Luxury is functional 2. Luxury is a reward 3. Luxury is indulgence Consumers who use their money to buy things that will last and have enduring value view luxury as functional. Those who use luxury goods to say "I've made it" view luxury as a reward. Those who seek out luxury goods in order to illustrate their individuality take an emotional approach to luxury spending and view luxury as indulgence.

Underpriviledged

consumers who at least 15% less than the median and must often allocate a big chunk of their income toward maintain the impression that the occupy a certain status

Reputation economy

currency people earn when they post online and others recommend their comments (online social stratification)

Taste culture

describes consumers in terms of aesthetic and intellectual preferences

Behavioral economics

economic psychology; studies human side of economic decisions--how consumers' motives and expectations about the future affect current spending & how these individual decisions add up to affect a society's economic well- being (George Katona)

Spendthifts

enjoy buying everything in sight

Frugalistas

fashionistas that have refused to sacrifice style buy they achieve it on a budget

Restricted codes

focus on the content of objects, not on the relationships among objects; implicit meaning

5 "power" product categories

food, entertainment, apparel, home goods and pharmacy

Social class is a better predictor of purchases that ______.

have symbolic aspects, but low to moderate prices

Income

how money is spent is more influential on class than income; wealth is not distributed evenly across classes--top 1/5 controls 75% of all assets

Components of social class

includes multiple determining factors but two highly influential factors are 1. occupational prestige and 2. income occupation is considered the best indicator of social class because it is strongly linked to use of leisure time, allocation of family resources, aesthetic preferences, and political orientation the distribution of wealth determines which groups have the greatest buying power and market potential

_______ is not a very good indicator of social class.

income

Old money

inherited money; individuals are used to being wealthy and therefore don't try to exhibit it..they are secure in their status

Income is a better predictor of ________.

major expenditures that do not have status or symbolic aspects

Differential fertility

middle and upper classes produce less children than lower classes

Social resource

money; link between need for acceptance and feelings about cash (if rejected, we desire more money)

Elaborated codes

more complex and analyze the relationships between objects; depend on sophisticated world views; explicit meaning

Many social scientists consider _____ the single best indicator of social class.

occupation

Cougars

older women who seek out younger men as arm candy; estimated that 1/3 of women over age 40 date younger men

Tightwards

pain of paying (vs. frugality's pleasure of saving)

Predicting consumer behavior

partly depends on the type of product being sold--do people buy it largely for its functional value or for its symbolic value? - Social class is better predictor of lower to moderately priced symbolic purchases - Income is better predictor of major nonstatus/nonsymbolic expenditures - Need both social class and income to predict expensive, symbolic products

Leisure class

people for whom productive work is taboo

Symbolic self completion

people try to make up for things they lack by using status symbols to finish their self image

Nouveau riche

people who are newly rich and don't know how to spend or save their money-- suffer from status anxiety; symbolic self completion

Potent actors

people who believe that they have the ability to take actions that affect their world

Idle rich

people who don't have to work to make a living

Impotent actors

people who feel that they are the mercy of their economic situations

Brand aspirationals

people with low incomes who aspire for brand name products

Chinese class structure

rapid economic boom creating a middle class; highly sensitive to brands and cues that communicate social standing

Conspicuous consumption

refers to people's desires to provide prominent visible evidence of their ability to afford luxury goods

American social class structure

rich 20% earned half the income and consume 4x more; poorest 20% earned only 3%

Cultural capital

set of distinctive and socially rare tastes and practices-- knowledge of "refined" behavior that admits a person into the realm of the upper class

Achieved status

social status that you achieve through hard work or education

Ascribed status

social status that you are born with

Status symbols

status- seeking; motivation to obtain products that will let others know that you have "made it"

Status hierarchy

structure where some members of social groups are better off than others because of they have more authority, power, and/ or respect

Affluenza

term coined by social critics to describe the failure of material goods to bring happiness to people who have the financial means to afford them

Social stratification

the creation of artificial divisions

Mass class

the hundreds of millions of global consumers who now enjoy a level or purchasing power that's sufficient to let let them afford high quality products--except for big- ticket items like college educations, housing, or luxury cars

Discretionary income

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

Social class

the overall rank of people in a society or pecking order

Social mobility

the passage of individuals from one social class to another (horizontal, upward, downward)