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
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Japanese class structure
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Middle Eastern class structure
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Problems with measures of social class
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UK class structure
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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)