Marketing 101: Analysis of Social Classes & Consumer Behavior
Published on July 8, 2015
MOHSEN SALEHI, T-GEMBA (Public Figure)
Follow
Business Engineer focused on Innovation, Strategy, Planning, Optimization, Di... See more
122 articles
Like 22
Comment
0
5
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
Understand how values, attitudes, and lifestyles associated with the different social classes affect shopping and consumption habits.
Although lifestyle, along with the values and attitudes that shape it, is probably the best indicator of social class, it is extremely difficult to analyze. However, such frameworks as VALS (Values, Attitudes, and Lifestyles) provide insight into values, attitudes, and lifestyles and their influence on consumption patterns. The following observations provide an overview of values, attitudes, and lifestyles and the ways in which they reflect the social classes we have discussed.
Values
Social class is an important source of beliefs, values, and behaviors. Individuals are taught class values primarily through their associations with family, friends, and neighbors in school and in the workplace. Attitude toward education is a good example of the difference between classes. Members of the lower classes tend to view it as less valuable than do members of the middle class. Members of the lower classes are more apt than other groups to seek immediate gratification. The strength of appeals like “buy now, pay later” among the lower classes is evidence of this. They also depend on luck for opportunities, which probably explains the popularity of state lotteries.
In contrast, members of the middle class tend to believe that they can govern their own destinies and are less averse to risk. In addition, morality and respectability are important to the middle class. They seek success by applying those values to their work and to their lives in general. Unlike the lower-class members, who tend to feel trapped and may not take pride in the work they do, members of the middle class feel they can achieve more and have a greater feeling of accomplishment and pride. As individuals progress up the social scale, they develop a stronger sense of self and potential for personal achievement. They also feel a strong commitment to participate.
Part of the value system crossing social-class lines is charitable giving of money and time. Americans have always been generous givers, even in tough economic times. One would have expected that major social and political events might upset the trend. However, the stability of this is evident in the giving before and after the 9/11 terrorist attack.
Attitudes and Self-Perceptions
Upper-middle-class husbands and wives have positive attitudes toward functioning as teams. Women tend to demand much of themselves. They feel they should work hard at child rearing and at self-development, both professional and intellectual. Those with youngsters attempt to develop bright, active, precocious children and to look for goods and services that will enhance their success as parents.
Lower-middle-class parents are more likely to emphasize control and conformity in raising their children and to place greater value on teaching them standards of politeness, order, and cleanliness. Working-class mothers express a strong need to enjoy and interact with their children, whereas fathers remain fairly distant, particularly from young children.
Lower-class women usually say that they dress to please themselves; lower-middle-class women are more concerned with what other women think of their clothing; and upper-middle-class women tend to dress for themselves, their husbands, other women, and other men. Lower-class families maintain the least adventurous social boundaries, preferring to socialize with relatives. They are more prone to spend vacations staying at home, visiting relatives, or letting the husband take off by himself, than are upper-middle-class people, who spend vacations as nuclear family groups.
FAQ
Is it possible for two people who have exactly the same lifestyle to belong to different social classes?
In terms of self-perception, lower-class women appear to understand their bodies least of any class and maintain a sense of taboo about them. Higher-class women take more pride in their bodies and consider themselves fastidious. Upper-middle-class women are less involved with such products as deodorants because they feel less anxiety about offending others. They express the most personal pride and self-esteem in grooming, whereas lower-middle-class women respond to social motives and general self-consciousness.
Upper-middle-class men see themselves as clean, fastidious, and well groomed and relate these traits to career success. Masculine know-how is defined as sophistication about business, restaurants, travel, and so on.
Lower-middle-class men find masculine identity in being good fathers and building a solid home life. They are characterized as serious, rather depressed, fearful of being displaced by lower-class members, and concerned that their children get a good education to achieve upward mobility.
Men in this group are the most traditional in matters of clothing and grooming and appear most resistant to innovative fashions. The ad for Gillette M3POWER in Video 10.7 is targeted to men from the working- through upper-middle class. It appeals to these men as a modern twist on the traditional way to shave. Also notice the three visuals in the ad explaining how the razor works. This is a direct appeal to the lower-class share of the target group who “want to know” such details. Working-class men see themselves as steadfast and reliable, earning decent livings for their families. They value manual adroitness and physical skills, and they make the most of their leisure time, with a high percentage participating in recreational sports. They are inclined to feel that life uses them up faster than it does males from other social strata.
Video Clip
Gillette—Mach 3 (with David Beckham)