MarketingManagement.pdf

90 CHAPTER5ANALYZINGCONSUMERMARKETS ANDBUYERBEHAVIOR

Table 3.1 Selected Characteristics of Major U.S. Social Classes

Social Class Characteristics

Upper Uppers (less than 1 percent of The social elite who live on inherited wealth; they

U.S. population) give large sums to charity, maintain more than one

home, and send their children to top schools.This

small group serves as a reference group for other

social classes.

Lower Uppers (about 2 percent of People coming up from the middle class who have

U.S. population) earned high income or wealth through professions

or business; they tend to be active in social and

civic affairs, buy status-symbol products, and aspire

to be accepted in the upper-upper stratum.

Upper Middles (12 percent of U.S. People without family status or unusual wealth who

population) are focused on their careers as professionals,

independent business persons, and corporate

managers; they believe in education and are civic-

minded and home-oriented.

Middle Class (32 percent of U.S. Average-pay white- and blue-collar workers; they

population) often buy popular products to keep up with trends,

and they believe in spending more money on

worthwhile experiences for their children and

aiming them toward a college education.

Working Class (38 percent of U.S. Average-pay blue-collar workers and those who

population) lead a working-class lifestyle; they depend on

relatives for economic and emotional support, job

tips, and assistance, and they tend to maintain sharp

sex-role divisions and stereotyping.

Upper Lowers (9 percent of U.S. Workers whose living standard is just above

population) poverty; they perform unskilled work, are poorly

paid, and are educationally deficient.

Lower Lowers (7 percent of U.S. People on welfare, visibly poverty stricken, and

population) usually out of work; some are uninterested in

finding permanent work, and most depend on

public aid or charity for income.

Sources:Richard P. Coleman,“The Continuing Significance of Social Class to Marketing,”Journal of

Consumer Research,December 1983, pp. 265–80, and Richard P. Coleman and Lee P. Rainwater,Social

Standing in America: New Dimension of Class(New York: Basic Books, 1978).

are more likely to adhere to the model in which the man makes large-purchase deci-

sions. In the United States, husband-wife involvement has traditionally varied widely by

product category, so marketers need to determine which member has the greater influ-

ence in choosing particular products. Today, traditional household purchasing pat-

terns are changing, with baby-boomer husbands and wives shopping jointly for prod-

ucts traditionally thought to be under the separate control of one spouse or the other.^7

For this reason, marketers of products traditionally purchased by one spouse may need

to start thinking of the other as a possible purchaser.