BBA MS-IV

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
SOCIAL CLASS & CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
Consumer decision making process is impacted by (i) individual determinants that are specific to an
individual and his self; and that take the form of psychological influences; and, (ii) group influences that are
general across a class(es) of customers and take the form of sociological influences. The previous module
dealt with the psychological influences on consumer decision making. This module deals with the sociological
influences that impact consumer decision making; these include i) Consumer groups; ii) Consumer reference
groups; iii) Family and Life cycle; iv)  Social class and mobility, lifestyle analysis; v) Culture; Sub-Culture
and Cross Culture.

MEANING
People may be placed on different positions on a continuum or a range; the continuum, in fact is divided into
specific social classes, or strata. Thus, people in a society may be placed in different strata based on their
status; each of these strata may be referred to as social class.

Schiffman defines social class as “the division of /members of a society into a hierarchy of distinct status
classes, so that members of each class have relatively the same status and members of all other classes
have either more or less status”.

Social class is measured in terms of status;  a person belonging to a particular class is said to hold status
similar to members of that class. So social class is defined in terms of the amount of status the members of
a particular class relatively have, in comparison with members of other social classes. Broadly speaking, the
stratification into varied social classes, is done on the bases on three factors, viz., wealth (economic assets)
power (ability to exert influence over others) and prestige (recognition received). However, marketing
academicians and researchers, as well as consumer researchers, define status in terms of demographical
variables like income, occupation and education;  in fact, the three are interrelated and thus, used in
conjunction to each other. While understanding buying patterns and consumption behavior, it is necessary
to understand the dynamics of social class. These are discussed as follows:

i) Hierarchical structure: Social class is hierarchical in nature. The social-class categories are ranked in a
hierarchy that ranges from low to high. Based on education, occupation and income, the society is divided
into various ranks, such that people in a particular rank are similar to others in the same rank and different
across various ranks. So members of a particular social class view themselves as a) having a status similar
to others in their own class; and b) having a status high or low than members of the higher or lower class.
Based on the social class, they view themselves equal to other (in the same social class), inferior to others
(from higher social class), and superior to others (from lower social class).  The hierarchical structure holds
relevance for a marketer.

- First, marketers can use this as a basis to segment the market; the various strata provide a basis for
market segmentation.

- Two, when people are “other-directed” or susceptible to social influence, they would buy such products and
services and/or brands that people from their respective social classes purchase. This is because they look
for social approval. So they would purchase certain products and service offerings and/or brands because
they are used and favored by members of their own class.

- Third, people are class conscious and relate brands to their social class; thus, they would buy brands which
they feel relate to their “class”, and would avoid brands that they relate to “lower-class" products. There are
social-class influences on the actual consumption of products.

-Fourth, the higher social class or the upper social class also acts as reference groups, for people in the
lower class. The latter aspire to emulate the former and desire buying products and brands which the former
buy.
ii) Similarity of people within a social class: People within a social class are similar to each other. This
similarity is not only witnessed in terms of their education, occupation and income, but also their thinking,
values, norms, attitudes, lifestyle and behavioral patterns. There is similarity among members within each
social class and dissimilarity with between social classes.

IMPLICATIONS FOR MARKETERS

The demographic and psychographic traits that have a bearing on lifestyle, and/or social class hold great
relevance for a marketer. The analysis of the social class helps profile consumers into segments that a
marketer could take advantage off through formulation of an appropriate marketing strategy. While a
marketer needs to cater to each of the segments in a different manner, he could design his 4Ps in a manner
that leads to maximum benefit for himself as well as for the consumer. It is noteworthy that each of these
segments would have a different set of attitudes, values, likes/dislikes and consumption patterns. They
would even vary in terms of their priorities when it comes to purchase of products and services, pursuance
of hobbies and interests and broader lifestyles.

While people like to conform to others’ in their social class, they also like to emulate those in the higher
class. They aspire to move up the social ladder; in fact, social mobility is a common phenomenon these
days.  The following section discusses real life applications of social class, when it comes to products and
services, hobbies and interests and general spending and saving patterns.

a)  Products and services:

The choice of products and services and/or brands depends hugely upon the lifestyle and social class.
Members belonging to a social class would go in for such products and services and/or brands which are
used by others in that class. This is due to the fact that they seek social approval and want to purchase what
others purchase and use what other use. Upper class consumers favor fashion and sophistication, and this
reflects itself in their purchase of luxurious and prestige goods and branded products. On the other hand the
middle class takes into account value for money and looks for benefits that can be derived from a purchase;
they go for good, moderately priced goods and are less conscious of branded goods. The lower class goes
for goods of necessity. It is also true that people in a social class also desire to behave like people in the
upper class. Members of the upper class act as an aspirational reference group, whom those in the lower
class like to emulate. This creates a segment for “me-too” products, and fives opportunity to the market
followers, i.e. the counterfeiters, cloners, imitators and adapters. Self-image also has a role to play for
certain kinds of products and services. People buy clothes, dresses and accessories based on their actual self
image and often on the desired self image. Self-images reflect perceptions of one’s own social-class
membership.

Social class impacts not only what the consumers buy, but also from where they buy. They visit shops,
markets and malls which are frequented by members of their social class. They avoid stores that have an
image very different from their own or their social class. Thus, shops, markets and malls are located and
designed keeping in view the segment that frequents them. Decisions on the merchandise and brand
assortment, pricing and discounts and special offers, store design layout, ambience as well as the POP
stimuli are all taken after taking into consideration the target segment and the social class. With the new
generation aspiring quicker social mobility, marketers need to be very careful.

A difference is also seen in terms of receptivity of the segments with respect to marketing communication
and promotion; this difference pertains to the message design but primarily on the channel or media used
for communication. The upper classes are receptive to messages flashed on i) select news channels and
newspapers that are primarily contain less political and more financial news; ii) special interest magazines
like business, fashion, interior design etc. 

b)  Hobbies and Interest :

Socialclass also has a bearing on the kinds of hobbies and interest as well as recreational activities that a
person pursues. As mentioned above, the upper class consumers have greater resources at hand; they favor
fashion, style and sophistication. They go to clubs and play indoor games like bridge and roulette, and
outdoor games like golf, tennis and squash. They read books, watch theater, go to concerts, and visit
museums and art exhibitions. On the other hand, middle and lower class consumers, watch television
serials; they also like to watch sports on TV. The middle class women pursue hobbies like needlecraft and
they also have social (kitty) parties. Their primary activities include cooking and looking after the home. Men
involve themselves more into earning money.

c) Orientation towards saving and spending patterns:

Social class membership also affects the consumers’ attitudes towards saving and spending patterns. With
the upper class consumers better off in terms of finances than the middle and lower class consumers, their
saving and spending patterns are futuristic in approach. They invest in stocks and real estate, as well as
luxurious and prestige goods. While making purchases, they pay through the credit cards instead of the
usual cash, purely for reasons of a convenient substitute of cash. Middle class consumers are interested in
making rational functional approaches. They enter into purchase activity only when they have enough
money to buy what they desire. They are generally conservative by nature and prefer paying in cash.
However, today things are changing and we do find an increasing trend towards purchases made on credit
and payments made on monthly installments. Lastly, lower class consumers have meager resources and buy
when necessary; if they save, they do so for the rainy day. While the upper classes use the credit card out
of convenience, the middle class use it out of necessity; while the former clear their credit card bills every
month, the middle class look for installments.