Ch 12: Income and Social Class

Question 1

Consumer demand for goods and services depends on both our ____ and our ____ to buy. although demand for necessities tends to be stable over time, we postpone or eliminate other expenditures if we don’t feel that now is a good time to spend money

Answer 1

ability; willingness

Question 2

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

Answer 2

discretionary income

Question 3

____ reflects how optimistic or pessimistic people are baout the future helath of economy and how they predict they’ll fare down the road

Answer 3

consumer confidence

Question 4

a range of factors influence the overall ____ including individual consumers’ pessimism or optimism about their personal circumstances, such as a sudden increase in personal wealth as the result of an inheritance and global events such as the Great Recession

Answer 4

savings rate

Question 5

Many fashionistas turned into ____: they refuse to sacrifice style, but they achieve it on a budget

Answer 5

frugalistas

Question 6

Members of every society divide into the ____ and the ____

Answer 6

have; have-nots

Question 7

Warner proposed the most influential classification of U.S. class structure in 1941. Warner identified six social classes:

Answer 7

• upper upper
• lower upper
• upper middle
• lower middle
• opper lower
• lower lower

Question 8

The term ____ is used to describe the overall rank of people in a society. people who belong to the same social class have approximately equal social standing in the community

Answer 8

social class

Question 9

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

Answer 9

conspicuous consumption

Question 10

____ describes possessions (or the use of services) that communicate wealth or prestige to others

Answer 10

status symbols