Chapter 12 - Income and Social class

Question 1

Income and Consumer Identity

Answer 1

-Income vs Discretionary income (remaining money, that consumers spend on their choices)

• How we spend varies based on our attitudes towards money (Am):
• • Tightwads (people who protect money and feel pain when purchasing) vs Spendthrifts (enjoy spending money)
• Consumer confidence

Question 2

Consumer confidence

Answer 2

Depends on:

• Pessimism/optimism of personal circumstances
• World events
• Cultural differences in attitudes toward savings. (china is the winner)

Question 3

Income inequality

Answer 3

Plutonomy (society based on money/wealth) and Icome inequality.

Question 4

Social mobility

Answer 4

The passage of individuals from one social class to another:

• Upwards mobility: moving to a higher status.
• Downward mobility: loosing social status.
• Horizontal mobility: moving from one position to another that is roughly equal. Usual to happen.
  Exception: Hierogamy (marrying someone from different social class) vs Homogamy (someone from same social class).

Question 5

Marketing applications (Income)

Answer 5

• Materialism:
• -Mass marketing
• -Affordable luxury
• Income-based marketing:
• -Targeting the top of the pyramid
• -Targeting the bottom of the pyramid (they are growing and are brand loyal)

Question 6

Social class and consumer identity

Answer 6

• Have vs Have nots
• Universal pecking order: relative standing in society (submissive or dominant)
• Determined by income, occupational prestige, family background, education, etc.
• Affects access to resources:
• -Resources are distributed unequally
• -Achieved (you gained it) vs Ascribed Status (you born with that)

Question 7

American class structure

Answer 7

Every society has some type of hierarchical class structure that determines people’s access to products and services.

Question 8

Social Class vs Income

Answer 8

Income is not equal to Social class

• Social class is a better predictor of not very expensive symbolic purchases.
• Income is a better predictor of major expenditure that do not have status or status aspects.
• We need both to predict expensive symbolic purchases.

Question 9

Resources

Answer 9

• How long do you have them? Old money vs Nouveau riches
• Type of resources: economic, social (your connections), and cultural capital (how do you spend your time? Tv-cheap)
• How does it show?
• -Taste culture: aesthetic (artistic) and intellectual preferences
• -Codes: the ways consumers express and interpret meanings

Question 10

Online social capital

Answer 10

• We live in a reputation economy. (the money u could make with ur reputation)
• Online social capital works just like offline social capital.
• -Online gated communities

Question 11

Marketing applications (Social class)

Answer 11

• According to Veblen, we consume products to create Invidious distinction (smth unique u only have) using status symbols to show that you have “Taste”
• Conspicuous consumption (standing out from the rest):
• • More recently, unboxing
• • Parody display (eg. destroyed jeans as fashion item)