Week 10 - Income and Social Class Flashcards
The average standard of living continues to improve. Income shifts are driven by two key factors:
- A shift in women’s roles
2. Increases in educational attainment.
Define social class
The overall rank of people in society determined by income, occupation and lifestyle
What are the components of social class?
- Occupational prestige
- Income
- How income relates to social class
- Social class predicts purchases that have symbolic aspects but low to moderate price.
- Income predicts major expenditures that do not have status or symbolic aspects.
- Social class and income predict purchases of expensive, symbolic products.
Low-income households tend to spend more on what kind of items?
Out-of-pocket health care costs, rent and food eaten at home.
What percentage of Australians live below the poverty line?
About 11%
Marketers emphasise what when targeting the poor?
The value of a simple life with less emphasis on materialism
Consumers can be divided into three groups based on their attitude towards luxury. What are they? (Targeting the rich)
Luxury is functional
Luxury is a reward
Luxury is indulgence.
How does social class affects purchase decisions? - WORKING CLASS
- Evaluate products in more utilitarian terms
- Concerned with immediate needs
- More dependent on relatives and are family oriented
- Prioritise the appearance of their home.
How does social class affects purchase decisions? - AFFLUENT CONSUMERS
- Evaluate on appearance and body image
* Focus on longer term goals, but this can result in depression and deviant behaviour
What are status symbols?
Purchases and displays of products that were purchased to let other know that we can afford them.
They don’t have to be luxury products. They can manifest in any number of products/services
A major role of products can be to inspire envy. What is the term for this?
Invidious distinction
The desire to provide prominent, visible evidence of the ability to afford luxury goods is called what?
Conspicuous consumption
Some people deliberately avoid status symbols in a form of conspicuous consumption. This is called what?
A parody display
Analytical techniques that combine data on consumer expenditures with geographic information about the areas in which people live (because people with similar needs and tastes also tend to live near one another) is called what?
Geodemography
The age we perceive ourselves is called what?
Cognitive age
The age that we actually are is called what?
Chronological age
The trend for older people acting and feeling younger than their age is called what?
Down-ageing
Lifespan theories explain what?
As people reach different stages of their life they share common needs with people of a similar age.
Lifespan theories is one set of theories that explains age-based changes. Changes can be:
- Physical
- Emotional
- Cognitive
Two theories that seek to explain development and behaviour are:
- Erikson’s lifespan theory
2. Levinson’s seasons of life
Trust vs. mistrust is what age group in the Erikson’s Lifespan Theory?
0-1 years old
Autonomy vs. shame and doubt is what age group in the Erikson’s Lifespan Theory?
2 years old