Social Class and Social Status

Social Class and Social Status

Introduction

All the societies and social structures are divided into various social classes and social status, which do not only decide and affect the lifestyle of individuals but also play an essential role in deciding their buying pattern and consumer behavior. It is eminent to mention here that the social status is not only significant for making divisions in the society but is also important for excising the marketing pattern and strategies, thus ensuring that the right methodology is adopted for targeting the suitable audience. The following paragraphs highlight the importance of social class and social status in determining the consumer buying behavior and would also focus on the ways in which the marketers customize the specific strategies to attract specific costumers:

Discussion

Characteristics determining social class and social status

Social class and the social status is basically based on the concept of social stratification and is formed according to the hierarchal categories in the society. The most common and clearly visible classes in the society are: upper class, middle class and lower class, which imply that the term social class is synonymous with socio-economic class (Lamb, Hair and McDaniel, 2011). Thus, the major characteristic determining the social class and social status of an individual is his income, combined with the buying pattern and economic status of an individual. It should be taken into account that people in one particular class generally get indulged in similar recreational and educational activities, and most importantly, they have similar buying patterns and consumer behavior which makes their classification easy as well as clearly visible. Social classes and statuses are open groups and social mobility is possible within them, and thus individuals are continuously moving in and out of certain social classes. The economic status and the income level of the ...