Social Class

The division of members of a society into a hierarchy of distinct status classes, so that members of each class have either higher or lower status than members of other classes.

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Chapter Ten Slide

The Changing U.S. Family

Types of families
Nuclear Extended Single-parent

Changes in household spending patterns

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Chapter Ten Slide 2

Consumer Socialization

The process by which children acquire the skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary to function as consumers.

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Chapter Ten Slide 3

Other Functions of the Family

Economic well-being Emotional support Suitable family lifestyles

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Chapter Ten Slide 4

A Simple Model of the Socialization Process - Figure 10.4

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Chapter Ten Slide 5

Family Decision Making

Dynamics of Husband-Wife Decision Making
Husband-Dominated Wife-Dominated

Expanding Role of Children In Family Decision Making

Choosing restaurants and items in supermarkets Teen Internet mavens Pester power

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Chapter Ten Slide 6

The Family Life Cycle

Traditional Family Life Cycle
Stage I: Bachelorhood Stage II: Honeymooners Stage III: Parenthood Stage IV: Postparenthood Stage V: Dissolution

Modifications - the Nontraditional FLC

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Chapter Ten Slide

Nontraditional FLC Family Stages

Alternative FLC Stage Childless couples Definition/Commentary Increasingly acceptable with more careeroriented married women and delayed marriages Likely to have fewer or no children Likely to have fewer children. Want the best and live quality lifestyle High divorce rate - about 50% lead to this Child out of wedlock Single person who adopts Adult children return home. Divorced adult returns home. Elderly move in with children. Newlyweds live with in-laws.

Couples who marry later in life Couples with first child in late 30s or later Single parents I Single parents II Single parents III Extended family

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Chapter Ten Slide 8

Social Class Measure and Distribution Table 10.8

SOCIAL CLASSES and PERCENTAGE Upper Upper-middle Middle Working Lower 4.3% 13.8% 32.8% 32.3% 16.8%

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Chapter Ten Slide

Social Class Measurement

Subjective Measures
individuals are asked to estimate their own socialclass positions

Objective Measures
individuals answer specific socioeconomic questions and then are categorized according to answers

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Chapter Ten Slide 10

Objective Measures
Single-variable indexes
Occupation Education Income

Compositevariable indexes
Index of Status Characteristics Socioeconomic Status Score

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Chapter Ten Slide 11

CompositeVariable Index

An index that combines a number of socioeconomic variables (such as education, income, occupation) to form one overall measure of social class understanding.

Index of Status Characteristic s (ISC)

A composite measure of social class that combines occupation, source of income ,house type ,vehicle etc to identify social class standing. Also known as Warners ISC.

Socioeconomi c Status Score (SES)

A multivariable social class measure used by the United States Bureau of the Census that combines occupational status, family income, and educational attainment into a single measure of social class standing.

Geodemographic Clusters

A composite segmentation strategy that uses both geographic variables (zip codes, neighborhoods) and demographic variables (e.g., income, occupation) to identify target markets.
Chapter Ten Slide 15

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 The Affluent Consumer Middle Class The Working Class

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Chapter Ten Slide 16

Consumer Behavior and Social Class

Clothing, Fashion, and Shopping The Pursuit of Leisure Saving, Spending, and Credit Social Class and Communication

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Chapter Ten Slide 17