Social class and Consumer Behavior

Presented by
Abhilash.M
Sujith Pottu
Visakh
Model of Buyer Behavior
Factors Influencing Consumer Behavior
 Social classes are society’s relatively permanent and
ordered divisions whose members share similar values,
interests, and behavior.

 Measured as a combination of occupation, income,

education, wealth, and other variables.

 Researchers often measure social class in terms of social

status.
Social class is Hierarchical

 Status is frequently thought of as the

relative rankings of members of each
social class
 Consumers purchase products based
on their social class
Social class and behavioral factors

 Enabled researchers to note the

existence of shared values, attitudes
and behavioral patterns within each
social class and differing between
social classes.
Measurement of Social Classes

 Methods normally used to classify people

into social classes include:

 The subjective approach

 The reputational approach
 Objective approaches:
 Single-variable indexes
 Composite variable indexes
Convenient Approaches to
Social Class
 Social status is usually defined in
terms of one or more of the following
socioeconomic variables:
 Family Income
 Occupational Status
 Educational Attainment
Occupation
 What a person does for a living.
 It is an indicator of other signs of
class membership: income, personal
associations, and status.
 Further, class assumptions within an
occupation may be based on
performance level.
Education

 Commonly accepted

 More education a person has, the

more likely that he is well paid and
has a respected position
Income
 Amount or source of income
 Level of income is not by itself a good
indicator of class.
 Not all researchers agree it as an
appro. index of social class.
 Eg: College Prof and plumber earning
10000Rs have different tastes and
each spend differently.
Other variables
 Quality of neighborhood and dollar
value of the residence–rarely used.
 Possessions- Chaplin's Social status
Scale
Composite variable indexes
 Combine no of socioeconomic factors
to form one overall measure
 They may reflect the complexity of
social class than single variable
indexes.
 Eg: Index of status Characteristics
and socioeconomic status score.