Hawkins/Mothersbaugh CB 11th Edition

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CHAPTER
THE CHANGING AMERICAN SOCIETY DEMOGRAPHICS AND
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
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Demographics describe a population in terms of
its size, distribution, and structure.

• Generations
• Pre-Depression
• Depression
• Baby Boom
• Generation X
• Generation Y
• Tweens

• Population and Size
• Occupation
• Education
• Income
• Age

Social Stratification
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Demographics and Social Stratification
Demographics

• Population and Size
• Occupation
• Education
• Income
• Age

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Demographics and Social Stratification
Occupational Influences on Consumption
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Demographics and Social Stratification
Education Level Influences on Consumption
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Demographics and Social Stratification
Demographics

• Income
• Enables purchase but does not generally cause or
  explain them.
• Subjective discretionary income (SDI) is an
  estimate by the consumer of how much money he or
  she has available to spend on nonessentials.

1Resident Population Projections by Sex and Age
2010 to 2050, Statistical Abstract of the United
States 2008 (Washington, DC U.S. Bureau of the
Census, 2008), Table 10.
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Demographics and Social Stratification
Demographics

• Age
• U.S. Age Distribution1
• Key Growth Categories

1Resident Population Projections by Sex and Age
2010 to 2050, Statistical Abstract of the United
States 2008 (Washington, DC U.S. Bureau of the
Census, 2008), Table 10.
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Demographics and Social Stratification
Age Influences on Consumption
18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54
55-64 65
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Understanding American Generations
A Generation or age cohort is a group of persons
who have experienced a common social, political,
historical, and economic environment. Cohort
analysis is the process of describing and
explaining the attitudes, values and behaviors of
an age group as well as predicting its future
attitudes, values, and behaviors.
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Understanding American Generations

• Pre-Depression
• Depression
• Baby Boom
• Generation X
• Generation Y
• Tweens

Mature Market
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Understanding American Generations
How to Target the Mature Market

• Gerontographics has identified the following
  four segments of the mature market
• - Healthy Indulgers
• - Ailing Outgoers
• - Health Hermits
• - Frail Recluses

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Understanding American Generations
Baby Boom Generation A Closer Look

• Compared to prior generations, Boomers are
• Higher income, higher education
• More tech savvy
• Defining retirement differently
• Boomers also are
• Strong market for anti-aging products, travel,
  and financial services
• Often alienated by overly youth oriented
  appeals in ads

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Understanding American Generations
Generation Xers A Closer Look

• Beyond the stereotype
• Stereotype Xers as disenfranchised youth
• Reality 1 Xers are more highly educated than
  previous generations
• Reality 2 Xer women are more highly educated
  than Xer men
• Reality 3 Xers are getting married, having
  families and facing the time pressures associated
  with these events
• Reality 4 Reaching Xers requires special
  attention to media, particularly online

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Understanding American Generations
Generation Yers A Closer Look

• Interesting Facts About Gen Y
• Really Two Sub-Markets Older teens young
  adults
• Expected to have the highest education of
  previous generations with incomes to follow
• Very tech savvy with media options including
  Internet, cell phones, and video games
• A strong market for automobiles with brands like
  Toyota creating edgy and affordable models such
  as the Scion to target them

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Social Stratification

• Social Rank and Social Class System
• Status Crystalization
• The Derived Nature of Social Class
• The Coleman-Rainwater Hierarchy
• The Measurement of Social Class
• Social Stratification and Marketing Strategy

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Social Stratification
We are all familiar with the concept of social
class, but most of us would have difficulty
explaining our class system to a foreigner.
Social rank is ones position relative to others
on one or more dimensions valued by society, also
referred to as social class and social
standing. A social class system is a hierarchical
division of a society into relatively distinct
and homogeneous groups with respect to attitudes,
values, and lifestyles. "Pure social classes do
not exist in the U.S. or most other
industrialized societies.
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Social Stratification
Status dimensions, such as parental status,
education, occupation and income, set limits on
ones lifestyle, including ones residence.
Status crystallization, which is moderate in
the U.S., reflects the consistency of these
status dimensions.
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Social Structure in the United States
Social Standing is Derived and Influences Behavior
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Social Structure in the United States
The Coleman-Rainwater Social Class Hierarchy
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Social Structure in the United States
The Coleman-Rainwater Social Class Hierarchy
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Social Structure in the United States
Middle Americans
Upward Pull Strategy
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The Measurement of Social Class
There are two basic approaches to measuring
social status - Single-item index -
Multi-item index Since an individuals overall
status is influenced by several dimensions,
single-item indexes are generally less accurate
than are well-developed multi-item indexes.
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The Measurement of Social Class

• Single-Item Index
• Education
• Occupation
• Income
• Marketers generally think of these as direct
  influencers of consumption behavior rather than
  determinants of status that then influence
  behavior.

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The Measurement of Social Class

• Multi-Item Index
• Hollingshead Index of Social Position
• Index of Social Position (ISP)

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The Measurement of Social Class
Demographics or Social Status?
Social status is largely derived from
demographics that is, ones income, education,
and occupation go a long way toward determining
one's social class or status. Should marketers
use an overall measure of social status (a
multi-item index) or a demographic variable such
as income? Unless the marketer is interested in
social standing per se, he/she will most likely
focus on demographic characteristics as direct
influencers on consumer behavior!
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Social Stratification and Marketing Strategy

• While social stratification does not explain all
  consumption behaviors, it is certainly relevant
  for some product categories.
• You can clearly see this by visiting a furniture
  store in a working-class neighborhood and then an
  upper-class furniture store.
• A product or brand may have different meanings to
  members of different social strata, for example,
  a watch.
• Likewise, different purchase motivations for the
  same product may exist between social strata.

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Discussions

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