Transcript demographics and social stratification

CHAPTER
4
THE CHANGING
AMERICAN
SOCIETY:
DEMOGRAPHICS
AND SOCIAL
STRATIFICATION
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Demographics describe a population in terms of its size,
distribution, and structure.
 Population and Size
 Occupation
 Education
 Income
 Age
Generations
 Pre-Depression
 Depression
 Baby Boom
 Generation X
 Generation Y
 Tweens
Social Stratification
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.
1“Resident
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
1“Resident
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
Mature Market
Baby Boom
Generation X
Generation Y
Tweens
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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 one’s 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 one’s lifestyle,
including one’s 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 individual’s 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,
one’s 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
• 請蒐集台灣人口統計變數的相關資料。
• 試著分析台灣不同世代的消費特性。
• 請分析台灣社會階層對消費有何影響。