Today we live in a society where EVERYONE is constantly being JUDGED. This can be from something as little as the way they dress or the way they look. But most people judge others on their social class. Nowadays; it seems to be a competition of the riches and purely trying to out-do one another. So here is my blog into social classes...
Social Class refers to the "status hierarchy in which individuals and groups are classified in the basis of esteem and prestige, which is required mainly through economic success and the accumulation of wealth" (Business Dictionary, 2009). Most people tend to be classifies under the four main social classes:
- Upper Class
- Middle Class
- Working Class
- Lower Class
(Krech, Crutchfield & Ballachey in Dubois 2000)
These sub categories of social class have now started to merge into one another, instead of having four main classes, it now tends to be split up into seven groups (as shown below).
As you can see their is a much bigger emphasis on middle class as this main category has been split up into three sections. This may be due to the Welfare state coming into force by the UK Government in the 1950's. This offered protection and promotion of the economy and the social well being of its citizens. The encyclopaedia of Britannica states that:
"It is based on the principles of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for those unable to avail themselves of the minimal provisions for a good life".
Thus enabling the UK's population to be able to jump between social groups. Today the UK have become more sophisticated in the way in which we class people. Wilmshurst, J & MacKay - the fundamentals of advertising (1999) clearly show the differences between each of the classes.
| Grade | Social class | Chief Income Earner's Occupation |
|---|---|---|
| A | upper middle class | Higher managerial, administrative or professional. |
| B | middle class
| Intermediate managerial, administrative or professional |
| C1 | lower middle class | Supervisory or clerical and junior managerial, administrative or professional |
| C2 | skilled working class | Skilled manual workers |
| D | working class | Semi and unskilled manual workers |
| E | Those at the lowest levels of subsistence | Casual or lowest grade workers, pensioners and others who depend on the welfare state for their income
|
Other ways people can be categorized into more detail is by taking the factors (in the diagram below) into consideration. This mainly focuses on the general social economic, cultural and environmental conditions.
Social Class V Buyer Behaviour
As you would think different social classes will automatically buy into different brands. For example the upper class will buy into more expensive brands such as: Heinz, Kelloggs, and organic products. Whereas; someone within the Lower class will buy much cheaper brands such as: Tesco value, or supermarket own products.
How does this influence Advertising?
Advertisers and marketeers cater to each social class in various types of advertisement. For example people of a higher status will prefer to be associated with products/ brands or people that reflect the same status as themselves. This is shown well in an ad by Nokia...
On the other end of the spectrum, here is an advert aimed at a middle/lower class of people...
How we Perceive each class to be...
Everyone perceives each other differently. In today's lesson we were split up into groups and asked to create a mood board to represent each main sub group of social class.
Lower Class
Within this collage was phrases such as "the lonely truth about middle aged divorce", "pregnant aged just 10", "child maintenance" and "112 crimes by the age of 23". All of these phrases suggest that all lower class people are 'up to no good'. As they seem to have no aspirations then they turn to violence on the streets. This also suggests that they HAVE to live of tax payers money, because of the state they have already got themselves into.
Other words include: NHS, Sun Bingo, chavs, school drop outs, iceland, and morrisons. The lower class tend to shop at supermarkets as this is a cheap and resourceful place to get their products. Places like this also offer endless amounts of offers - which is always attractive to a lower class person.
Role models included people like Katie Price. Personally I do not think that she fits into this catagory, and she is minted (in money terms). Yes, her perception to the public has not been the best but it is something she works on. The group who done this collage argued that, she can be seen to be hugely influential with the lower class. This is mainly due to her appreance any any morals they may believe she holds.
Middle Class
Within this collage were pictures of their kitchen appliances. Today we were told that most marketeers and advertisers judge people of the make of their fridges or freezers. Colours such as a deep purple were used to represent this class. Personally, I cannot agree with them as I perceive colours like this to be upper class, as higher end shopping use colours like Racing green and purple for thier packaging or bags.
The middle class would buy food from places such as Tesco's and Marks and Spencer's. The adverts shown below, makes the food seem so elegant and very middle class.
Another subject touched on was the sense of belonging to a group. Everyone wants to have this feeling, no matter what class they are. However different classes tend to have different hobbies and go to different places due to their class. For example someone of a middle class would join a Virgin gym as it may be easier affordable to them, where someone of a higher class would join a spa gym, and play sports such a cricket and golf because of the perceptions they hold. These can be seen as status symbols - as it reflects ones lifestyle and aspirational goods. Both these classes are more prone to part of these type of communities as they tend to have more disposable income and time.
Upper Class
Our collage was the BEST :) We put products such as: Rolex, Land Rover, and Harrods on it. The reasons for this is because these are items that to anyone else would have a large thought process whereas to someone of this class, they would not have to think twice about buying a product of this calibre.Both country estates and town houses were put on it to show that this class tend to own multiple houses.
Animals such as: tigers, horses, and the dulex dog (a pure breed). These were used as personally I believe these are animals that not everyone could afford. Horses are also associated with the Cheltenham races, which is perceived as a rich persons sport.
Advertisers such classes to target their different markets, this is brilliantly shown in the Harrods advert. The colours used are simple, and uses minimal words. As this is an upper class store who do not hold many sales, they are seen to be very prestigious.
Criticisms
My main criticism is that classes are not as clear cut as you may think. For example i have different aspirations then my family have, therefore I should not be categorised in the same way that they are. Also occupational prestige may not be solely based on income. For example, carpenters do not declare all their money, therefore they should also not be categorised by income.
good summary of a huge topic
ReplyDeletegood one Lynne although not quite finished? (criticism gap in middle?)You could link this to the blog on groups as you make reference to your family ie the class / group you are ascribed into.
ReplyDelete