CHAPTER FOUR
The Changing American Society:
Demographics and Social Stratification
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
2
Demographics
Describe a population in terms of its
size, distribution, and structure.
• Population Size
• Distribution
CHAPTER
4
A Tale of Three Cities…
3
CHAPTER
4
4
CHAPTER
Demographics: Occupation
4
5
CHAPTER
Demographics: Education
4
6
Demographics: Income
• Enables but does not generally cause or
explain them
• What is wealth?
• Subjective Discretionary Income
• Total Family Income
CHAPTER
4
7
Demographics: Age
18-24
CHAPTER
4
25-34
35-44
45-54
55-64
65+
8
Consumer Insight 4-1
• Cognitive age is measured on four dimensions.
What additional dimensions, if any, do you
think should be added?
• Do you think cognitive age is a valid concept?
Why?
• If the meaning of age is a cultural concept,
how would the concept and measurement of
cognitive age change across cultures?
• How can marketers use cognitive age?
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4
9
Consumer Insight 4-2
• The percentage of the American
population that is elderly is going to
increase dramatically over the next 20
years. How is this going to change the
nature of American society?
• What ethical and social responsibilities
do marketers have when marketing to
the elderly?
CHAPTER
4
10
Generations/Age Cohorts
• Generation/Age Cohort: a group of persons
who have experienced a common social,
political, historical, and economic environment
• Cohort Analysis: 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
CHAPTER
4
11
Understanding American Generations
•
•
•
•
•
•
CHAPTER
4
Pre-depression (Before 1930)
Depression (1930 to 1945)
Baby Boom (1945 to 1964)
Generation X (1965 to 1976)
Generation Y (1977 to 1994)
Millennials (After 1994)
12
CHAPTER
Social Standing Influences Behavior
4
13
CHAPTER
The Coleman-Rainwater Social Class Hierarchy
4
14
CHAPTER
The Coleman-Rainwater Social Class Hierarchy
4
15
CHAPTER
Upward-Pull Strategy
4
16
Group Exercise
• Form a group of four people
• Develop a scale of measurement for social status
• Be able to answer the following:
• Single-Item or Multi-Item?
• What is the main effect (most important factor)of the
index?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses?
• What products or services would be the best application
of your index?
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4
17
Measuring Social Status
• Single-Item Indexes
• Education
• Occupation (Socioeconomic Index: SEI)
• Income
• Relative Occupational Class Income
• Subjective Discretionary Income
• Multi-Item Indexes
• Hollingshead Index of Social Position
• Warner’s Index of Status Characteristics
• Census Bureau’s Index of Socioeconomic Status
CHAPTER
4
Hollingshead Index of Social Position
(ISP)
18
Occupation Scale (Weight of 7)
Description
Higher executives of large concerns, proprietors, and
major professionals
Business managers, proprietors of medium-sized businesses,
and lesser professionals
Administrative personnel, owners of small businesses, and
minor professionals
Clerical and sales workers, technicians, and owners of little
businesses
Skilled manual employees
Machine operators and semiskilled employees
Unskilled employees
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4
Score
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Hollingshead Index of Social Position
(ISP)
19
Education Scale (Weight of 4)
Description
Professional (MA, MS, ME, MD, PhD, LLD, and the like)
Four-year college graduate (BA, BS, BM)
One to three years college (also business schools)
High school graduate
Ten to 11 years of school (part high school)
Seven to nine years of school
Less than seven years of school
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4
Score
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Hollingshead Index of Social Position
(ISP)
20
ISP score = (Occupation score X 7) + (Education score X 4)
Classification System
Range of
Description
Scores
Upper
Upper-middle
Middle
Lower-middle
Lower
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4
11-17
18-31
32-47
48-63
64-77
Warner’s Index of Status Characteristics
(ISC)
21
Score
Occupation
CHAPTER
4
Characteristics
Source of
House
Income
Type
Dwelling Area
1
Professionals and proprietors of large businesses
Inherited
wealth
Excellent
houses
Very high: Gold Coast,
North Shore, etc.
2
Semiprofessionals &
officials of large businesses
Earned
wealth
Very good
High: better suburbs &
apartment house areas
3
Clerks and kindred
workers
Profits &
fees
Good houses
Above average: areas all residential,
space around houses, apartments in
good condition
4
Skilled workers
Salary
Average
Average: residential neighborhoods,
houses no deterioration
5
Proprietors of small
businesses
Wages
Fair houses
Below average: area beginning to
deteriorate, business entering
6
Semiskilled workers
Private relief
Poor houses
Low: considerably deteriorated, run
down and semi-slum
7
Unskilled workers
Public relief &
nonrespectable
income
Very poor
houses
Very low: slum
Warner’s Index of Status Characteristics
(ISC)
22
ISC score = (Occupation X 4) + (Income source X 3) +
(House type X 3) + (Dwelling area X 2)
Classification System
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4
Social Strata
Range of
Scores
Upper-upper
Lower-upper
Upper-middle
Lower-middle
Upper-lower
Lower-lower
12-17
18-24
25-37
38-50
51-62
63-84
Population
Breakdown
1.4%
1.6
10.2
28.8
33.0
25.5
Census Bureau Index of Socioeconomic
Status (SES)
23
Income
Category*
Score
Education
Category
Score
Under $3,000
15
Some grade school
10
Laborers
20
$3,000-$4,999
31
Grade school graduate 23
Students
33
$5,000-$7,999
62
Some high school
42
Service workers
34
$8,000-$9,999
84
High school graduate
67
Operators
58
$10,000-$14,999
94
Some college
86
Craftsmen
58
$15,000-$19,999
97
College graduate
93
Clerical sales
71
$20,000-$29,999
99
Graduate school
98
Managers
81
Professionals
90
$30,000 and over 100
Occupation
Category
Score
*Note: Income levels should be adjusted by consumer price index before using.
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Methodology and Scores of the Socioeconomic Status, Working Paper No. 15
(Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1963).
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4
Census Bureau Index of Socioeconomic
Status (SES)
24
SES score =
(Income) + (Education) + (Occupation)
3
Classification System
Social Strata
Range of
Scores
Upper
Upper-middle
Middle
Lower-middle
90-99
80-89
45-79
0-44
Population
Breakdown
15.1%
34.5
34.1
16.3
*Note: Income levels should be adjusted by consumer price index before using.
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Methodology and Scores of the Socioeconomic Status, Working Paper No. 15
(Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1963).
CHAPTER
4
Using Social Class…
25
• Choosing the best measure
• Will a single-item index be accurate
enough?
• What is the underlying factor I should be
concerned with?
• Issues and Assumptions
• Upward Social Mobility
• Class Consciousness
• Dated social-class measures
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4
26
CHAPTER
Positioning and Social Class Segments
4
27
CHAPTER
Perceived Social Class Appeal
4