Understanding your audience is essential in marketing. A key component to understanding your audience that newer marketers may overlook is social class. Social class groups consumers into different levels of status and it is these specific groups that ultimately influence consumer behavior.
When we break down social class, there are three groups: upper class, middle class and lower/working class. The upper class can be defined as wealthy individuals with significant power and influence, they often see themselves as intelligent and tend to embody the behaviors of attending the theater, donating time and money to charity, investing in art, attending the most prestigious schools and belonging to private clubs. The middle class consists of individuals with comfortable income, professional and managerial positions, “white collar workers”. Middle class individuals are motivated by the goal to acquire what is popular and fashionable, they desire nice homes and tend to look to the upper class for guidance such as what activities to do and what brands to indulge in. The lower/working class are those individuals who work for wages, represented by “blue-collar” workers and tend to rely heavily on family members for both economic and social support.
One may wonder what the importance of understanding social class is. According to Shavitt, Jiang and Cho, “Our position in the social hierarchy has a powerful influence on almost everything in our daily lives—where we live, what we wear, where we travel, dine and shop, what we drive, and what media we consume”. As marketers, using social class as a basis for segmentation can make all the difference. The working social class tends to prioritize product price and product value, whereas higher social class prioritize product quality, product exclusivity and brand reputation. Number Analytics provides an insightful breakdown of the correlation between social class and marketing strategies based on social class characteristics.
Like mentioned above, higher social classes prioritize exclusivity, marketing strategies emphasizing luxury and high-quality products are key. On the contrary, the working class look for value and prioritize prices, a marketing strategy targeting this class should focus on affordability and offer discounts and promotions. Ultimately, zoning in and segmenting your audience by social class allows you to better understand what marketing strategies and messaging will appeal to your specific audience. For more tips on marketing, including the benefits of understanding brand personality, check out sociallyelleco.com
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