Social Glasses and Spending Behavior

While income has generally been the most widely used behavioral indicator in marketing, social-class membership provides a richer dimension of meaning. The individual's consumption patterns actually symbolize his class position, a more significant determinant of his buying behavior than just income. There is a social-class system operative in metropolitan markets which can be isolated and described. The kinds of things a person will or will not buy are strongly related to his class membership, and also whether he is mobile or stable. Likewise the individual's store loyalties and his spend-save aspirations will in considerable part be class related.