Social Class pt 2

Upper-Upper class

Family name reputation and inherited wealth

Primary values:

• don’t follow trends, high privacy; schools, houses, avoid media

Consumption:

• assert importance of cultural over economic; language, music, clothes

Lower-Upper class

New $$ from recent success; exceptional athletes, actors

Primary Values:

• display of achievement, provide top education to offspring, convert economic into cultural/social

Consumption:

• new fashion, self-expression, new trends

Upper-Middle class

Well-educated professionals: physicians, attorneys, engineers

Primary Values:

• long term gratification/delayed career, constant self development, enroll children in multiple activities, educate to the world

Consumption:

• intellectualized leisure; reading, art, music, authenticity; local shops, non-touristic

Middle Class

white collar jobs: work as a means not an end

• routinized work: office jobs, salespeople, teachers, nurses

Primary Values:

• anxiety around job security, conformity with rules, ‘comfortable life’, family must fit in, gain skills that are useful

Consumption:

• functional consumption, mass media to learn success formula, mainstream vacations: Disney, price sensitivity, rely on brand and store name

Working Class

Blue collar jobs: routine, includes physical effort; factory workers, firefighters, police officers

Primary Values:

• ‘a job is a job’, do not aspire to higher class, resentment towards higher, stays close to extended family for emotional and financial support, practical view on education; how fast to $?

Consumption:

• vacation with relative/close to home, abundance (buffets), relatable entertainment and news; local, brand loyal

Lower Classes

multiple generations in poverty; absence of role model, isolated from family; abusive history

Primary Values:

• pay bills, no gov. support, don’t raise criminals

Consumption:

• 1/3 food, 2/3 housing, tv is cheap, dangerous for children outside, choose inexpensive foods; high in fat and sugar, seek pleasure in treats; soda, candy, cigarette