CHAPTER FOUR

The
Changing
American
Society:
The Changing American Society:
Demographics
and
Social
Stratification
Demographics and Social Stratification

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Copyright 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserv

Demographics

Describe a population in terms of its

size, distribution, and structure.

Population Size
Distribution

CHAPTER

A Tale of Three Cities

CHAPTER

Demographics: Occupation

CHAPTER

Demographics: Education

CHAPTER

Demographics: Income

Enables but does not generally cause or

explain them
What is wealth?
Subjective Discretionary Income
Total Family Income

CHAPTER

Demographics: Age

18-24

CHAPTER

25-34

35-44

45-54

55-64

65+

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 co
gnitive age change across cultures?
How can marketers use cognitive age?

CHAPTER

Consumer Insight 4-2

The percentage of the American

population that is elderly is going to incr
ease 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

Generations/Age Cohorts

10

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

Understanding American Generations

11

CHAPTER

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)

Social Standing Influences Behavior

12

CHAPTER

The Coleman-Rainwater Social Class Hierarchy

13

CHAPTER

The Coleman-Rainwater Social Class Hierarchy

14

CHAPTER

Upward-Pull Strategy

15

CHAPTER

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?

CHAPTER

Measuring Social Status

17

Single-Item Indexes
Education
Occupation (Socioeconomic Index: SEI)
Income
Relative Occupational Class Income
Subjective Discretionary Income

Multi-Item Indexes
Hollingshead Index of Social Position
Warners Index of Status Characteristics
Census Bureaus Index of Socioeconomic Status

CHAPTER

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
CHAPTER

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

CHAPTER

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

CHAPTER

11-17
18-31
32-47
48-63
64-77

Warners Index of Status Characteristics

(ISC)

21

Score
Occupation

CHAPTER

Characteristics
Source of
House
Income
Type

Dwelling Area

Professionals and proprietors of large businesses

Inherited
wealth

Excellent
houses

Very high: Gold Coast,

North Shore, etc.

Semiprofessionals &
officials of large businesses

Earned
wealth

Very good

High: better suburbs &

apartment house areas

Clerks and kindred

workers

Profits &
fees

Good houses

Above average: areas all residential,

space around houses, apartments in
good condition

Skilled workers

Salary

Average

Average: residential neighborhoods,

houses no deterioration

Proprietors of small
businesses

Wages

Fair houses

Below average: area beginning to

deteriorate, business entering

Semiskilled workers

Private relief

Poor houses

Low: considerably deteriorated, run

down and semi-slum

Unskilled workers

Public relief &

nonrespectable
income

Very poor
houses

Very low: slum

Warners 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

CHAPTER

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
Score $3,000
Under
15

Education
Category

Occupation
Category

Score

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

*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

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

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
CHAPTER

Positioning and Social Class Segments

26

CHAPTER

Perceived Social Class Appeal

27

CHAPTER