The implications of consumer behavior for marketing A case study of social class at Sainsbury

This particular research is aimed at finding the marketing implication of influence of social class on consumer behavior for Sainsbury. Social classes differ in respect of behaviors, attitudes, and preferences. To investigate the consumer behavior and social class relationship, triangulation methodology has been adopted. A sample of 75 consumers of Sainsbury has been selected through convenience sampling. A questionnaire has been designed to collect data from sample. The findings showed that most of the respondents belonged to middle and lower social classes. The research found that middle and lower classes spend major part of their income on food and necessities of life whereas upper class spends its income on luxuries. It has been found that upper class uses internet for getting information about products and services of Sainsbury. Middle class uses televisions and newspaper for getting information about products and services of company. Upper class has more intentions of online shopping as compared to other classes. Upper classes have more attitude of investing in profitable projects. It has been found that lower and middle classes use credit cards for shopping and take bank loans for fulfilling their needs. Marketers can identify needs and preferences of different social classes from results of this particular research. Research has been limited to the findings only which have been collected from a small sample.

Chapter 2.5, Social Class and Leisure Activities:
Leisure activities are those activities that are other than the usual work. It depends on the individual choice and preference that where he/she wants to spend leisure time. Individuals in different social classes have different preferences about spending leisure time. Burdge (1969) has found that different social classes differ in their leisure activities which basically depend on the social activities of individuals. Members of social classes that have different occupations and involvement in the social groups have different preferences for spending leisure time. As the involvement in occupation increases, preference of leisure activities changes (Burdge, 1969). It has been analyzed by Young (2003) that upper social classes spend their leisure time in activities which involve high expenditures such as at golf clubs or tennis fields. Individuals of each social class spend their leisure activities with their peers. He concludes that social strata differs have different leisure activities because they belong to different groups.
2.6 Living style:
Living styles of individuals in different social classes vary from each other. Variation in the lifestyles of individuals is one of the reasons of changed consumer behaviors of different social classes (Solomon, 2004). Individuals are grouped into different classes on the basis of standards of employment and income levels (Solomon, 2004). Individuals in each social class have a distinct lifestyle which assists them in satisfaction of their cognitive self image. To become fit in a particular lifestyle it becomes important for individuals to possess a specific consumer behavior different from others.
[...]
2.10 Summary of Chapter:
Social classes are basically stratification of societies into different groups on the basis of occupation, income and material wealth. Basically a society can be divided into three main classes. These are: upper class, middle class and lower class. Upper class has pool of resources and is given high social status. Lower class has limited resources and is given low social status. Consumer behavior is basically the process through which people purchase, consume, and dispose of goods and services. This process varies across different social classes because income differences in these classes are very prominent. Literature discussed has suggested that lower social class shops less frequently because it has limited resources. Upper social classes have more frequency of shopping. Individuals in different social classes exhibit different patterns of shopping. Previous researchers have proved that lower classes tend to go towards discount stores for shopping. Upper social classes tend to shop from specialty stores. Some researchers have proved that upper social classes have more positive attitude for online shopping as compared to that of lower classes. This is because upper social class is more exposed to internet media. Three effects have been discussed in the literature regarding social classes consumer behavior. These are conspicuous consumption, status float behavior and trickledown effect. Conspicuous affect is that when consumers buy expensive goods and services. Status float affect is that when upper social classes copy the consumer behavior of lower classes. Trickledown effect is opposite to status float in which lower classes copy the consumer behavior of upper classes in order to gain social acceptability. Literature has also discussed social class structure of United Kingdom. In United Kingdom social classes have been defined on the basis of occupation. Professionals, managers, and workers compose social structure of United Kingdom. Findings of some previous researchers regarding consumer behavior of different social classes have been extensively discussed.