Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning pdf ebook

Socio-economic characteristics
Factors such as income, occupation, terminal education age and social class have been popu-
lar with researchers for similar reasons to demographics: they are easy to measure and can 
be directly related back to media research for media selection purposes. More importantly, 
the underlying belief in segmenting markets by social class is that the different classes are 
expected to have different levels of affluence and adopt different lifestyles. These lifestyles 
are, in turn, relevant to marketing-related activity, such as propensity to buy certain goods 
and services. Socio-economic measures are best seen in the use of social class groups.
Marketing researchers use several social class stratification schemes. The scheme used in 
the United Kingdom by the Market Research Society is presented in Table 7.1.
For many marketing purposes, the top two and bottom two classes are combined to 
give a four-group standard classification by social class: AB, C1, C2, DE. In the United 
States, several alternative social class schemes have been used for segmentation purposes 
(see Frank et al., 1972). The most widely adopted, however, is that proposed by Warner, 
1960 (see Table 7.2).
Social class has been used as a surrogate for identifying the style of life that individuals 
are likely to lead. The underlying proposition is that consumers higher up the social scale 
tend to spend a higher proportion of their disposable income on future satisfactions (such 
as insurance and investments), while those lower down the scale spend proportionately 
more on immediate satisfactions. As such, socio-economic class can be particularly useful in 
identifying segments in markets such as home purchase, investments, beer and newspapers.
The financial services industry makes extensive use of socio-economic groups for mar-
keting, such as developing pensions and life assurance products aimed at particular social 
groups. One company is launching an occupational annuity to pay a higher pension to those 
in stressful or unhealthy jobs. Premiums and terms for private health insurance are partly 
determined by social class groupings (Gardner, 1997).
However, as with the demographic characteristics discussed previously, it is quite pos-
sible that members of the same social class have quite different purchase patterns and 

---

181
SEGMENTING CONSUMER MARKETS
Occupation groups
A
Approximately 3 per cent of the total population. These are professional people, very senior 
managers in business or commerce or top-level civil servants. Retired people, previously grade 
A, and their widows.
B
Non- 
manual
Approximately 20 per cent of the total population. Middle-management executives in large 
organisations, with appropriate qualifications. Principal officers in local government and civil 
service. Top management or owners of small business concerns, educational and service 
establishments. Retired people, previously grade B, and their widows.
C1
Approximately 28 per cent of the total population. Junior management, owners of small 
establishments, and all others in non-manual positions. Jobs in this group have very varied 
responsibilities and educational requirements. Retired people, previously grade C1, and their 
widows.
C2
Manual
Approximately 21 per cent of the total population. All skilled manual workers, and those manual 
workers with responsibility for other people. Retired people, previously grade C2, with pensions 
from their job. Widows, if receiving pensions from their late husband’s job.
D
Approximately 18 per cent of the total population. All semi-skilled and unskilled manual 
workers, apprentices and trainees to skilled workers. Retired people, previously grade D, with 
pensions from their job. Widows, if receiving a pension from their late husband’s job.
E
Approximately 10 per cent of the total population. All those entirely dependent on the state long 
term, through sickness, unemployment, old age or other reasons. Those unemployed for a period 
exceeding six months (otherwise classify on previous occupation). Casual workers and those 
without a regular income. Only households without a chief income earner will be coded in this 
group.
Source: The Market Research Society.