Example Of Essay On Social Class's Effect on Consumption
Social Class’s Effect on Consumption (138)
Social class effects the family’s ability to spend in major ways. First, a person’s social class is effected by how much money they make and people with more money to spend consume more. If someone gets a raise, they might go from a one television to two-television household with cable. People with lower incomes have to a larger portion of their income on necessities, such as food and clothing. A person who lost their job might start shopping at discount stores.
Social classes tend to be self-contained. Meaning, low-income people live, work and shop around other low income people and affluent people live, work, and shop around other affluent people. They’re more likely to see what the other people own and want to make similar purchases. This is the whole, “keeping up with the Jones’s” mentality – people want what their neighbors have. If someone sees their neighbor buy a pool, they might buy a pool so that they don’t fee left out or “less than” their neighbors of the same social class.
Sometimes, people want what the social classes above them have. They think that it will make them appear, and even feel, more affluent. For example, a secretary might see his boss using an iPhone 6. Then he buys an iPhone 6, even though he can’t really afford it, because he wants to look and feel as successful as his boss.
Consumption in my House
In my family, growing up, everyone took turns being the influencer, depending on what the item was. Everyone was a user. My mother was the buyer, decider and gatekeeper for small purchases, such as groceries. For larger purchases, such as computers, my father was the decider and gatekeeper. Even when my father made the decisions, my mother was almost always the one doing the buying.
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