CHAPTER 2 Theoretical Conceptions of the Role of the Criminal Defence Lawyer: The ‘Zealous Advocate’ Model
3. A Coherent Theoretical Conception: The ‘Zealous Advocate’ Model
3.1 The Duty to the Client
3.1.3 The Principle of Confidentiality
In spite of the many approaches used to measure social classes, there are a number of problems with the concept of doing this. The following are
a few of the problem areas often associated with social-class measurement done by marketers.
• The ranking of social class based simply upon an average of the person’s position on several status dimensions. This ignores the inconsistencies which arise from an individual ranking high on one
dimension but low on another.
• A person’s social class is assumed to be stable, and thus the effects of mobility are ignored.
• An individual identifies only with the social class in which she or he
is categorized, thus ignoring reference-group effects from other classes.
• The social class of an entire family may be measured by examination of characteristics of only the adult male wage earner, thus ignoring characteristics of other family members.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE
i. Explain the concept of Social Class and identify those variables that determine consumer’s Social Class status.
ii. How can Consumer Social class be measured?
4.0 CONCLUSION
Social class defines consumer status either in terms of occupation,
performance or even the group from which he/she belongs. Marketers need to understand the grouping of these classes and the bases in order to be able to designing an appealing market strategy that satisfied their needs and wants.
5.0 SUMMARY
In this unit we discuss the concept as well as the meaning of consumer social class that is the people who are similar in their behavior based upon their economic position in the market place. Several factors have
been identified as determinants social class such as Occupation, Personal performance, Interactions, Possessions and Value Orientations.
In measuring consumer social class three methods have been identified
that include; subjective method, reputation method and objective method.
6.0 TUTOR MARKED ASSIGNMENT
Enumerate problems that are likely to be encountered in measuring consumer’s social class.
Answer to Self Assessment Exercise 1
Social class is defined as grouping of people who are similar in their
behavior based upon their economic position in the market place.
Several factors have been identified as determinants of final consumer’s social class. These include:
Occupation: Consumer analysts consider occupation as the best single indicator of social class. The work consumers do greatly affects their lifestyles and is the single most important basis for according prestige,
honor, and respect.
Personal Performance: Consumer’s social class can also be influenced by her or his success relative to that of others in the same occupation-by
an individual’s personal performance. Personal performance also involves activities other than job-related pursuits. A reputation as a good
mother or a good father may contribute to one’s status.
Interactions: People fell most comfortable when they are with people of
similar values and behavior. In such an approach, group membership
and interactions are considered a primary determinant of a person’s social class.
Possessions: Possessions are symbols of class membership-not only the
number of possessions, but the nature of the choices made. The most important possession decision reflecting a family’s social class is the choice of where to live. This includes both the type of home and the neighborhood. Other possessions that serve as indicators of social status
include club memberships, preferred furniture styles, clothing, and appliances.
Value Orientations: Values-shared beliefs about how people should behave-indicate the social class to which one belongs. When a group of
people share a common set of abstract convictions that organize and relate a large number of specific attributes, it is possible to categorize an
individual in the group by the degree to which he or she possesses these values.
Answer to Self Assignment Exercise 2
Three methods have been identified for measuring consumer social
classes; subjective method, reputation method and objective method.
Subjective Method: In this approach, individuals are asked to rank
themselves in the social-class hierarchy. However, because most people are reluctant to categorize themselves as either lower or upper class, the middle class ends up with an unrealistically large share.
Reputation Method: This approach asks members of a community to rank each other in the status system. Because citizens must know each
other in order to rank each other, this approach is limited to small
communities and, therefore, cannot be widely used by marketers.
Objective Method: Individuals are ranked on the basis of certain objective factors (such as occupation and education) and are positioned
accordingly in the social-status hierarchy. For the marketer who is
seeking only suggestive evidence of class’s impact on a product area, a simplified, proxy measure is acceptable.
7.0 REFERENCES/ FURTHER READINGS
David L. and Albert J.D. (2002), Consumer Behaviour, New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill.
Del I.H. Roger J.B. and Kenneth A.C. (2001), Consumer Behaviour;
Building Marketing Strategy, New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Edward, J. and William J. (1963): Fundamentals of Marketing;
NewYork, Mc Graw-Hill, Inc.
Eric A. Linda P. and George Z. (2002), Consumer, New York: McGraw- Hill Irwin.
James F. E. Roger D.B and Paul W.M. (1990), Consumer Behaviour, U.S.A: The Dryden Press.
John A.H. and Jagdish N. S. (1969), Theory of Buyer Behaviour, New York: Wiley.
Robbins S.P. (2000), Organizational Behaviour, New Delhi: Precentice- Hall.