Deck 12: Income and Social Class

Question 1

Consumers who buy everything in sight are called ________.

A) tightwads
B) spendthrifts
C) justifiers
D) balancers

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Fred Johnson has worked hard all of his life to make a decent living for himself and his family. However, in recent years he has become obsessed with a fear of being ruined, either because of losing his job or losing all of his savings. According to clinical psychologists, Fred Johnson's fear of being ruined is equated to ________.

A) atephobia
B) harpaxophobia
C) peniaphobia
D) aurophobia

Answer 2

A

Question 3

________ refers to the passage of individuals from one social class to another.

A) Social class
B) Social affinity
C) Social mobility
D) Social prestige

Answer 3

C

Question 4

An economy that is driven by a fairly small number of rich people is called a plutonomy.

Question 5

Money available to a household over and above what is required to have a comfortable standard of living is called ________.

A) real income
B) overtime pay
C) discretionary income
D) average of earnings

Question 6

Mothers with preschool children are the fastest-growing segment of working people.

Question 7

The wealthiest 160,000 U.S. families are considered one percenters.

Question 8

Blue-collar workers with relatively high-prestige jobs consider themselves as ________.

A) upper middle class
B) working class
C) upper lower class
D) lower lower class

Question 9

A consumer's belief about what the future holds is an indicator of consumer confidence.

Question 10

Education is one determining factor in future income.

Question 11

Discretionary income is the money available to a household over and above that required for a comfortable standard of living.

Question 12

American spendthrifts outnumber American tightwads.

Question 13

A ________ is an economy that is driven by a fairly small group of rich people.

A) democracy
B) plutonomy
C) monarchy
D) homogany

Question 14

Social stratification refers to the creation of artificial divisions in a society.

Question 15

The best predictor of major expenditures that do not have status or symbolic value is ________.

A) social class
B) income
C) social class and income
D) occupation

Question 16

Which of the following is a determiner of how much a person will save (saving rate)?

A) The individual's own sense of optimism about his or her personal circumstances
B) The relationship between the lending prime rate and growth rates
C) World events such as wars
D) Cultural differences

Question 17

One percenters are an example of ________.

A) pay-pay ratio
B) income inequality
C) saving rate
D) plutonomy

Question 18

________ measures how optimistic or pessimistic people are about the future health of the economy and how they will fare in the future.

A) Income inequality
B) Credit score
C) Saving rate
D) Consumer confidence

Question 19

The average American's standard of living continues to improve. These income shifts are linked to two key factors: ________.

A) a shift from blue-collar to white-collar employment and an increase in computer usage
B) an increase in immigration to the U.S. and the increase of technical skills
C) a shift in women's roles and an increase in educational attainment
D) a shift in population from the North to South and advances in human rights

Question 20

Consumers who refuse to sacrifice style, but achieve it on a budget are called ________.

A) frugalistas
B) the mass class
C) the nouveau rich
D) social consumers

Question 21

Jim is considered a part of the upper middle class, while Marcos is considered part of the lower upper class. Jim and Marcos have been identified in terms of ________.

A) cultural capital
B) occupational prestige
C) social rank
D) social class

Question 22

Sandra decided to become a nurse after several years as an elementary teacher. She still wanted to help people but in a different manner. Sandra's case is an example of which of the following?

A) downward mobility
B) upward mobility
C) horizontal mobility
D) status crystallization

Question 23

Define discretionary income.

Question 24

Most groups exhibit a structure called a ________ in which some members are somehow better off than others in terms of authority, power, or respect.

A) status hierarchy
B) social array
C) social class
D) mass class

Question 25

A middle class person with an income at least 15 percent lower than the median middle class income, would be considered a(n) ________ consumer.

A) underprivileged
B) invidious
C) restricted
D) conspicuous

Question 26

A tendency for people to marry in a social class similar to their own is called ________.

A) homogamy
B) affluenza
C) social dating
D) social stratification

Question 27

The average American's standard of living continues to improve due to two key factors. What are these factors? Provide explanatory comments about each factor.

Question 28

With respect to social organization, some barnyard animals exhibit signs of a dominance-submission hierarchy. Which of the following terms best illustrates such a hierarchy?

A) dog-eat-dog
B) pecking order
C) social class
D) king-of-the-hill

Question 29

What is a factor that influences consumer savings.

Question 30

A person who receives rewards and status because of his hard work is said to have achieved ________ status.

A) nouveau riche
B) hierarchical
C) achieved
D) longitudinal

Question 31

Explain the term "nouveau riche."

Question 32

All of the following are important components of social class except for ________.

A) gender
B) income
C) educational attainment
D) occupational prestige

Question 33

Which of the following theorists is best known for arguing that an individual's relationship to the means of production determines his position in society?

A) Karl Marx
B) Max Weber
C) Horatio Alger
D) Thorstein Veblen

Question 34

Hundreds of millions of global consumers now enjoy a level of purchasing power that's sufficient to let them afford high-quality products-except for big-ticket items such as college educations, housing, or luxury cars. This consumer group, known as the ________, tend to buy affordable cars rather than luxury cars.

A) plutonomy
B) taste culture
C) leisure class
D) mass class

Question 35

The ability of a person to pass from one social class to another is called ________.

A) status hierarchy
B) plutonomy
C) hedonic adaption
D) social mobility

Question 36

________ describes consumers in terms of their aesthetic and intellectual preferences.

A) A restricted code
B) A taste culture
C) An elaborated code
D) Social culture

Question 37

Anna is a millionaire but she is constantly stressed and unhappy despite her wealth, Anna is experiencing ________.

A) burnout
B) class warfare
C) affluenza
D) cosmopolitanism

Question 38

It's cool to visit websites and blogs that celebrate frugality, such as Dollar Stretcher; stretcher.com, allthingsfrugal.com and Frugal Mom.

Question 39

Downward mobility is not possible is the U.S. social class system.

Question 40

Which of the following variables related to social class distinction is identified by the text as being unclear and the subject of debate with respect to its role as an indicator of social class?

A) occupation
B) education
C) amount of income
D) how income is spent

Question 41

Product complementarity occurs when the symbolic meanings of different products relate to one another.

Question 42

________ is a system in which we define people by what they do for a living.

A) Status hierarchy
B) Occupational prestige
C) Social prestige
D) Social class

Question 43

Explain what a credit score is and how it relates to social class.

Question 44

Explain the concept of social mobility and its various forms.

Question 45

Income is a better predictor of purchases that have symbolic aspects but low moderate prices.

Question 46

SRI Consulting Business Intelligence divides consumers into which of the following groups?

A) Luxury is functional
B) Luxury is a reward
C) Luxury is indulgence
D) All of the above

Question 47

________ are consumers who refuse to sacrifice style, but they achieve it on a budget.

A) Fashionistas
B) Frugalistas
C) Nouveau rich
D) Cosmopolitanism

Question 48

An example of social mobility is when a consumer moves from one social class to another.

Question 49

Amos always felt that it was unfair that society created artificial divisions that discouraged him from having friends from different social structures. Which of the following terms describes the process that Amos is having difficulty with?

A) reference group affiliation
B) bias
C) social anxiety
D) social stratification

Question 50

What are the two major components of social class? Explain and comment on each component (such as which is more important).

Question 51

Plutonomy is a term used to describe an economy that's driven by a fairly small number of rich people.

Question 52

Luminaries from Amazon, Google, and Twitter tend to use ________.

A) hedonic adaptation
B) glamping
C) social capital
D) cultural capital

Question 53

Fred has been a farmer all his life. He inherited the family farm when he was 35, but that was twenty years ago. Due to the economy, Fred has lost the farm and has taken a manual labor job in the city to support his family. What form of mobility best describes Fred's position?

A) horizontal mobility
B) two-way stretch mobility
C) downward mobility
D) upward mobility

Question 54

We tend to marry people in a similar social class to ours. Sociologists call this ________, or assortative mating.

A) hemophilia
B) homogamy
C) monogamy
D) cultural formatting

Question 55

W. Lloyd Warner is credited with creating the social class system still used in consumer behavior.

Question 56

Although there are many differences between social classes, almost all these differences can be summarized by the differences that income makes in a person's life.

Question 57

Explain how the relationship between England's class structure and consumption has recently begun to change.

Question 58

China's economic boom has created 130 million people in what social class?

A) upper-upper class
B) lower-upper class
C) upper-lower class
D) lower-middle class

Question 59

Samuel would like to use occupational prestige to measure social class, but his study is international, and prestige of occupation changes from one culture to the next.

Question 60

Which of the following phrases is the best illustration of homogamy?

A) opposites attract
B) birds of a feather flock together
C) leave no stone unturned
D) to the victor go the spoils

Question 61

What modern American ceremony would come closest in intent to a Native American potlatch?

A) a baptism
B) a marriage
C) a university graduation
D) the celebration ordered by a large company that has gained a new lucrative contract

Question 62

Social capital refers to an individual's knowledge of the "right" behavior used in the realm of the upper class.

Question 63

When a Rolls-Royce, a Cartier diamond, and an Andy Warhol painting are bought and displayed as markers of social class, they are ________.

A) social inhibitors
B) social parameters
C) status symbols
D) psychological blocks

Question 64

Harry was the lead singer in a band that hit it big. For his birthday, Harry had two hundred friends flown by chartered jets to a private island in the South Pacific. They ate the most expensive food, and every morning the bungalows were burned to the ground and rebuilt for the next night. Harry's party is a good example of ________.

A) parody display
B) social mobility
C) ascribed status
D) conspicuous consumption

Question 65

Lower-class men are more likely than middle-class men to have a general sense of empowerment.

Question 66

List the six social classes.

Question 67

Of the three groups of attitudes toward luxury, the largest group is "luxury is indulgence"; this view is held by those who demonstrate a family history of public service and philanthropy, and tangible markers of these contributions often enable donors to achieve a kind of immortality.

Question 68

According to Pierre Bourdieu, people's taste regarding entertainment and the arts serves as a status-making force or ________ that causes consumption preferences to cluster together.

A) habitus
B) code
C) hierarchy
D) chav

Question 69

Vance comes from the lower-upper class as does Jeff. They are both madly in love with Julia, who is beautiful enough to do part-time modeling. According to the principle of ________, Julia could be attracted to both men.

A) elaborated codes
B) ascribed status
C) homogamy
D) restricted codes

Question 70

The American rich often indulge in luxury goods while pinching pennies on everyday items.

Question 71

The lower classes use more restrictive codes than do the upper classes. How does this knowledge change the way insurance might be sold to a working-class man compared to an upper-class man?

A) The promotion to the working-class man should emphasize his immediate satisfaction in knowing that his family will be cared for, while the upper-class promotion should emphasize the long-term consequences of the choice.
B) The promotion to the working-class man should emphasize the long-term benefits of insurance, while the upper-class promotion should emphasize the short-term consequences of the choice.
C) The promotion to the working-class man should emphasize pictures while the upper-class promotion should emphasize words.
D) Both men would receive the same ad because elaboration codes have been found to be irrelevant to this product category.

Question 72

John Jones purchases products to show visible evidence of his ability to afford luxury goods, John is practicing ________.

A) brand prominence
B) conspicuous consumption
C) brand positioning
D) homogamy

Question 73

Evan was an aggressive, rich, and determined businessman originally from a working class family. He had become wealthier than he had ever imagined by buying and selling other businesses. Evan seemingly could do anything until he tried a hostile takeover of an established bank owned by several prestigious families. When his bid failed, Evan said "I always knew there was an elite, but up to now I thought I was part of it." What type of capital was Evan lacking?

A) economic
B) cultural
C) psychological
D) sociological

Question 74

The prestige of occupations varies dramatically from one culture to the next.

Question 75

Trisha grew up in a drug-ridden inner city neighborhood. Through sheer determination and intelligence, Trisha is now a medical doctor teaching on the staff of a large university hospital. Trisha is proud of what she has accomplished, but sometimes she feels stressed and uncertain of who she really is. The concept of ________ assesses the impact of such inconsistencies.

A) status crystallization
B) homogamy
C) habitus
D) invidious distinction

Question 76

Of the countries listed below, which is thought to be a highly brand-conscious society?

A) Canada
B) Japan
C) Brazil
D) Spain

Question 77

Jason is a marketing researcher working for a client who believes that social class will be an important segmenting device. Jason decides to find social class categories by simply asking respondents to pick their own category. Which of the following best supports Jason's approach?

A) Most Americans don't mind talking about social class but are usually inaccurate in determining their own categories.
B) American consumers generally have little difficulty accurately placing themselves in the lower-middle class or middle class.
C) American consumers are generally better able to identify their neighbors' social class than their own social class.
D) Most Americans will list the social class they wish to belong to rather than the one they actually occupy.

Question 78

A member of ________ has recently gained personal wealth and may experience status anxiety. Such individuals may try to display symbols of their success to make up for an internal lack of assurance about the "correct" way to behave.

A) an old money family
B) the taste culture
C) the nouveau riche
D) the mass class

Question 79

When people are differentiated in terms of their aesthetic and intellectual preferences, a ________ is being applied.

A) culture code designation
B) social cluster
C) taste culture
D) consumption constellation

Question 80

If a member of the upper class wore shredded Levi's jeans to a formal party, the person would be exhibiting a sophisticated form of conspicuous consumption known as ________.

A) parody display
B) invidious distinction
C) downsizing
D) status anxiety