Consumer Behavior – Exam 2 | Complete
Exam Notes on Consumption, Social Class,
Culture & Lifestyle|Verified Questions
Provided with A+ Graded Rationales Latest
Updated 2026
Expand definition of consumption
Economic view
- people buy goods and services to satisfy needs and wants
Sociocultural view
- people categorize and differentiate themselves and others
define social stratification
a society's rankings of people into categories that have differential access to valued resources
elaborate the concepts social categories and cultural rankings
social categories
- labels used to classify people (social classes, gender, generations)
-stable but socially constructed
cultural rankings
- socially constructed hierarchies between social categories
- shapes life an consumption
- dominant/aspirational
- subordinate/avoidance
define social class and its determinants
social class
- the relative rank of people in a society
- proxy: occupation
- economic cultural and social endowments
Economic capital
income + wealth
Social capital
, who someone knows + what they can do for them
cultural capital
knowledge + competences
- formal education
- family
social mobility
move from one class to another
- difficulty varies by country
lifestyle
combination of form of capital into a coherent set of preferences
- typically anchored in social class
examine major facts and trends in US income and wealth distribution
income
- doesn't include family wealth
- top 1% continues to increase
wealth
- assets
- more concentrated than income
what counts as poverty based on 2018
family of 4: <= 25465
individual: <= 13064
- 40 mil people met this
distinctive characteristics and consumption pattern of upper upper class
- family name
- inherited wealth
- stability + privacy
- cultural over economic capital
distinctive characteristics and consumption pattern of lower upper class
- new money
- income may be > upper upper
- achievement
- like change
Exam Notes on Consumption, Social Class,
Culture & Lifestyle|Verified Questions
Provided with A+ Graded Rationales Latest
Updated 2026
Expand definition of consumption
Economic view
- people buy goods and services to satisfy needs and wants
Sociocultural view
- people categorize and differentiate themselves and others
define social stratification
a society's rankings of people into categories that have differential access to valued resources
elaborate the concepts social categories and cultural rankings
social categories
- labels used to classify people (social classes, gender, generations)
-stable but socially constructed
cultural rankings
- socially constructed hierarchies between social categories
- shapes life an consumption
- dominant/aspirational
- subordinate/avoidance
define social class and its determinants
social class
- the relative rank of people in a society
- proxy: occupation
- economic cultural and social endowments
Economic capital
income + wealth
Social capital
, who someone knows + what they can do for them
cultural capital
knowledge + competences
- formal education
- family
social mobility
move from one class to another
- difficulty varies by country
lifestyle
combination of form of capital into a coherent set of preferences
- typically anchored in social class
examine major facts and trends in US income and wealth distribution
income
- doesn't include family wealth
- top 1% continues to increase
wealth
- assets
- more concentrated than income
what counts as poverty based on 2018
family of 4: <= 25465
individual: <= 13064
- 40 mil people met this
distinctive characteristics and consumption pattern of upper upper class
- family name
- inherited wealth
- stability + privacy
- cultural over economic capital
distinctive characteristics and consumption pattern of lower upper class
- new money
- income may be > upper upper
- achievement
- like change
