Social class is the division of society made up of people possessing certain common social characteristics (lecture slideshow)
The groups include: UPPER UPPER MIDDLE MIDDLE MIDDLE LOWER MIDDLE WORKING CLASS UPPER LOWER CLASS POVERTY CLASS
Most people think that class is all to do with the amount of money someone has in the bank. That is not true. It is said that class is dictated by money, education (qualifications), occupation and family background. Someone can be born into a specific class and change into a different class when they have grown up later in life. Someone originally born in a working class family with a Northern Accent who recently became a millionaire is not automatically upper class. This is because he/she would still speak like a working class citizen, dress like one and act like one. Similarly, someone who is born upper class and later on in life fails miserably in a job and declares bankrupt is not automatically categorised as working class because he/she would still speak the Queen's English, eat the same, and act the same.
This video was shown during the lecture which generalises the stereotypes and descriptions of each class.
Mintel also shows the socio economic groups A (Upper Middle) B (Middle Class) C1 (Lower Middle) C2 (Skilled Working) D (Working Class) E (Lower Class)
This next video shows the stereotypical family of each class. Working class families tend to have a lot more children than upper and middle. Middle class families have 1-2, and upper class families have 2-3.
During the Lecture, 3 boards were also made by sticking images out of newspapers and magazines which related to each class. The board for working/lower class consisted of cheap cars, cheap supermarkets, discount phones, the Labour party candidate Gordon Brown, Football and teen pregnancies. These all were seen to relate to the working class as they tend to be interested in these things. Football is there main sport and along with it on the board came an article on a father dying during a match as an opposing fan had thrown a bin on him. This too relates to this class as there is usually more violence and swearing. Cheaper phones and cars come into the equation as this is what they can afford.
The middle class however, are in between. They like luxuries, but they also like there discounts. They also tend to copy the upper class a bit by trying to seem a bit more well off. A lot of middle class families can now afford to send their children to private schools if the state school in their catchment area is struggling. They also tend to buy nice cars but balance it out with modest food and holidays.
Upper class includes luxury cars, big houses and a favourite sport of Rugby, Tennis and golf. This is a contrast to the working class who are favourable to football. There children almost all go to private schools in which some board and their holidays are usually extravagant.
A charity assignment was held in which primary research was carried out in my group. Three focus groups were carried out; one with over 30s and one with under 30s. One method in acquiring the information was with the use of focus groups which is a controlled group interview consisting between 4 and 15 brought together with a moderator to focus on a specific product or topic. BusinessDictionary.com (2010)
Each Group was asked these Questions:
1.) Do you ever give to charity? 2.) What charities do you support? 3.) Why? 4.) How do you donate? 5.) Are there any charities you would never donate money to? 6.) Do you have any concerns about charities? 7.) What would make you give more money to charities? 8.) How do you react to direct mail from charities asking you for money? 9.) Which charity ad campaigns have the most effect on you?
Under 30s Focus Group 1 *This focus group was held at Brooke Street halls which included 8 students *There were 3 girls and 5 boys ranging from the ages of 18 to 21 *Girls generally were more opinionated and passionate where as the boys were more light-hearted.
What they thought... *The Majority said that they hardly ever gave to charity. *The only candidate in which regularly gives to charity was a vegetarian girl who supported animals (RSPCA) *If they did donate it was with the use of collection boxes at shop tills *Almost everyone said the animal charities were the least important, except for the vegetarian girl of course *Their main concern was whether their money actually would reach the victim *Things that would make them give more money would be campaigns in which aim towards their age group and nothing that was boring. As well as not having monthly payments. *They don't pay attention to direct mail *Emotional adverts about children had the most effect on them e.g. Barnados. Apart from this, the vegetarian girl found the animal advertisements more disturbing.
Over 30s Focus Group 1 Here there were two smaller groups held, one with 6 individuals and one with 4. One group was predominately men and the other was women Women again, generally were more emotionally attached to the matter where as men were more practical about it.
What they thought... *They all regularly gave to charity *The women mainly gave to Cancer Research where as the men gave to Salvation Army. One man gives to the Poppies Charity which occurs once a year *Cancer Research was popular for this age group due to it directly affecting them. *Salvation Army was a place for donation because of the English soilders and incurable kids *Cancer Research too was one they supported as they buy brooches and give to collection boxes as well as donate clothes to charity shops. For the Salvation army, the cash is given straight to them. *Most of them would not give to a charity that goes abroad and some said animal charities because they do not trust where the money is going *They would give more if they knew exactly where the money was going. And one said there was nothing they could do to give more *They are not interested in direct mail and bin it *Children’s charities had the most effect as a campaign
Over 30s Focus Group 2 *Most of them said they occasionally gave to charity and one man said seldomly *Charities in which were donated to was usually Cancer Research, the blind and whatever they were interested at the time *Ways in which money was donated were usually with the use of collection boxes (in his restaurant), or the internet for the tsunami which occurred. *Charities in which did not interest them were animal charities (especially horses for one of the men) *One main concern is if the money actually goes where it is meant to. *Another is that charities have high administration costs such as the Salvation Army, and too much of the money is spent on admin. *Also, one man said that Cancer research needs to get rid of their older workers and get some new younger people in. *They all bin their direct mail and consider it junk mail *They are most affected by natural disasters such as Tsunamis, as well as Cancer
The Charity we chose was the Variety Club. They specialise in helping by which providing care for sick, disabled and disadvantaged children and young people. They have been running for the past 60 years, they have successfully raised £200 million and improved the lives of more than 1 million young people
The Event consited of a Pyjama Run which we targeted university students. The reason behind this was because over 30s were hard to get a hold of in the area. This is especially due to the time of day the run was planned to be held (3:00pm). Turning it around, because through the use of Focus Groups it was found that over 30s were more likely to give to charity, we had devised a Sponsor sheet whereby each runner would be sponsored by people (mainly over 30s, i.e mum, dad, lecturers). Also from the Focus Groups done, it was found that the under 30s were more likely to participate in sometimes or volunteering for charity oppose to donating the money themselves as they do not have much. This combines the two groups together, allow both parties to be happy.
Marketing methods included posters around the Halls of Residence and University. A Facebook Group page as this is very popular amongst this age group. As well as word of mouth through fellow students.
Overall, I would have said that the event was a success as we raised 170 pounds in total for the Variety Club. Areas which I would have wished to improve on, would have been in the advertising of the event. Instead of making a Facebook group solely, we should have made a Facebook Event page where the run would be automatically listed in their events and reminders would be automatically put up as the date gets closer. This is because a lot of people forgot about the event closer to the time even though I had sent everyone in the group a message reminder.
Family Purchasing habits are similar throughout. Usually women are in charge of the general household purchases. 80% of UK purchasing decisions are made by women where as 83% of 'creatives' are men.
There are different types of family: Nuclear Family- This consists of a father, a mother and children who all live together Extended Family- This is a nuclear family, however including other relatives such as grandparents and cousins. Family of Orientation- This is the family someone is born into Family of Procreation- This is the family founded through marriage.
Family Facts 1971-2008 the proportion of households in which actually owned their house rose from 49 per cent to 71 per cent. Most of these increases occurred during the 1980s. This was due to a marked increase in the proportion of households owning with a mortgage at the same time.
Also in recent years more and more women are working whilst brining up their children. Also, women are getting married later which means they are getting children later as they want to start a career first.
In 2008, there were more women from the ages of 16 - 17 who worked then men. This changes however, and more men are working from 18 - 64 years of age, however the reverse happens again from the ages of 60-65 and over where there are more women working.
Also, figures from 2008, it is shown that more than two thirds of working women with dependent children became employed in the second quarter of 2008. Usually the younger the child, the lower the employment rate for the mother. Working-age mothers with kids under 5, only 57 % of them were employed.
Factors which affect the Family Needs -Number of children (and their ages) -Whether one or two of the parents are employed outside the house
Family Life Cycle concept consists of - income, family composition, changing demands on income -
These are the different possible Titles: 1.Bachelor - This is someone who is young, single, not living at home 2.Newly married - They are Young and with no children 3.Full Nest I - Have their youngest child at under 6 years 4.Full Nest II - Have their youngest child at 6 years or over 5.Full Nest III - Tend to be Older married with dependent children 6.Empty Nest I - Are older married, have no children and living at home 7.Empty Nest II - Older married, retired, no children living at home 8.Solitary Survivor I In labour force 9.Solitary Survivor II Retired
Above is the family Life Cycle, as clearly shown, everyone starts off young and single. This then moves on to 'Young and married without children'; from here they can go either way between 'Young and Divorced' or 'Young married with children'. The cycle goes on, similarly to the different possible titles above the diagram. The amount of disposable income each stage has in the cycle changes. From being young with no children, there tends to be more disposable income as money is usually spend on themselves and on leisure. Once children come into the picture, money is more focused on them and perhaps having to move into a larger house, etc. This stays the same up until someone becomes Older, married without dependant children. This affects their shopping habits on certain products. More money is spent on leisure and luxuries when there is more disposable income and more is spent on food and commodities with families who have children.
Different Family Roles Field (1969) identified three dimensions to which determine the relative influences of a husband, a wife and a child. They are: -Discernment or technical know how -Price - expensiveness which relates to who pays for the item -Satisfaction which relates who will use the item
(Family Lecture Notes-Slideshow)
In a typical family, the father/male is the one who usually keeps track of the family's bills. However familys with stay and home mothers (male is the breadwinner) tend to have it the other way around to help their husbands out.
In the traditionally viewed family, the man is the one who usually earns the money whilst the woman tends to spend it. Nowadays, men and women both work and both spend their own money. This is a shared participation. Still, the men tend to spend/contribute more to daily expenses oppose to women.
Usually, the cultural background will decide the dominance of husband or wife. In eastern Arabian countries and Asia, almost always once married, the wife is dominated by the husband. In more developed countries such as the US or some countries in Europe, both the male and female are equally in control.
Who Shops For What: Women are the ones who shop more (Women 75% men 53%) Men are more likely to do DIY (Men 46%, Women 26%) Men are more likely to have shopped online (Men 58%, Women 48%) Around twice the number of men had bought computer software and hardware and electronic equipment) Women shopped on line for groceries (Women 24%, Men 17%)
Different Roles of a husband and Wife: Wives are usually in charge of the Food and Kitchen ware etc Husband is usually in the hardware and technology etc Joint Decisions include TVs, Fridges, Vacations etc
According to French Research by Taylor Nelson Sofres, In this current time men now have the least say in everyday items where as the women and chilren have the most. These inclue Video games, dishwashers, cookers etc.
Products Women are interested in and in charge of usually: Water Coffee Yoghurt Cheese Hygiene Products Shampoo Soap Toothpaste Men's underwear
Products Men are interested in and are in charge of usually: Beer Wine Shaving cream
This distinctly proves how women have more control in everyday shopping and decision making. Men are only interested in a small number of products in which they specifically use for themselves. When it comes to products for both or the whole family, the women are usually in charge of. Even the women are the buyers for the men underwear. The only time of year where men have more say on food is during Christmas where the men tend to contribute a fair amount with the Christmas dinners.
This advert is clearly aimed at women. Not only is the lead, former Spice girl Emma Bunton but also most of the celebrities in it are from day time television which appeal more to women. In contrast, the advert below (released in 2008) is aimed at men or the older generation of men and women. It combines humour as well as a man role model, 'Des O'Connor' The reason this one is aimed at both is again because during Christmas men have more contribution to what gets bought for the dinners and parties.
My Definition This is the voluntary movement of an object (presents e.g flowers, clothes, toys, food) from one individual to another without wanting anything in return.
Web Definition: A voluntary transfer of property or of a property interest from one individual to another, made gratuitously to the recipient. The individual who makes the gift is known as the donor, and the individual to whom the gift is made is called the donee.
If a gratuitous transfer of property is to be effective at some future date, it constitutes a mere promise to make a gift that is unenforceable due to lack of consideration. A present gift of a future interest is, however, valid.
Reasons why people give gifts: 1.) For a celebration or event These include Birthdays, Halloween, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Mother & Fathers day, Anniversaries, etc. Gifts are not essential to give during these moments however it reinforces the fact that they are celebrating the event with each other.
2.)To show someone how important they mean to ourselves An example may include a boyfriend giving their girlfriend a new pair of earrings. They do this because they enjoy seeing their partner excited and happy about their new present.
3.)Giving a part of ourselves with the gift Usually when people receive gifts, they get the expectations, values, emotions and hopes too. This helps to link two people even closer together. It makes you feel good about yourself.
This video above shows the problems within gift giving. Nowadays, people's expectations and hopes for gifts are really high and with big events like birthdays and Christmases it is highly expected to receive gifts. This video points out that because expectations are so high, people get disappointed and therefore friction happens between people.
At the time my parents were younger, they used to only receive one birthday and one Christmas present which used to be small such as new shoes, a bicycle, a toy however, now, children in this day and age ask for and get a number of expensive items at the same time. These include laptops, ipods and speakers, a number of clothes, perfume, shoes, etc. Gift giving culture has changed significantly. People are now overspending on each other even though they struggle to afford it. Below is an advertisement which came out during 2009 Christmas time by John Lewis:
Each person in the advert, is shown a gift that would best suit them. Businesses create the hype over spending ridiculous amounts on each other during celebrations and events. Here it is obviously Christmas which is why they are trying to attract people to buy presents from them. Events which never used to happen are now popular and over commercialised. This includes Halloween, Mother and Fathers day, Easter, etc. Most of these never even existed during the time my parents where young. They have either been invented or exaggerated for commercial purposes.
For holidays such as Easter comes Easter Eggs, Baskets, Bunny Costumes and cards on top of the traditional Easter roast. This is all unnecessary money being spent. People still do so as they find it fun and treat it as a ritual.
Last year:
The average amount a Brit spent during Christmas was £435
£170 is what is spent by an average British family for a Christmas diner.
1.7billion Christmas cards are sent each year in Britain.
There was 83square km of wrapping paper that ended up in UK rubbish bins (this is enough to wrap up the island of Guernsey)
£8.9bn will be spent by shoppers online this coming Christmas (according to the Centre for Retail Research)
My definition of 'Tween': They are a group of young children from the ages of 6 to about 12. They are not quite kids however, no where near adults or teenargers. They tend to follow the crowd and they are easily influenced.
Web Definition: A tween is a child between the ages of 9 and 12. A tween is no longer a little child, but not quite a teenager. While a tween is not yet in the midst of adolescence, he or she will face a variety of obstacles in the next few years including transitioning from elementary school to middle school, approaching puberty, increasing responsibilities, increasing amounts of homework, and exposure to dangerous behaviors by their peers including drugs, sex, and more.
Nowadays, parenting has changed significantly when it comes to their children's leisure and education. More people now can afford private education, children are more demanding meaning parents result to spending more money on toys, clothes, gadgets and food. There is this sort of feeling where parents want to give their children what they could not have or never had. Therefore there is this new trend where parents even compete with other parents on who gives the best for their children.
Another reason why this occurs is the feeling of guilt. A Television Program called 'Jo Frost: Extreme Parenting Guidance' on E4 shows the struggles within parenting where children begin to control their parents and need a behaviour change. The particular Episode I had watched was about a mother spending thousands of pounds for her 9 year old daughter by buying designer clothing and now having to resort to selling her house. A survey was done in the show, where most parents spoilt their children due to guilt for not being home as much as they liked or not spending enough family time together.
What Tweens are interested in: -The best brands out there (e.g. best brand of trainers) -Perfume and make up -Princesses and heroes (knights, batman etc) -Food -Best stationary -Best technology (nintendos DS, Wii, XBOX, Plasma TV) -Being stylish (best clothes, best bedrooms) etc.
Businesses and marketers have caught on to this trend and now have a market dedicated to the Tween generation. Toys alone, add up to a £2.2 bn industry. (Mintel) This means making their products appealing to that age range. Bright colours, bold text, funny advertisements,easy to understand advertisements or even an advert that would suggest that the child would be cool after buying the product are all factors which would encourage a tween to want the product. At this age, they tend to want to look cool and stand out. The most critical factor into making a product the 'it' product is the tween version of 'word-of-mouth' advertising which is called 'alphapups' which is where specific children in the palyground are the greatest influence on others.
Some of the biggest companies in which play in the Tweens market include Disney, BarryM makeup, Addidas, Hannah Montana, Jonas Brothers and more. This link below shows just how much of an influence Hannah Montana is to the tween nation today. The Article claims to have crowned her the 'New Queen of Tween', following the footsteps of the Olsen Twins. It shows how she has landed on the Billboard's list of the 20 top earning artists of 2007 and with the Number 11 spot adding up to $64 million solely from her CD sales and tour receipts. Disney now has launched 140 items of Hannah Montana Merchandise which inlcude clothes, watches bedding, luggage, shoes, make up, spa kits and toys.
Different MARCOMS methods used in order to reach the Tween market include print ads in children's magazines such as Shout, Sugar, Girl Power, Mania, Little Angel, etc. Radio television also occurs on local radio stations as well as big nation-wide ones. This usually occurs when a movie is coming out or when concert tickets are on sale or able to be won. Although tweens don't usually sit there and listen to the radio, they do however, go in and out of rooms where perhaps their older sibling or parent are listening to it. Here, they are able to hear the advert or even the parent may take note and compete for their child. Billboards and posters are big especially when a movie is coming out, children on their way to the city for a day of shopping can see this from the car or even around the local town.
Pester Power is now largely used my tweens in order for their parents to get them what they want. Below is a definition from the Cambridge dictionary online:
pester power noun
the ability that children have to make their parents buy something, by asking for it many times until they get it
Tweens now know that if their parents say no to buying something; they have to behave nicely so their parents will acknowledge it and then buy them the product. Parents tend to give in to PESTER power as they feel it will shut their kids up or beleive the reasons why the child wants it for example 'Every other child on the playground having it'.
The video above, is an advert for Barbie beach dolls. The way in which this ad would relate to a tween is firstly, the girl driving the car is on quite a teenager yet, but not a child. The vibe of the advert makes the barbies look cool, and as if they have having a blast. TV shows such as Laguna Beach and the Hills relate to this. Tweens would have watched these shows and seen that hanging out on a beach wearing bikinis and drinking is cool so barbie as followed through with the advert.
Usually, the tweens favourite music groups include famouse disney singers or singers who started off in a Disney program. Some include the Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Ashley Tisdale, Vanessa Hudgens and more. One very popular singer currently started off on Youtube, which too, children go on these days. His name is Justin Bieber, he was found by the famous RnB artist, Usher and is now on the top of the billboards and charts around the world. Below was Justin's first single which straight away brought him to the top of the charts. Tweens all over the world are now in love with the new star. In this video, Justin uses the iphone, which may result to tweens asking their parents for that very phone.
I feel that advertising to tweens is relatively safe, if regulated carefully. They tend to be easily influenced which means advertising products such as McDonalds or other unhealthy products are and should remain heavily regulated. McDonalds is not allowed to me advertised on children's television channels any more. Using a young teenager or a child to advertise is different, on the other hand. It is harmless up to the stage where the child is put under enormous pressure to behave in an acceptable way because so many young fans look up to them. At the end of the day, they are human as well, and too, grow up and make mistakes. Two examples of this include the famouse Zoey101 star on Nickelodeon; Jamie Lynn Spears (sister of Britney Spears). She was a role model for a lot of tweens around the world but fell pregnant and now has lost her acting job. Another, is Miley Cyrus' leaked images on the internet which portray her in a sexual way. http://www.celebrity-gossip.net/celebrities/hollywood/miley-cyrus-faces-more-leaked-pics-204770 This link includes an article and a short video on the leaked images.
What The Course will be about -How customers perceive products and what businesses do in order to attract their target market as well -Different means of advertising relating to the specific target group -The different advertising groups and markets -The different groups and class of people and how businesses differ when advertising specifically to them -The different use of languange and images in order to stimulate different groups of people and genders
What blogs will contain Each blog may contain general information about the blogging topic, in depth research into the topic as well as useful videos and pictures in which relate to the topic along with some description of each link.
What I Hope to Gain from Blogging Other than the obvious, a better grade, i hope to gain a better understanding of the subject and areas of the subject. Doing the blogs would have helped me to find the different topic areas in the course a lot easier and hopefully to help improve my assignment grade. Blogging too, is fun, which will allow me to learn at the same time as enjoying myself. The fact that blog do not particularly have to be formal allows me to express myself more as well as add in a little bit of humour to it. The ability to add pictures and videos make it a lot more personal and make explaining myself easier.
Some famous and successful Bloggers:
One very well known blogger in the fashion world who has appeard in numerous magazines, fashion publications and even gets front tickets to a lot of major fashion shows around the world is 'Tavi Gevinson'. She is a thirteen year old American girl who started her blog at the age of 11. Her parents had no idea what she was doing until she had asked for permission to appear in the New York Times. She now has as many as 50,000 readers following her. She was invited as a special guest for New York Fashion week, and is even lucky receives free designer clothes, shoes and accessories.
What Makes a Blog Successful? -Write frequently and are well written -To have consistency -To have an easy to read and well designed blog -Easy to use -Have varied topics which too need to make sense -To be open -To be responsive -to be aware of its audience -To be Honest -To be funny
All these factors help to create a successful and popular blog which will lead to a higher number of blog followers.
Why Do People Blog? -To make money -To help search engine rankings -To connect with others -As a hobby because they simply enjoy it -To create an outlet
Why do businesses blog?
It is a low-cost alternative to having a web presence. For small businesses, they would not have to learn web html or spend the money to hire a designer/or developper. It is an inexpensive method to get your company's name out on the itnernet.
Updating the weblog is quicker than contacting a web designer for making changes to a website.
Gizmodo which is a weblog about gadgets and gizmos for peopel who like to be on the cutting edge of consumer electronics. Some of the blogs include ones of the recently launched iPad and the amazing new specialised watch which has fragments of fossilized dino bones set in its dial, and is encased in 18K white gold with 56 diamonds equating to 3.46 carats.
Below is a video of Tavi Gevinson, interviewing the designer Rodarte. This shows the types of things successful bloggers include in their blogs and the types of topics and questions they ask as well as the extent of how in depth the research is.
My definitions: Memory: This is anything from someone's past which is remembered, this could be a significant event or simply a smell or a sentence.
Nostalgia: Is something (smell, country, event, picture, etc) that reminds one of past events during childhood in which make them want to go back and re-live those moments.
Web Definitions:
Memory: -something that is remembered -the cognitive processes whereby past experience is remembered -the power of retaining and recalling past experience; -the area of cognitive psychology that studies memory processes; wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
Nostalgia: A sentimental yearning to return to an earlier time remembered as happier or more pleasant, or a former place evoking happy memories; a longing to experience again a former happy time; as, a nostalgia for the brotherhood of the Woodstock music festival; a nostalgia for the comradeship of one's college friends. http://define.com/nostalgia
My Mood Board achieving nostalgia:
Above, my board shows a lot of my childhood, growing up around asia as well as Dubai. Most of my strong memories come from living in Indonesia and seeing the poverty as well as eating the food there. The Jakarta riots of 1993 was a big thing as my family and I had to evacuate the country. Some of my memories are of places in England where my family live, Devon. We used to stay in Beacon Lodge and go to pebble beach.
Reactions to feeling Nostalgic: Sometimes people's emotions can change. Being nostalgic can bring about happiness, anger, regret or even sadness. Another thing is that people's accents or the way they speak may change. Their tone of voice too may change to suit the mood of the memory.
Nostalgic Advertisements:
This advert here, is targeted at older women and men with middle incomes. The reason for this is that it is John Lewis, which is considered expensive to other department stores. The music in the background - Sweet Child of mine was written by the Guns N Roses in 1987, which is around the time they were a child. The children unwrapping presents creates a sense of childhood fun as they remember opening their presents and how much more en-joyful christmas used to be as a child.
This second advertisement too is nostalgic to people aged 40 and above.
In this advertisement, the background music is a clear reason for being nostalgic. The song is Claire by Gilbert O'Sullivan and was released in 1946. The little boy running around freely in the sea and on the beach brings people back to the days as a child where they used to have fun without televisions and technology. Later, we see the boy run to hug his mother for and with full force, hits his head on her chest; luckily her breasts were there to protect his head. This is linked with the car's airbag and how driving freely, you can still be safe.
