Impact of Branding on Social Class

Impact of Branding on Social Class BRANDING AND ITS IMPACT ON MIDDLE CLASS Introduction 1.1 BRAND What is a brand? The Oxford American Dictionary (1980) contains the following definition: Brand (noun): a trade mark, goods of a particular make: a mark of identification made with a hot iron, the iron used for this: a piece of burning or charred wood, (verb): to mark with a hot iron, or to label with a trade mark. A short history of brand The word ‘brand’ comes from the Old Norse ‘brandr’, meaning to burn. In pre-historic times when the initial phases of trade was coming to existence, it was by burning that early man stamped ownership on his commodity, and with the development of advanced trade of goods; buyers would use such marks (brands) as a means of distinguishing between the goods being transacted. For example a farmer with a particularly good reputation for the quality of his animals would find his brand much sought after, while the brands of farmers with a lesser reputation were to be avoided or treated with caution. Thus the utility of brands as a guide to choice was established, a role that has remained unchanged to the present day. With rapid and gradual advancement in the acknowledgement of brand for particular goods and commodity, people started vying for goods with a good reputation i.e. brand. With the elapse of time goods and brands have changed but the basic concept remains unchanged and it is ultimately brand that persuades a buyer to go for that product. And with the advanced and developed market situation, brand has become an identity not only for the company it represents but also of its customers. Brand itself has developed into a niche and people vie for that segregated population associated to that brand. Brand today holds a very specific position and top brands have today become a sense of class amongst the top notch people. People associated to a brand don’t go for the product but rather to the brand itself. And brand has set a platform to the people specially the elite class people as a way of differentiating themselves from others. But today with the financial strength of the overall population brand has become a favorite among the middle class population as well. Middle class population that focused on reliable and durable products in the past have started becoming brand conscious and the major factor for this can be the realization in part of the companies in better understanding of the market scenario of the middle class population and diversifying itself in catering to that segment of people. And in parts of the customers they have started realizing in the concept of quality over quantity. Brand established companies nowadays have started manufacturing goods and services as per the demand of these middle class people with quality goods on reasonable prices. And this has played a major role in attracting more and more people into its circle. But a major hindrance for these products and services has become cheap imitation and delicacy. From the time of establishment of brand, imitation has been found along time, so it can be justified that the practice of unlawful imitation lurked close behind, a practice that remains common till this day, even in the presence of highly developed legal systems. 1.2 SOCIAL CLASS Social class refers to a group of people with similar levels of wealth, influence, and status. Sociologists typically use three methods to determine social class. Humans have evolved living in a closed community and have thus been categorized according to their surrounding and their social identity and circle. Social class is that segmentation which varies the people according to this social status and financial stronghold. Accordingly they can be differentiated as follows: Upper class people Upper-middle class people Middle-class people Lower-middle Class People Lower Class People This segmentation according to their financial situation has been the center of attraction for marketers around the globe. Marketers focus on individual segment of people according to the product and services they serve. Some serve the niche market while many serve other general segments. But with financial increment of other class especially of the middle class, more companies serving the top class have started putting their focus on middle class people. 1.3 Objectives: General Objectives To find the importance of brand amongst general public. To identify the market scenario of branded products. Specific Objectives To analyze the trend of brand influence among the middle class population. To study the stronghold of middle class people in the space of branded goods. 1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY Brand has come a long way with the advancement of market and the people associated to the market. Brand nowadays cannot sustain itself only by serving the elite class so the focus has been made relying on the trend and demand of the market, and accordingly their focus has been more directed towards middle class people and their demands. Another aspect of analyzing the situation can be the possibility of threat to the companies itself in trying to penetrate such a volatile segment that are still price conscious in some regards. And identifying the challenges for the brands itself and the consumers is also an important part of this study. 1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS Has brand become so strong that it can easily influence the price sensitive population or is it the cheap imitation that has taken over their market? 1.6 RESEARCH STATEMENT The present middle class population feels more connected to the brand they are attached to than the traditional people/ family. With more and more brands being made available at reasonable price, this segment of population has become the magnetic pull for companies that carry its significant brand. So have the companies really succeeded in luring this class of people towards itself or is it just an unsung tale of what they are yet to achieve. 1.7 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY Although this study has tried uncovering the areas related to brand and its impact on middle class population, total evaluation may be lagging, and the limitation for this has been mentioned below: As the cause of lack of adequate time and required information, some aspect of this study may do injustice to the overall scenario of the market. Limited number of people of this segment will be interviewed and the questionnaires filled accordingly. Some of the filled questionnaires may have doubtful results so proper information may be absent. 2. Literature Review Brand itself is not a product nor an identity put forward by an individual or a company, rather it is an instinctive feeling that individual carries about for a product or services. Trust and Gut feeling on any product is a brand. And this trust comes from meeting and beating customer’s expectation, which comes from brand values as: Price premium Customer preferences Replacement cost Stock Price and Future Earnings And the main purpose of branding is to get more people to buy more stuff for more years at a higher price. (Brand Gap: A VISUAL PRESENTATION BY MARTY NEUMEIER) And brands that catered to the top class people has successfully lured in more and more middle class population into its circle through this trust it has created amongst the total population. The penny pinching population that thrives on price subsidized products has started minimizing their quantitative expenses to focus more on brands they get attracted to. Different types of companies have different concepts of exactly what it means to be middle class. Using income level as the defining criterion for differentiation of class is reasonable. But simply judging a group by income is far from sufficient for marketers of consumer goods. Such marketers trying to reach the middle class have to know more than their salaries. They must know what makes middle class consumers tick. Income plays a powerful role in most purchasing decisions for any consumer segment, but other elements play a role that is sometimes greater than income. When products are relatively inexpensive, income has little influence on a consumer’s decision making process. Deciding to buy chocolate, for example, depends significantly more on consumers’ emotion and shopping experience—a store’s ambience, for example—than it does on how much money they make. /’Using income as the only indicator of spending habits allows much information to slip through the cracks. In addition, income is a difficult variable to act upon, in part because the data on income can be either unavailable or unreliable in most cases. Thus, companies must find meaningful alternatives to predict what consumers can afford and what they are willing to pay for certain goods and services. Zeithaml (1982, 1988) suggests in most purchasing decision customers objective is to Get the best for the money. This represents the combination of price and value orientation which is the most important consideration for most of the consumers. Crier and Ross (1997) maintains that the greater the perceived value, the greater that the customers will be interested in purchasing. They (Crier Ross) explained the term value orientation saying Consumer trends to select the lowest price alternatives when the options in the choice set are perceived to have the same level of benefit. Consumers are becoming more price conscious does not mean that they always go for the lowest price, rather they will seek for affordable price range among their acceptable quality range. Maccilil, (1987), in his study told about the total business and household consumer market that both classes consider price, quality, convenient location as the most powerful influential factors in selecting or buying consumer goods. In the same time Winklin and Duery (1987) conducted a similar study focusing on the two groups of consumers having high income and low income in USA proved the influential forces earlier described by Maccilil. In the theory of marketing and buyer behavior, the concept of social class is considered the basic determinant of consumption behavior. In fact, among behavioral scientists, there was a consensus that market behavior of individuals is closely related to their social class. In this context, social class was often considered more important than income in affecting buying behavior (Slocum and Mathews, 1970). Though these mentioned research pave a road map as to how brand influence the market of middle class people and how brand has come a long way from being a niche to being available for all in the developed nation; the basic format or the fundamentals remains the same even for developing nation like ours. And it can be concluded that of the all class of people, middle class population has become the center target for the companies to penetrate and establish itself. 2.2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK The dependent and independent variables are as follows: Dependent variables Sales Volume Customer Loyalty Independent Variables Availability of products at affordable prices Financial Stronghold Environment Social Up gradation 3. Research Methodology 3.1 Research Design: This research can be categorized as descriptive and observational study. This can be explained on the fact that it is based on what the trend persists on the market place and also includes facts and findings based on survey being carried out. 3.2 Population/ Sampling: Provided the fact of more brand conscious population is on the rise, this report is based only on limited sampling given the limited time period and resources. Not much study has been conducted on this topic; hence it is limited to certain aspect and does not represent the total scenario of the market. 3.3 Nature of data The source of data is categorized on two fronts: Primary Source: Interview Questionnaire Secondary Source: E-Books and magazines 3.4 Data collection technique Interview: Interview is the best and the most effective method of collecting data, because you get a firsthand knowledge about the present market scenario and the impact of what you’re searching for your study. This helps the interviewers gets to observe the intended market and its population and extract the immediate knowledge of the market. Questionnaire: Questionnaire helps the researcher to find exactly what is to be found and analyzed. A perfectly shaped set of questions gives the intended findings. It also helps to get quick results on a limited time frame. 3.5 Expected Findings Through this research I expect to understand the real market scenario of the branded products and its impact on the middle class population; their reaction towards branded goods and services and their responsiveness towards the strategies played by the companies. References: http://www.chinabusinessreview.com/understanding-chinas-middle-class/ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-2921577/Middle-class-travellers-demanding-300MILLION-upgrades-holiday-homes-luxury-self-catering-trend-takes-hold.html The Oxford American Dictionary (1980) Zeithaml (1982, 1988) Crier and Ross (1997) Maccilil (1987) Winklin and Duery (1987) Slocum and Mathew (1970) Gantt chart / Work plan Budget S.N Particulars Budget Head Amount 1. Travelling expenses Travelling and expenses 700 2. Stationery Miscellaneous 500 3. Printing of questionnaires, proposal and final report Print and publishing 200 Total 1400 Questionnaire Describe what ‘brand’ means to you? †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. In which social class do you put yourself in? Upper Class Upper Middle Class Middle Class Lower Class Define your annual income in the scale (in thousand) If others specify†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ What do you see in a product? Price Quality Brand All of the above Scale your reliance on brand? 1086420 Do you always purchase branded products? Yes No Why do you prefer branded products? To maintain social status Brand consciousness Peer pressure Quality What do you think influences people to buy a branded product? Quality Product Availability Competitive Price Good value and services Do you think branded products marketed for upper class people is as same as the products for the middle class people? Yes No Do you think brand has really attracted the middle class people of our market scenario? Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree When it comes to consumable goods do you think brand for a product has a significance? Yes No Do you consider yourself a price sensitive costumer? Yes No Do you bargain when buying a branded product or do you settle at the set premium price? Yes No Do you actually prefer brand or does cheap imitation satisfy you? Brand Cheap imitation is preferable Brand helps middle class people to upgrade their social status? Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree If you consider yourself a brand conscious person, has brand upgraded your status? Yes No Do you agree the price tag placed is justifiable for the branded products? Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

Different kinds of festivals Essay

In a year we have celebrated different kinds of festivals.Sometimes,we do celebrate festivals following our religion.Different religions have different festivals to celebrate.Festival are celebrated in a grand way and gives much joy. The same thing goes for me.I am a Hindu and I celebrate many festivals.The best festival I have ever experienced is Deepavali.Deepavali comes on the month of November and it is usually on the second week of the month.Deepavali is known as the festival of lights for the Hindus. Last year,my family and I celebrated Deepavali at our grandparent’s house.After we woke up,we had to take an oil bath which was massaged from the head down to our toes.Then, we wore our new traditional clothes,dhoti and sari.We got ready to go to the temple near the house. The priest in the temple made a special offering and prayers to the God on this special day. After prayers in the temple,we went back home.A fe w minutes later,my relatives and neighbours came to our house.My grandmother served them with scrumptious traditional food.For instance,murukku,vadai,and tose.They really enjoyed their food and they said it was very tasty. Before the guest left the house,my grandfather gave them â€Å"ang pows†.I was really shocked because throughout I know only Chinese gave â€Å"ang pows† during their festival,Chinese New Year but I never knew that Indiansdid that too. Then, it was time to take our lunch.My father prepared some banana leaves to use as plates.It had really a different taste when eating from a banana leaf.It really potraits a traditional style. In the evening,we packed our things to get ready to go back home.We really missed our grandparents because they were the only ones who celebrated Deepavali in a special way. Among all the Hindu festival,I think the last Deepavali was the best festival I had ever experienced.I like the way they celebrate the festival with lighting up lights around their house.It shows that our life always brightens with ha

An Old Woman.

The poem is highly symbolic and very common placed in it's subject matter. The poet was impressed by the temple of Kandoba at Jajori and the poem is thus against this setting. â€Å"An Old Woman† is a graphic picture of a beggar woman. Having lost the promises of her past, she is reduced to her present state. As the speaker views her squarely, he, in a sort of ‘revelation', becomes aware of the decay which has set in her person and which is extended to the decaying tradition symbolized by the hills and the temples. Without using many words, the old woman forces the narrator to look at her from closed quarters.It is then that he realizes the hypocrisy of society and the decadence of the social system that has ruined the old woman to a beggar. he finds that the social fabric is destroyed, architectural features go into ruins. Human values are forgotten. The old woman's condition reduces the narrator to a small status when he feels as insignificant as that small coin in her hand. This poem humbles us to remember our responsibility to society. It reveals the callousness, a failure on our part to take care of the elderly, protect our heritage and preserve our values.In the rush of materialism and the desire to achieve, one takes all that one can from society, but giving the same back is largely forgotten. So the cracking hills, crumbling temples, crumbling of social order is directly a result of our negligence, our failure to act responsibly. Somewhere, the materialistic world has made man selfish, trapping him in a race to accumulate. When society has to face this onslaught, cracks appear, but selfish man forgets to repair the cracks, forgets to salvage lost values, thereby creating a dilapidated social fabric†¦.

Plastic Surgery In Modern World - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 1013 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2019/08/08 Category Medicine Essay Level High school Tags: Plastic Surgery Essay Did you like this example? Plastic surgery is the process of reconstruction or the repair of any part of the body, through and by the doctors transferring tissue. Plastic surgery can be any alterations to the body, that includes the stomach, face, legs, torso, etc. Most people think about plastic surgery being only two or three types, but in reality there are over 150 different types of plastic surgeries. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Plastic Surgery In Modern World" essay for you Create order There are two main types of surgeries that fall under the plastic surgery categorized under and that is plastic surgery and cosmetic surgery. There are over 50 under each category. The statistics of plastic surgery have increased tremendously throughout the years. The newest research came out when the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) showed people the great continued growth in different cosmetic surgeries over the year. The statistics they recorded showed that there were over 17 million minimally invasive and surgical procedures performed in the U.S in 2017, which is an increase of 2% since 2016. Another study showed that since 2000 increased 200%.   The statistics also revealed the Americans are turning to new ways finding new ways to shape their bodies.  Ã‚   History: Out of all the plastic surgeries throughout the early years, the nose job has had the most admiration of the people versus the rest of the body that at that time could be reconstructed. One of the very first procedures for the nose job was proformed by a surgeon by the name of Antonio Branca and a man who is described by the slippery-named Heinrich von Pfolspeundt. In 1460 they followed the following steps to get the procedure going. First, they created a model of the prefect nose, by using parchment and leather. To gather skin that is needed for the surgery they then got the model, laid it on the forearm of the paitent and drew a line around it. The marked area was cut and split up from the skin making what was like a nose-flap, which remained on the arm until it was needed in the surgery. Shortly after getting that part finish, they had the patient then raised their arm to their hand with the nose flap close to the face and up to where the reconstruction would be happening and then began to stitch to the area of the nose that was waiting to be fixed. The strangest part of the entire process is that the arm would stay bounded/connected to the nose to stay in place. After 8-10 days when the skin had healed properly, the lower part of the flap was cut and that would free the arm allowing the reconstruction of the nostrils. After this, plastic surgery didnt really pick up again until the late 18th century which here started the skin graft. And surprisingly the breakthrough came up and the rediscoverment for plastic surgery sprouted in ancient India.  Ã‚   Prices: Along with everything that plastic surgery has to offer, it can be very pricey and people may not like the outcome but many people love how they look, feel extremely confident and depending on the situation it can help someone and their medical problems. The high cost of the surgery has a lot to do with this econimoncally standpoint and people want to save money and cut out or even minimize expensives. When it comes to people getting the surgery   Addictions:   Its safe to say that nobody is perfect. Its also fair to say that most people have one or two parts of their body that they are just unhappy with, whether its a funky looking toe, asymmetric breasts, or maybe just a little extra stuff on their tummy. Getting rid of the what makes a person unhappy, may make them happy but also could very likely start an addiction or even a disorder. Most of the patients I see here at Harley Street Aesthetics have just one cosmetic procedure and are happy with the results, but if you find yourself constantly looking for blemishes on your body and requesting more plastic surgery, you may be suffering from Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) and plastic surgery addiction. Patients who display symptoms of BDD and compulsively undergo aesthetic surgery suffer from underlying mental and emotional issues which they believe can be resolved by plastic surgery. told by Dr. Harley at Harley Street Aesthtics. However, if a person wants plastic surgery to solve any psychological problems that a person has. People that suffer from BDD think of themselves as nothing but ugly, when they many think of them as attractive, this has them only ever looking at their flaws so that they go to surgery thinking that will make it all better. And sometimes in the ends, that doesnt even make them as happy as they thought it would. If someone is addicted to almost anything, either drugs, alochol or anything, that itself is dangerour to a person and their health. The dangers of the addiciton of plastic surgery is extremley dangerous and can result in health issues due to too many surgeries. A person can often find themselves depressed with the outcomes and want more surgery to fix it. The depression can lead to hardships on the persons life and even their mental health. The person could after feeling scared trying to ask for help or even getting help from family. One of the biggest dangers about plastic sur geries and the addicitons themselve is how the effect of numerous comestic procedures can have on the body of the person getting the surgery.   People who have many amounts of cosmetic surgery can easily be left with permanent damage to their skin ad muscles that are effective by the surgery. The damages include but dont limit to collapsing muscles and excessive scar tissue. Here at Harley Street Aesthetics, I put the health of my patients at the forefront of any decision I make. I will not perform cosmetic surgery on anyone who I believe is having it unnecessarily, whether thats through addiction or force. I believe that everyone is beautiful just the way they are, and that cosmetic surgery should be used to complement a persons natural beauty.