Vertical Social Relations

Chapter 8 analyzes social hierarchies and how they shape consumer lives and choices. It reviews key approaches to social class structure and measurement, including income, occupation, education, and composite indices, and explains how these stratifications affect access to goods, services, and both social and cultural capital. The chapter then investigates social status and contemporary consumption, showing how individuals use brands, possessions, and experiences to signal rank, belonging, and distinction, often fueling conspicuous consumption and debt. It discusses social climbing, highlighting how marketing can both exploit and reinforce aspirations to move upward within these hierarchies. In contrast, the section on social mobility considers policies, practices, and business models that can support more inclusive opportunities. The chapter concludes with mindful consumption, arguing that awareness of structural inequalities can help consumers, firms, and policymakers reorient markets away from status races toward fairness and sustainable advancement.